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Estate-Planning Issues for Entertainers
Estate planning is central to the post-mortem distribution and protection of an individual's assets. Celebrities have special estate-planning concerns that include intellectual-property valuations, how the valuations affect estate taxes and post-mortem administration of intellectual-property. In the following interview, conducted in Nashville by Entertainment Law & Finance Editor-in-Chief Stan Soocher, entertainment attorney Robert L. Sullivan discusses these and related estate-planning issues that affect artists. Sullivan is a partner in the Nashville office of Loeb & Loeb where his clients include songwriters, music-publishing companies, record companies and recording artists. He has 30-years of experience as an entertainment lawyer and serves as a trustee for the estate of Johnny Cash.
EL&F: In estate planning, how does an artist determine whether, for example, his or her estate should keep or sell the artist's copyright assets?
Sullivan: In determining whether to keep intellectual-property assets, first, the artist, with counsel's assistance, needs to consider whether the estate has sufficient assets to pay estate taxes and other debts. The estate-tax burden associated with copyrights and related revenue streams may be substantial. If there aren't sufficient other assets ' for example, life insurance proceeds ' available to satisfy taxes and creditors, then you may have no alternative but to sell the copyrights.
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