Like most people, celebrities also need and can greatly benefit from a carefully drafted estate plan. At KLG we offer celebrity estate planning where we assist our celebrity clients by drafting a comprehensive estate plan to avoid probate at death and allow them to have control over all of their assets they worked so hard to acquire. We’ve represented entertainment and sports celebrities, so we know they have special planning needs for their property. Our celebrity clients often have contracts where they receive royalties from film, television, music, endorsements, publishing, book rights, and other literary work. There are also a myriad of other intellectual property rights that celebrities sometimes have. We help our celebrity clients plan to protect their property and their loved ones by having a complete, up to date estate plan to preserve and shield their substantial net worth.

Benefits of Having a Trust as a Celebrity
A trust will help you avoid probate, including multiple probates as you may own property in other states. It will also help save money in taxes. Getting a trust is relatively inexpensive, easy to set up and maintain and most importantly provides quicker distribution of assets to your loved ones with maximum privacy.

Burdens of Not Having a Trust as a Celebrity
Celebrities often have outdated or nonexistent estate plans. Failing to have an estate plan, and specifically a trust, will expose your loved ones to the expensive probate process which can go on for 12-18 months or longer; your assets will not be kept confidential as in the case of Aretha Franklin, who passed away in August 2018 without a will, and Prince in 2016, who had an estate estimated to be in excess of $200 million dollars. Substantial attorney fees will be paid from your estate when going through probate, and sadly assets will be distributed according to state law, not your wishes. When going through the probate process, state laws may sometimes give relatives you do not know or like a substantial part of your estate. Disputes during the probate process may lead to an expensive legal battle in court. Lawsuits in this area of law can involve marketing rights to your name, image, royalties, and artistic creations.