Whitney Houston Death

Whitney Houston's will has been validated by a judge, and now her daughter Bobbi Kristina stands to inherit her mom's fortune.

Under the will, Bobbi Kristina is Whitney's sole beneficiary. But the will -- which was amended in 2000 -- provides that if the 19-year-old dies before probate is completed, ex-hubby Bobby Brown and various relatives would split up all of her assets -- but she left it up to them to agree on how to divvy things up. There is one thing that Whitney didn't want to put up for grabs -- her jewelry. In the event Bobbi Kristina died, all of Whitney's baubles would go to her mom Cissy.

In addition to Brown, Whitney named her mom Cissy, her dad John and her brothers Michael and Gary as beneficiaries.

Now here's the catch ... If Bobby and the others couldn't reach an agreement on who gets what, the will says all of Whitney's stuff would be sold and they would just divide the cash.

Whitney Houston's 19-year-old daughter Bobbi Kristina got inconceivably richer the day her mother died -- because the singer left Bobbi 100% of her assets in her will ... an estate valued at around $20 million.

According to reports, Whitney's will doesn't enumerate specific assets -- but she leaves ALL furnishings, clothing, personal effects, jewelry and cars to her surviving children ... i.e. Bobbi.

According to reports, Houston's money will be put in a trust -- which Bobbi will have access to in stages ... earning a portion when she turns 21, another chunk when she turns 25, and the rest when she turns 30.

The will was just filed today in Atlanta. Whitney signed it back in 1993, a month before she gave birth to Bobbi.

The L.A. County Coroner's Office has received phone calls and emails from people claiming to be relatives of Whitney Houston.

Sources tell TMZ ... the calls and emails were made by several different people, some claiming to be relatives of Whitney and some relatives of Bobby Brown. The calls and emails have a common theme -- the belief Whitney may have been murdered. At least one person claimed to have information supporting the murder theory.

At least one caller offered a theory about a relative who might have done Whitney in, but offered no supporting proof.

The Coroner's Office has not verified the callers were indeed relatives.

The Coroner has already said there was no sign of foul play or trauma, but the official cause of death won't be determined until toxicology results are in.

An official from the Coroner's Office says the investigation is ongoing and would not comment further.

Bobbi Kristina isn't doing her first post-Whitney interview with Oprah Winfrey because of the money -- she's doing it because the big O's a close family friend ... and Bobbi trusts her to be fair and respectful.

Bobbi is telling friends -- Oprah "was loyal to my mom, and never did my mother wrong, or made her look bad. She always looked out for my mom."

As a result, we're told Bobbi feels Oprah would show her the same respect -- not bringing up issues that could potentially show Bobbi in a negative light ... i.e. substance abuse.

According to sources close to Bobbi, Oprah was one of the first people who reached out to her after Whitney passed.

So far, it's unclear if Bobbi is getting paid for the interview -- which airs this Sunday.

Brandy took the stage in Los Angeles last night, and while some in the house were expecting her to perform a few Whitney Houston songs, decided against it ... saying it would have made her "an emotional wreck."

Performing at The Factory in Los Angeles, Brandy made her first appearance since Houston's passing and dedicated the song "Right Here (Departed)" in her honor.

Oprah Winfrey has finally found a way to get people to watch OWN -- she's scored an interview with family members of Whitney Houston, including daughter Bobbi Kristina.

The show "Oprah's Next Chapter" will feature Houston's only daughter ... as well as Patricia Houston, her sister-in-law and manager, and Houston's brother Gary. It is scheduled to air next Sunday.

Oprah was one of the guests invited to Houston's funeral in Newark, NJ last month.

Whitney Houston's mom is on a mission to eradicate the bad influences from Bobbi Kristina's life ... and she's starting with a 22-year-old man who Whitney treated like her very own son.

Houston family sources tell TMZ ... Whitney invited Nick Gordon to live with her and Bobbi Kristina more than 10 years ago ... when Whitney learned Nick's mother could no longer care for him.

Whitney considered Nick her unofficially adopted son ... and treated him like family up until the end.

But now, sources tell us ... Cissy Houston believes Nick is a bad influence on her granddaughter and wants him OUT of the Houston family home in Atlanta ... ASAP.

We're told Cissy has already informed her lawyers about the eviction ... in case he puts up a fight.

Crack is whack, but pills are ... a work of art?

A portrait of late singer Whitney Houston made up entirely of pills has been created by mosaic artist Jason Mecier. In the past, Mecier has made similar portraits of Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson and Courtney Love among others.

Ibuprofen, Xanax, Midol and amoxicillin were some of the pills found in Whitney's hotel room when she died last month.

That Whitney Houston themed greeting card's been yanked, but we gotta ask -- was it really too soon? If so ... we have a few other less timely but equally funny celebrity card ideas.

It's still too soon to make Whitney Houston jokes -- at least according to the people at Target, who have decided to pull a greeting card from their shelves that mocks the late singing legend.

The card -- available long before Whitney died -- pokes fun at the singer's downward spiral in recent years ... "Next time you think of dating the bad boy, consider Whitney Houston."

The card was kinda funny before she died -- but now that Whitney's gone, Target has decided it's a tad too offensive ... at least for now ... and is currently in the process of yanking it from its stores.

A rep for the store tells TMZ, "The card was in our stores prior to Ms. Houston’s death. As soon as this was brought to our attention, we began the process of removing the card from all applicable stores."

Whitney Houston's final movie is on lockdown ... over fears that people will leak Whitney's scenes and music ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to the production tell us ... the people working on "Sparkle" -- starring Whitney and Jordin Sparks -- are working "around the clock" to finish post-production work on the movie as quickly as possible.

We're told the building where the film is being edited is also under tight watch -- with ramped up security in the hopes of preemptively clogging a leak.

So far, no comment from Sony.

Whitney Houston's mother Cissy has unfinished business to attend to -- sources tell TMZ she's planning a pilgrimage BACK to the Beverly Hills hotel room where her daughter died ... all in an attempt to get some closure.

According to sources close to Cissy, she wants to go back to room 434 at the Beverly Hilton hotel and reestablish a spiritual connection with her daughter ... in order to come to terms with her sudden death.

We're told Cissy plans to pray while she's there -- and just spend quiet, contemplative time in the space.

As one source put it -- Cissy "won’t be at peace until she gets closure."

It's unclear when Cissy plans to return to the hotel room -- but we're told the visit will be soon ... she's currently planning out the logistics.

The photo of Whitney Houston lying in her casket should disgust her ex-husband Bobby Brown, but if it does ... he wasn't saying so last night in Hollywood.

Our photog spotted Bobby B leaving Hemingway's Lounge with his fiancée, Alicia Etheridge. He had nothing to say about the Whitney photo, but he was quite playful once he got inside his ride ... making all sorts of crazy faces for the camera.

As TMZ first reported, the casket photo of Whitney isn't sitting well with her family, who are "disgusted" and outraged by its publication.

Whitney Houston's family had "their heart broken all over again" this week when they saw a photo of Whitney laying in her casket published on the cover of a magazine ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the family tell TMZ the family is disgusted the photo was printed and they have no idea how security surrounding the casket was breached. We're told the family could tell from the photo that it was taken from inside the funeral home, but they have no idea who would have snapped the pic.

Our sources say Whitney's mother, Cissy, has taken the publication of the photo the hardest.

Despite their disgust and outrage, we're told the family will not investigate the matter further.

The funeral home where Whitney Houston's body was kept last week is denying that it played any role in leaking a photo of the pop legend inside her casket.

Carolyn Whigham, owner of the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, NJ, tells the Daily News she is devastated that the photo is out there and says her staff had nothing to do with it.

She tells the paper, "We did not take that photo. We did not sell the photo. We would never do something like that."

Whigham says she has received numerous threats since the publication of the photo, but that Whitney's family has told her they do not blame the funeral home.

Whitney Houston's eulogist dropped some wisdom -- of Biblical proportions -- on Bobby Brown ... in attempt to settle the ongoing feud with Whitney's family.

Pastor Marvin Winans flew into LAX yesterday ... and when we asked about Bobby getting booted from the funeral he said, "What I know is, Bobby did really love Whitney -- and Whitney really loved Bobby."

Marvin added he knows most issues can't be resolved in 20 minutes -- a la TV's "Ozzie and Harriet" -- but says Whitney's death can teach everyone ... especially Bobby ... an important lesson.