A while back, Tessa sent me an older episode of The Daily from the New York Times which tells the story of a celebrated filmmaker named Ezra Edelman who spent years trying to unlock the life of Prince — and reportedly produced something described as a cinematic masterpiece. The catch is that almost no one will ever see it. Since Prince died in 2016 without a will, control of his estate fell into a legal and familial tug-of-war among his heirs, and the people now holding the keys to his legacy have chosen to keep that documentary locked away. A man who controlled every note of his music, every frame of his image, and every inch of his story during his lifetime left none of those decisions in writing. His story, and his legacy, is therefore being written and controlled by others.
The lesson here is a hard one, but a clear one: your estate plan is your movie. If you don’t write it, someone else will direct it. Prince’s family may never see that film. His fans will never see it. The work exists, and it sits on a shelf because the right paperwork was not created before he died. Whether you have built a business, a home, a collection, some wealth, a legacy deserves a plan that puts the right people in charge and reflects your actual wishes. Without it, the people you love most may be left watching someone else’s version of your story play out in probate court.
