The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo author Stieg Larsson amassed a significant fortune when his bestselling novel was turned into a world-famous film. Unfortunately the author never lived to see his work turn into one of the hottest tickets in Hollywood because he died of a heart attack at age 50 before his first novel was published.

Three of the novelist's books have become worldwide hits, selling about 50 million copies. The movies based on the books are similarly popular and the author is racking up many of posthumous accolades. Larsson's lack of estate planning has also created a fair bit of strife which even this famous fiction writer didn't imagine.

The author died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 2004 at the age of 50. He was unmarried but he had a live-in girlfriend of 32 years. The live-in girlfriend was unable to share in his estate and is currently embroiled in litigation over a laptop they shared. The laptop reportedly contains the author's fourth novel and Larsson's estate wants it.

Larsson's estate is controlled by his father and brother whom the Larsson's girlfriend claims were not very close to him. Larsson's girlfriend is refusing to release the author's final novel until she gets full control over the estate, which will likely never happen. The entire affair is marked by ugly public attacks and continuing litigation which all could have been prevented with a simple will.

Larsson is known for his twist endings, but his lack of estate planning is creating a muddled legacy that the author probably wouldn't have written for himself.

Source: Trial and Heirs, "The Author who played with Fire," Danielle and Andy Mayoras, Jan. 28, 2012