Saffery Trust
By Donna Brehaut
August 14th, 2025
Following the death of Ozzy Osbourne, headlines turned to an alleged change to his will, in which Ozzy stipulated that his widow, Sharon, is to receive a dozen black roses a week for the rest of her life…
While undisputedly a touching romantic gesture, following over forty years of marriage, the rumoured request was also marked as a potential ‘legal headache’, depending on whether the rose request has been phrased as a wish or a legally enforceable obligation.
This has highlighted the important role that a trust structure/trustee could play in carrying out the rose request while protecting the interests of Ozzy’s children, if such a trust exists. The benefit of a trust structure is that its establishment and administration can be tailored to the Settlor’s (the person(s) placing assets into trust) objectives, subject to professional legal and tax advice.
If Ozzy was the Settlor of a trust – which remains unknown – there are three primary ways in which his rose request could be actioned within the remit of a trust structure.
- Letter of Wishes
- Trust Deed
- Purpose Trust
Everyone, including celebrities, is entitled to privacy. One of the key advantages of appointing a trustee is that it creates a degree of separation between the settlor, the beneficiaries, and the trust assets, as the trustee becomes the legal owner of those assets. As a result, any wealth structures connected to Ozzy, and their potential role in fulfilling his rose request or distributing his estate, may never enter the public domain.
