I figured since most people have off for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day today (my team has it off at least) we’d talk about the estate planning saga surrounding his family after he was assassinated.

See, Dr. King died intestate. That means he did not have a Will.

And it’s not terribly hard to understand why – he was only 39 years old (although I think he was obviously living a much riskier life than your typical 39 year old – he was risking his life every day promoting his message).

As with most people that die without a Will, there are often unintended consequences.

Let’s talk about just a few.

First things first, Dr. King was married, so most of his tangible assets went to his wife (only about $30k – can you believe that?!).

As time wore on, though, it became clear that there was a lot more of value to his name – mostly related to the materials he created as a part of his movement.

For example, Dr. King was forward thinking enough to copyright his “I have a dream” speech shortly after he gave it – the family has been receiving royalties from it ever since.

And along with those clear indications of value came plenty of disagreements – some that continue to rage on today.

Most of the litigation stems from the works of Dr. King that found its way into the hands of the people he worked for and with after his death.

Because he had no Will, there was no clear indication of whom was to receive the collection of letters and speeches and books and correspondence he created over the years.

Many of those he worked with claimed he “gifted” those items to them. And from that premise, millions of dollars have been spent litigating the ownership interests of those items.

But the fighting wasn’t just limited to those outside of the family.

Because there was no Will, there was no clear indication of who Dr. King wanted to be in charge of his estate – so all of his children were appointed.

And with so many cooks in the kitchen, disagreement was bound to happen.

So, when two of the siblings wanted to sell Dr. King’s Nobel Peace Prize and one didn’t… out come the lawyers to “help” resolve the situation.

Obviously this isn’t a day to just talk a lot about Dr. King’s Will – his legacy is so much more than that. But we’re estate planning attorneys here, so we nerd out on this stuff.

Hope you had a great day and got to enjoy some of that sunshine!

Sincerely,

Christopher Small
Owner
CMS Law Firm LLC

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