Miami Probate Law Blog

This is our last post about a dispute between the estate of Martin Luther King Jr. and a woman who was both his friend and his secretary. It is the kind of argument that often finds its way into probate court, because it all boils down to what Dr. King was thinking when he handed historically significant documents to his secretary and said, "This is for you."

If he had spelled out his wishes in an estate plan, there would probably be no dispute. But he didn't. Without a will, his children, who are managing his estate, have to make decisions about Dr. King's legacy based on their own instincts -- just as the woman the estate is suing has to follow her own understanding of events.

We are discussing the problems that inevitably arise when a world leader dies without a will. The leader in this case is Martin Luther King Jr. After his death in 1968, it took a while for his children to figure out how to manage his estate. Eventually, they formed a corporation that has worked hard to protect Dr. King's legacy, in part by gathering his papers in one place.

It's a hard job, certainly, and it may be harder yet on the people who have papers that the corporation believes the estate should have. The most recent instance involves the woman who served as the civil rights leader's personal secretary in the 1950s. Also a lifelong friend to the Kings, she says Dr. King gave her important documents over the years as gifts.

People spend the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday doing all sorts of different things. Some attend lectures, read or watch movies about Dr. King or the civil rights movement. Some take a moment during a Florida sunset to remember what he achieved -- what we have achieved and have yet to achieve. And, a very small number of people spend a moment wondering why Dr. King had not written an estate plan before he died.

Dr. King's children argued over how to manage his assets until they formed a corporation to handle his estate. The children proceeded to argue about how to manage the corporation. When the air cleared, though, the corporation had a solid grip on Dr. King's estate and his legacy.

Neither George nor Ira Gershwin had children, but that doesn't mean there was no one to watch over their estates. Since their deaths -- George died in 1937, Ira in 1986 -- their estates and the rights to their work have been in the hands of other relatives. On average, the estates have earned their heirs a few million dollars a year.

The current generation, mostly nephews and great-nephews, is facing an interesting challenge, though. The rights to many of the Gershwins' songs and musicals will expire soon. That would mean a drop in royalties, but, the heirs argue, it would also mean that they would lose control of the Gershwins' legacy.

This is a new year, and we wondered what kind of resolutions would be appropriate. A friend suggested we go cold turkey on celebrity probate issues. Scanning the papers this week, though, that left us with a story about a man killed by a train and a woman suing his estate after being injured by flying body parts. The ick factor was impossible to overcome. Then we saw a headline about horses and executors of vast estates and foundations.

The story starts with Paul Mellon, an heir to the Mellon Bank fortune and a horse enthusiast. During his lifetime, he was devoted to the welfare of horses, especially racehorses. At his death, many organizations related to horses, jockeys and racing benefitted handsomely -- in the late '50s, Fortune magazine estimated he was worth between $400 and $700 million.

We're wrapping up the year with a final entry about Bob Marley's heirs and their efforts over the years to control the singer's image, persona and name ... and just about everything to do with the Reggae great. The lawsuits started right after Marley died, because he died without an estate plan. Considering that Marley was worth about $30 million when he died in 1981, the litigation came as no surprise.

As we mentioned, Marley may have died in Florida, but his ties to Jamaica were always strong. So strong, in fact, that he maintained his Jamaican citizenship -- a fact that added another wrinkle to figuring out who would manage his estate. Jamaica's laws of intestacy were not as generous as Florida's, and his advisers decided to prepare an estate plan after Marley's death that his widow then signed.

Bob Marley left no will when he died in 1981. (Oh, it is tempting to quote Dickens here!) Marley had been sick with cancer for a year, but he left no will, no trust, nothing -- well, something: an estate worth $30 million. When you combine a legend with $30 million and no estate plan, litigation likely ensues. In this case, the estate has been involved in multiple lawsuits for the past 30 years.

While Marley died in Florida, he was still a Jamaican citizen, so the intestacy laws of that country applied -- and those laws weren't as favorable to his widow as Florida's laws would have been. So two of his advisers took matters into their own hands.

Bob Marley may have grown up in poverty, but his talent and tenacity made him a wealthy man. By the time he died, in Miami, at age 36, his estate was estimated to be worth $30 million. That was 30 years ago, and his widow and children have been embroiled in litigation ever since.

For the most part, the litigation has related to preserving Marley's image -- or, at least, the rights to his image. What is odd is that the family acquired the rights they are so intent on enforcing by common law, according to the complaint in this most recent matter (against the singer's half-brother). And that got us to wondering.