Your creative work is unique, and so are your rights as an author or artist. I design estate plans that protect and promote the intellectual property and other specific rights in your work. Specific planning needs that come up for authors and artists include rights, reputation, market, and legacy.
I've created the Authors and Artists Trust, designed specifically to make sure that your life's works remains in the right hands, with the protection, management, and recognition your artistic legacy deserves.
I review the status of copyright, including any transfers and rights of termination, affecting your work, as well as contractual obligations. Since these rights can extend up to seventy years beyond your lifetime, I give special attention to the selection and role of executors and trustees who can manage these rights into the future. I also consider additional rights, such as moral rights of integrity and attribution (droit moral), rights of publicity, and issues of valuation for market transactions and tax purposes.
I use an estate planning questionnaire and interview process, specifically for authors and artists, to review these rights, your candidates for fiduciary appointments, and your current representation by agents/galleries. I also review with you the valuation requirements of a qualified appraisal for your work to be recognized by the IRS.
Your influence as an author and artist is emphasized by coordinating your values with an art succession plan to preserve the meaning and purpose of your life's work. I help you to set up a foundation or to provide direct support to existing cultural institutions which are important to you and your work.
