Artist Legacy and Estate Planning Clinic

The death of the artist is inevitable, but artistic legacy can avoid a similar fate. So what happens with an artist’s works after death? Secondary market sales for artists can be an assurance that the artist’s creative output will live on well after the artist themself; yet, relatively few artists reach those secondary markets, leading to the potential loss of 20th and 21st century art. This fact does not escape artists dealing with these uncertainties and ambiguities. 

Artists have options when determining where their art will go and how it will be distributed by their estate. While art transcends time and space, artistic legacy, estate management, and intellectual property are complicated and practical issues that artists should address in due time. The Center for Art Law is rolling up its sleeves and pooling together a taskforce of estate and legacy planning resources and professionals to guide artists and their heirs through this difficult process.

The Artist Legacy and Estate Planning Clinic connects artists, estate administrators, attorneys, tax advisors, and other experts to create meaningful and lasting solutions for expanding the art canon and art legacy planning.

In addition to one-on-one pro bono consultations, the Clinic will offer primers on how to start assessing the physical and IP assets artists create throughout their lives and how their works and influence can have a lasting impact on their community, contemporaries, and generations of artists and viewers. 

Upcoming Clinic Events

Join the Center for Art Law’s Artist Legacy and Estate Planning Clinic for an evening of low-cost consultations with attorneys, tax experts, and other arts professionals with experience in estate and legacy planning.  After a Keynote Address on Legacy and Estate Planning, each participating artist will be paired with a Volunteer Professional for a confidential 20-min discussion.

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Past Programming

To view or gain more information about our previous programming, please visit our Event Archives.

Volunteer Attorneys and Professionals

Leslie Calero | Art Appraiser, Department of Appraisals

Christopher Wise | Risk and Insurance Management, Risk Strategies

Elizabeth Devolder | Founding Attorney, Elizabeth Devolder Law Office

Amanda Nelson | Principal, Atrium Amore

Ashley Burke | Appraiser, Burke & Co. Fine Art Consultants

Galina Portnoy | CPA, TAG Associates

Charles T Rosoff | Appraiser, ASA MRICS

David J. Bright | Attorney, Pugh Hagan Prahm

If you are interested in participating in the EPC, please write to clinic@oldprod-itsartlaw.altumagency.com 

FAQs

Who may register?

• The 1:1 consultations that occur at the Clinic are suitable to any visual artist interested in planning for their future estate and legacy that has concerns about the process as a whole or where to start. Additionally, all are welcome to attend and listen to the Keynote Address.
• The Clinic best serves those artists who have no attorneys and are seeking a first-time legal consultation. If you already attended a session of the Visual Artists’ Legacy and Estate Planning Clinic, we encourage you to reach out to the attorney(s) you already met with (contact information is in the handouts distributed at the session).

How do I register?

• Pre-registration is mandatory for a $10 fee.
• Registration takes place through Eventbrite, where you will need to fill out a confidential intake form which will enable us to find you the assistance that you need.
• Dial-in details and other instructions will be emailed once registration has been confirmed; be sure to check your emails in the days leading up to the Clinic.

How do I prepare for the Clinic?

You can prepare a list of questions and concerns you have about planning your estate to discuss during the consultation.

What happens after the Clinic?

The Center for Art Law will be providing estate planning law guides and the contact information of the Volunteer Attorneys and Professionals participating in each session.

If you wish to pursue the conversation with the Volunteer Attorneys or Professionals participating in the session, you should reach out to them directly!

VERY IMPORTANT:

• Attending this legal clinic does not create an attorney-client relationship.
• The information provided during the individual strategy session does not constitute legal advice.
• All the information shared during the Clinic will be kept confidential.

If you have any further questions, please contact us.

Media Features

The East Hampton Star, Estate Planning for Artists, by Mark Segal (December 9, 2021).