Estate Planning Implications of the Right of Publicity

Abstract:     
It is not very often that an estate tax case is featured in the Harvard Law Review, as recently happened with Estate of Andrews, 850 F. Supp. 1279 (E.D. Va. 1994). In that case, the district court concluded that the value of the right of publicity embodied in a famous decedent's name is includable in the decedent's estate under section 2033. The Harvard article claims that the case 'sent shock waves through the estate planning profession,' and that 'knowledgeable estate attorneys are scrambling to determine what famous personalities must do to protect their estates from potentially devastating tax burdens.' Federal Estate Tax and the Right of Publicity: Taxing Estates for Celebrity Value, 108 Harv. L. Rev. 683, 683 (1995). This article explores the estate planning implications of the Andrews decision.

Keywords: Estate Tax, Right of Publicity, Estate Planning, Tax Planning

JEL Classifications: K34

Accepted Paper Series