Rock star David Bowie leaves $100m in will

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Rock star David Bowie left an estate valued at about $100m (£70m), according to his will which has been filed in New York.

Half will go to his widow, Iman, along with the home they shared in New York. The rest is shared between his son and daughter.

It was also revealed that Bowie had requested that his ashes be scattered in Bali in a Buddhist ritual.

The singer died of cancer on 10 January, aged 69.

The will was filed in a Manhattan court on Friday under Bowie's legal name, David Robert Jones.

The star's personal assistant, Corinne Schwab, was left $2m and another $1m went to a former nanny, Marion Skene.

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Bowie's son, Duncan Jones, and daughter, Alexandria Zahra Jones, both received 25% of the estate. Alexandria was also left a home in upstate New York.

In the will, written in 2004, Bowie asked that he be cremated in Bali but if that was "not practical", then his ashes be scattered there anyway "in accordance with the Buddhist rituals".

Bowie's body was cremated on 12 January in New Jersey, according to a death certificate filed with the will.

Buddhist rituals after cremation

• Practices vary according to the different Buddhism traditions, and the choice of rituals is regarded as a highly personal matter
• After a cremation, relatives of the deceased often choose to enshrine the ashes in a columbarium or pagoda, bury them, or scatter them at sea
• The family may invite monks to chant, or conduct a simple ceremony themselves
• Donations are often collected and given to charity
• Buddhist teachings focus on the impermanence of life, and say death will lead to rebirth

Source: Buddha Dharma Education Association

At the time it was reported that no family or friends were present at the ceremony, in accordance with his wishes.

It is not known whether his ashes have been scattered.

Bowie had released a new album, Blackstar, just two days before his death, which has been retrospectively interpreted as his epitaph. The album is in the number one spot in the UK charts for the third week.