By Sierra Pawlak
In her October 2025 Webinar, “Copyright in the Afterlife: Estate Planning Tips for Authors”, Brenda Ulrich, an intellectual property attorney with Archstone Law, shared how authors can set up their heirs for success. She detailed how copyright differs from other assets in an estate plan, how best to divide up your literary works, and how to appoint a literary trustee or executor. For more, you can listen to her presentation here.

What is Copyright?

“Copyright is a form of property,” said Ulrich. “It’s intellectual property. Just like a house is real property, jewelry is considered personal property, and money is fungible property. They are all items of value, and they are all assets of your estate.” When creating an estate plan, it’s important to clearly state who will receive which assets. If you don’t specify what should happen with an asset, it typically falls into your residual estate. While that might be fine for household items like furniture or clothing, or even money, it’s not ideal for copyrights. Because copyrights are intangible assets that need to be managed in a certain way, they can be difficult for your heirs to identify or benefit from if you don’t explain what they are and how to legally use them.

Setting Up Your Heirs for Success

One of the best things you can do is to make a list of your copyrighted works, said Ulrich. That way your heirs don’t have to dig through your electronic and paper files to try and make sense of things without you. Her advice:

• Write down the titles, whether or not they’re published, and if they are stored as electronic or paper files.
• Provide specifics about where they’re stored, e.g., file and folder names or what box in your office they’re in.
• Write down the login or password information needed to access the files.

You don’t have to give your heirs this information now—it can be a memo for later. “I’m well aware that everybody’s least favorite thing to do is to organize their files,” said Ulrich. “But if you don’t want to organize all your files, do you think your heirs are going to want to do this? And who’s in a better position to make sense of it all, you or them?”

While organizing all of this may not be enjoyable, you are the best person for the job. You know your work better than anyone else, and creating this roadmap is truly a gift to your heirs. Without it, they may be completely unaware of what copyrights exist, where to find them, or how to manage them. By also including instructions for what you want done with each asset, you give your heirs the guidance they need to honor your wishes.

Division of Copyright Between Heirs

In your will, you can specify who receives what copyright assets. For instance, if you have a spouse and two or three children, you might be tempted to divide ownership equally among them. However, Ulrich advised against this: “It’s setting things up for problems because heirs can disagree. What if one heir wants to self-publish the work, another wants to license it, while another wants to sell it? It can lead to problems just trying to manage the copyrights.” This can also complicate matters for publishers, especially if they must track down and negotiate with several people who may not agree on key decisions. Ulrich recommends designating one person to control the copyright while others share in the financial benefits to ensure smoother management.

Literary Executors/Trustees

A literary executor and a literary trustee serve essentially the same function: managing your literary works. A literary executor is appointed in a will, while a literary trustee is named in a trust. “You might appoint a general trustee or executor to manage your whole estate and then identify a separate literary trustee or executor just to manage your literary assets, which includes copyrights,” she said. “If you put [your copyright] under the control of this literary trustee or executor, then that’s one person who is controlling it and can make decisions for the benefit of your heirs.” Ideally, Ulrich recommends that this person to be younger than you, given that copyrights in the U.S. last for the author’s lifetime and an additional 70 years. She also recommends someone who is familiar with your works and the publishing industry in general. This could be an accountant who manages your royalties, a publishing lawyer who handles your contracts, or a spouse that has been actively involved in helping you in your career.

Just as you would for your heirs, try to organize your copyrights for your literary trustee or executor. You should compile your publishing contracts, royalty statements, login portals for your royalties, contract information for your publisher, and bank information where payment is made. You can make this part of your plan or include it in a separate memo that you provide to your estate planning lawyer and/or your heirs. Ulrich stressed that you should include plenty of information in your estate plan about how to locate and contact the literary executor or literary trustee. You should include their name, contact information, where they work, and any other information that can assist your heirs in finding them.

Generally, a literary trustee or executor is appointed at the time you make your estate plan or is added as an addendum to your will or trust, said Ulrich. Estates are governed by state law, so you will need a trust and estate lawyer who is licensed in your state to help you set up your estate plan and to appoint a literary executor or trustee.

To learn more about these topics and others, such as published vs. unpublished works, donating your work to an institution or nonprofit organization, and more, watch Brenda Ulrich’s full webinar.