I suspect this is going to be a long process. There will be the inevitable vultures as you state with this amount of money on the line. Those that are legitimate heirs are also in for a probable difficult time. How and who will place a value on some items, collectors pieces that may have one value plus his name increasing that value? The $200 jacket is now $5K. The song catalog, all the recorded and unreleased material. Songs he may never have wanted released but because he had no will, may be part of a Direct TV commercial next. (Couldn't resist)
The biggest winner will be the government with estate tax at almost 40% for amounts over 5.6M, which he will easily exceed. Then all the attorneys to debate out who gets what at "equal" value. No one is exempt - write a will! I still 1/2 expect one to suddenly appear since he seemed to want such control over his music, how could he leave his life open to this? I hope there is a very knowledgeable and through probate judge in place.
|