MicrostockGroup

Thanks for the excellent advice Donding.

Wishing you all the best in this (unfair!) battle you have on your hands.

Leaf,

Here in Brazil you can set in a will up to 50% of your estate to whoever you want, but 50% belong to the legal heirs - some in fact, like spouse and children.  I, for instance, without either, can leave my money to anyone and my brothers and nephews, and even my mother, would not get anything.  It is fair or unfair, depending on the case. 

Can someone clarify to me!

Do I need to make some document before my eventual death, as a last will or testament...??

Or relatives can prove family connection after my death without my testament, and get my portfolio as their own from that moment?

And finally, here's Fotolia's response... pretty much the same as the other three I asked (DT, IS, SS):

"While Fotolia has had no formal policy on this issue we do concur that copyrights may be inherited and the new copyright holder will have all the rights in and to the image. Our Upload Agreement states ""This Agreement shall be inure to the benefit of, and be binding upon, Fotolia and the Uploading Member, and their respective successors and assigns."

If such an unfortunate event did happen we would ask to see documents pertaining to the death and the inheritance of the copyright before access could be given to the account or the money earned. In addition the new owner would have to file the appropriate tax form before cashing out the earnings.

We will be happy to answer any other questions related to this issue if needed."

That's bound to depend on what the laws are in your country about people who die intestate.

If you live in the US you have to go through probate, even with a will, but if you die without one the courts have to decide where the money and how much go to the different heirs. It is quite an expensive process if you have heirs fighting over what they feel is theirs, it also depends on what state you live in. Like I said in a pervious post, we have already spent $12,000.00 and are not even done with the battle yet. Probate can cost upwards of $20,000.00 to $50,000.00 depending on the complexity of the estate. So to sum it up....you better get a will, it's not nearly as costly, only a filing fee and that's about it.
So get a will.

In the U.S., the key to avoiding all this hassle is to have a Revocable Living Trust.  In this document you set up a trust where all your assets are recorded in the name of the trust and the trustees assigned (usually yourself and spouse).  You can then assign heirs to the trust and someone to act as executor.  This not only defines who will get what, but avoids both probate and taxes on the estate entirely.  The assistance of a good trust and estate lawyer are critical in setting up this document, but it can be well worth the cost.  Mine cost just a tad over $2,000; but, to avoid probate and taxes and to clearly define who get what from the estate, it's well worth the money.  The cost will vary from state to state, but should be in this ballpark.  And the trusts are portable.  That is, a trust written in one state will be recognized in any other.

I recently had occasion to go through this process, first when my father died which simply entailed a change from joint trustees to the surviving trustee (my mother in this instance), and shortly thereafter when my mother died and I became the sole trustee and executor of the estate.  Simply followed the instructions if the Trust and her Will and everything was done.  No probate.  No state or federal taxes.  Clean, simple and one less headache at a time when we didn't need any more problems than we already were facing.  I can't recommend strongly enough the need to get one of these as soon as possible.

You also have to remember to keep it updated. I even forgot we had one untill you mentioned it. It's over 10 yrs old and my children were still minors. They are both grown now with children of their own. Anyway your accounts...including checking, deed records and all that stuff would be recorded under the living trust

That is interesting information. I figured once the person died you could still collect his/her royalties, but am surprised you'd still be able to upload his remaining images.

I have watched this thread with interest as a former (traditional) agency owner/executive in the U.S. Since we had written contracts, rather than user agreements, and at the most less than 1,000 photographers (at all but the giant agencies), we were much more informed about our contributor/photographers. We also used to only issue checks that had to be counter-signed by the recipient before deposit and it is generally considered fraud to sign another's name for the purpose of cashing their checks. Thus when there was a death, we were contacted by someone for the money.

We then required (in California) a form issued by probate that indicated to whom the funds were to be transferred. In the case we heard from no one or if checks or other mail was returned, we held the money for three years and then, as required by the state, turned it over to the state's unclaimed property fund.

That brings us to today....there is little direct contact between the microstock company and the thousands and thousands of contributors. In many cases, a death will surely go unnoticed even if the funds aren't claimed. If the funds are being deposited to a debit card, anyone with access to the deceased's password, can request and load the funds. This could go on for years without heirs finding out.

I have no information at all nor do I think the following would happen with any large microstock companies that I am familiar with but I did work for a traditional company in the past that simply, quietly kept all the unclaimed funds with only a desultory effort at finding those whose checks were returned. When I asked about it, I was told, "Oh they are all dead anyway." (I left the company within a few weeks).

All our stories end one day. Do the correct thing: at the very least make a simple will with instructions and make it known to those that matter.

The microstock sites should not treat heirs in any way differently from book publishers etc but the same issues exist. These are: copyright ownership AND royality payments. They aren't exactly and permanently tied together.

Don't know that is what they'd say but I'm sure that is what they think...