i just updated my will, to include stock images.  no, i don't plan to leave this earth so soon, at least not until i kiss all your asses in micro stock, lol.
just kidding,
but something made me think of this after i read of Mitz passing a while back.
i never thought stock images were anything worth worrying about, as this is only like not even 5% or 0.5 % of my photography income. but let's say in 20 years time,
if micro stock would ever survive, lol..
it might be sizeable. and to most of you who have been in micro since its inception,
it no doubt is already.

so, what i did is make my models the beneficiary of my stock images, which is naturally whom should be getting them, after my demise.
and for the rest, well, i really don't know. who gets my isolated products
and chicken fried rice and poutine, lol.

no, seriously, since my models are the ones who worked as hard and diligently as i did in stock photography, i decided they should be the ones to inherit my wealth (rofl) from stock photos.

what about you?

never thought of a will,never thought I would make enough to leave anyone.

Since I turned 69 recently this is the kind of thing I've started wondering about. My images are definitely my property that will pass to whomever I name in my will. Whether they can continue to collect as the new "owner" should be addressed by the sites as a matter of policy. I don't think any of the contracts deal with the question of survivor's rights. I hope someone can offer some light here.

When I passed a certain threshold and I considered my microstock income to be meaningful, I created a list of instructions and passwords for my wife to log in to each site and request earnings as they accumulate.  I assume as long as she is able to do so, I won't need to state anything legally in a will, but maybe there's more to consider.  Would anybody challenge my wife's ability to log in to my accounts and request PayPal payouts? Hmmmm.... maybe I need to consult an attorney after all.

i think many of us artists forget about or fail to discuss such things when we think about leaving a will.
but to some of us, leaving the ownership of all your stock accounts could well exceed more of certain assets you possess.
you brought up a good point too, Power. what if i have more than one model ? leaving an account to one is simple, but say if you were working with 5 models, and you want to leave them the potential earnings, how do you do that?
i also think of the image ownership. if i were to will it to someone, i would think my models should be entitled to the ownership of their poses. afterall , they are the ones who work with you to create it.
i am talking about models who actively collaborate with you to create stock portfolios. realistically, some of us would not have a sizeable portfolio without their help.

perharps i am a bit less attached to kinship, but i've always believe that when one dies, the person to inherit should be the ones who actually deserve them. and some times, it is not necessarily kinship; at least in my case .

When I passed a certain threshold and I considered my microstock income to be meaningful, I created a list of instructions and passwords for my wife to log in to each site and request earnings as they accumulate. 

Same with me.
Was thinking about doing that for a while, and a sudden death of one of my friends from heart attack at age of 42 triggered me to actually sit and write those things.

Quote from: PowerDroid on January 08, 2010, 14:41

When I passed a certain threshold and I considered my microstock income to be meaningful, I created a list of instructions and passwords for my wife to log in to each site and request earnings as they accumulate.

Same with me.
Was thinking about doing that for a while, and a sudden death of one of my friends from heart attack at age of 42 triggered me to actually sit and write those things.

you know Miklav, that's just it.  we never give these things a thought even though it is more important than say, washing our car, or watching a basketball game. 
it does not even have to be a heart attack. some of us travel alot, whether by car interstate
many times in bad weather. others fly regularly. things can happen.
more close to home, one of my very dearest friend just went in to hospital for an eye operation.
same thing. perharps he would not spend as much time taking photographs anymore, or if he did, he would not be spending as much time working on the computer.

as my banker tells me. we don't think of this thing because it's associated with death. even though,
it's probably the most important  thing we should do regularly.
eg. in my case, why should a brother or sister or even a child or  whoever, get my model's images when they haven't done anything to deserve it?   to me, after me, the models should be the ones to continue benefitting from my stock sales, if one day some of those images become big sellers.
we cannot predict the future, but we have to be aware that some of the future plans may not be what you wanted after you're gone.

maybe i will add an extra to my model release, or make an added clause in my own original
to this effect. as i said, the only problem is if you have more than one model working with you
on a regular basis. it is not as simple as say giving the password to your wife.

but for the rest of you, it's no doubt much simpler.  i just thought to inform my colleagues here
of the importance. we remember the car, esp the porsche or my mercedez, or my yacht, ha!ha!..
just kidding... i wish.   but we forget that stock is also any asset of potential earnings.
it may earn nothing much today, but who knows about the future?

Quote from: gaja on January 09, 2010, 07:16

The inheritance laws in my country are quite simple: everything (up to a couple of millions) go to the spouse. When he or she dies, it goes to the kids (you can't disinherit your children, they all get an equal share). Since these also are my models, it is natural to leave any potential income to them. So if the agencies accept the laws in the different countries without a will, I don't see the need to write one.

What would happen in the unfortunate tragedy that you, your spouse and your children would all die in a plane crash?

good point Sue.  in each country there is a rule of intestate.
but the point i am making is that many times, you do not want the state to decide who gets what.
it also cost money for your survivor to get the rights to your estate if one dies intestate.
and in some countries, it goes to nobody but to the country. it happened to one of my students, when his great grandfather died intestate and no one in the family got his property which was a very large inheritance. the state took it.

but more importantly, a will ensure the people you love gets what they put in during your lifetime,
and to ensure that those who gave nothing to your happiness gets nothing.
without a will, those people can contest their entitlement based on the fact that they are your children, children out of wedlock, mistresses, brothers, sisters, whatever.

sounds complicated, doesn't it? well, passing without a will is a lot more complicated.
the only consolation being we won't be around to attend the madness that could ensure in dying without a will.

some food for thought.

 I have reprinted an article that I wrote for ASPP on appraising stock photo collections including for purposes of inheritance and donations: http://bit.ly/63EmNl

I write about a man who had only made a few thousand dollars over the course of his 70 + year  from photography but was able have a $50,000 U.S. tax deduction to spread over a few years. Because he created the work, under U.S. law, he could only deduct the cost of making the images, excluding his cameras. Perhaps some of the information may be useful but always ask an accountant or attorney as I am a mere appraiser.

i travel extensively, and sometimes i take those photos with the people i live with in those poorer or shall i say less affluence and / or less fortunate countries.

if i had a large portfolio of such images, and they have made a lot of money for me.  i would think it's only sensibility that some of that wealth go back to the people who helped you create that instrument to earn you that money.

Hmmm. Depending on where you have travelled, this would be difficult. For example, do you envisage the stock agency doing the work of totting up which models are in which photos and dividing up the proceeds accordingly then directing each portion to the appropriate models? (most/all won't)  Or dividing up the proceeds of any photo where you've got more than one model in the image? Or if they are really undeveloped countries, how are the models going to access the internet and actually get their money?
The alternative would be to leave all of your portfolio to one charity which was working in all of the countries you worked in.

Quote from: PERSEUS on January 09, 2010, 10:27

i travel extensively, and sometimes i take those photos with the people i live with in those poorer or shall i say less affluence and / or less fortunate countries.

if i had a large portfolio of such images, and they have made a lot of money for me.  i would think it's only sensibility that some of that wealth go back to the people who helped you create that instrument to earn you that money.

Hmmm. Depending on where you have travelled, this would be difficult. For example, do you envisage the stock agency doing the work of totting up which models are in which photos and dividing up the proceeds accordingly then directing each portion to the appropriate models? (most/all won't)  Or dividing up the proceeds of any photo where you've got more than one model in the image? Or if they are really undeveloped countries, how are the models going to access the internet and actually get their money?
The alternative would be to leave all of your portfolio to one charity which was working in all of the countries you worked in.

yes, it can be complicated , isn't it Sue?
 (viz dividing up the proceeds of any photo where you've got more than one model in the image? Or if they are really undeveloped countries, how are the models going to access the internet)

charitable organizations? um, i have reservations about that too. as from my past business experience in accounting ( i was born into that business) , we know that a gross (no pun intended) chunk of donations actually get eaten away by administration, leaving really a miniscule actually being used to serve the philanthropic or humanitarian noble deed such organizations were originally said to perform.  too many historic proofs of fraud. i'd prefer to give to someone , even if they are "unqualified/uneducated" to use the money wisely. (the one most common excuses charities-administrators use to get you to give the money to them).     

P.S.
feel free to deviate from the main discussion. i think the main message of this thread has more or less been communicated. thanks all for your input.

Hi All,

 My Family takes over the company and that way they are not taxed to hell for my passing. Inheritance tax in the States is out of control.

Best,
Jonathan

Yepper, that kinda of tax makes no sense to me...

Hi Madilaide,

 If we all go then my stuff is up for grabs over what blood can fight the hardest for it : )

Best,
Jonathan

When I passed a certain threshold and I considered my microstock income to be meaningful, I created a list of instructions and passwords for my wife to log in to each site and request earnings as they accumulate.  I assume as long as she is able to do so, I won't need to state anything legally in a will, but maybe there's more to consider.  Would anybody challenge my wife's ability to log in to my accounts and request PayPal payouts? Hmmmm.... maybe I need to consult an attorney after all.

One thing I neglected to consider is the tax question.  The agencies which required us US contributors to fill out a W9... those agencies will continue to submit information to the IRS after we die.  Those who "inherit" our earnings in the unofficial way I previously outlined would be responsible to file a tax return in our names, which is probably illegal (to submit a return for a deceased person... maybe you can for an "estate"?) or go through the process at each agency to change profile information and update the W9s to their names.  I wonder if any of the agencies would have problems with this...?

That is really something to consider. I have thought about it every once in awhile and realize those images will sit on those sites forever unless the site goes out of business and if they continue to sell that income will just pile up forever and ever. And sites like Shutterstock will send you a 1099 at the end of the year to you after you're dead. I don't think the IRS would be understanding on this matter. You would have to go through a probate process to get the income put into your name and would have to show you inherited the copyright. More than likely I would assume the sites would remove your images. Depending on the country and the agency they more than likely wouldn't coraparate and if there was any large sums of money you'd proubably have to end up taking them to court and that would cost a fortune.....so the stock company would again hold on to the money so they can cushion their coffers.

the most recent comments have indeed open up this thread to dig deeper into this matter. i am glad because i remember reading somewhere that in Canada, for example, the Bank of Canada has lots of money transferred to them due the deceased persons bank account that laid dorment after the account holders demise. many of these contain lots of money because of mental failure, eg. alzheimer, senility,etc. 

the same stockpiling (arghhh, terrible pun) can apply to stock accounts  under many circumstances.
individually, we could turn a blind eye to say, "oh well, it's only a couple of dollars". but as a consortium, this could accumulate to something substantial for the stock agencies.

much like real estates that sprawl many countries where beneficiaries neglect to claim or simply ignore their inheritance, to leave the property to deteriorate into derelicts .  but in this particular case , commissions do not deteriorate if left dorment and unclaimed by the contributors or heirs.

as i said, we don't want to think about it, because it's about death.
 

This is a question worth posing to get clarifications, at least to the bigger sites.  Maybe I'll shoot off a question to the admins at SS, IS, DT and FT to ask them that if a contributor dies, can the spouse log in and update payment information into his/her name and update the social security number and other pertinent info.  It would really bother me to think they might prevent this.  I have come to see my microstock revenue as a sort of secondary life insurance that would provide a nice dividend for my family at least for a little while after my death.

Good suggestion...let us know what you find out. hopefully it will be what we'd like to hear.

Good suggestion...let us know what you find out. hopefully it will be what we'd like to hear.

OK, I have sent the question to SS, IS, DT and FT... will post the answers here as I get them.