Planning for Authors, Musicians, Artists, and Collectors (Portfolio 815)

The Bloomberg Tax Portfolio, Planning for Authors, Musicians, Artists, and Collectors, No. 815, addresses the unique issues involved in planning for and administering estates that consist in part of assets that have been created by the decedent's personal creative efforts or the creative efforts of others. Particularly in the estates of creators, where these assets may comprise the bulk thereof, creative assets present special business management, income tax, transfer tax, and estate planning issues.

This Portfolio adopts an interdisciplinary approach to the issues affecting authors, musicians, artists, and collectors as they manage their portfolio of creative assets and plan to transfer these assets to their intended beneficiaries, both charitable and noncharitable, as well as the issues affecting their beneficiaries upon receipt of the creative work. On the assumption that the reader is familiar with basic estate planning concepts, this Portfolio focuses on the issues and rules that are particularly relevant to creators and collectors and directs the reader to other Portfolios that discuss more basic concepts in detail. Moreover, because of the breadth of the topics covered in this Portfolio, no individual topic is covered in an exhaustive manner; however, the Portfolio directs readers interested in a deeper understanding of any particular topic to additional resources.

This Portfolio first gives a broad overview of the Copyright Act of 1976, and then discusses the income taxation of creators during life and of their property in the hands of their beneficiaries after their deaths, and the gift and estate tax rules that are particularly relevant to estate planning for these clients. The valuation of works of art and intellectual property is discussed in detail. Additionally, the Portfolio discusses tax and certain key considerations relevant to collectors and investors in buying, selling, and managing their art and other collectibles. The Portfolio concludes with a discussion of estate administration and other practical issues that the fiduciary of a creator or collector may face.

This Portfolio may be cited as Minnigh and Stutzman, 815 T.M., Planning for Authors, Musicians, Artists, and Collectors.