Estate planning. It’s the new thing in my life. Having a kid switched up a lot. Now there’s not just me and my missus plus our stuff (artwork, furniture, hard drives of footage) which is scattered between the US Europe and Asia thanks to a decade of being nomadic, this new factor of a child means serious #adulting…but what the f**k does this really mean?
Making this video and shooting still pictures for Seattle based boutique law firm LayRoots was a blessing in disguise as not only have I had to start the process of sorting out guardianship papers i.e what happens to the little man if me and the missus kick the bucket, who takes him, how will he be looked after, but i’m now thinking about the monies we have, the royalties on the books and films I earn, our estate – what happens to it all?!
So now I think about my own death on a fairly regular basis, which i’m told is actually healthy. Forecasting your own death means control. If you can start thinking about dying a bit more, you can also start thinking about sorting sh*t out so your kid does’t have to. You get to minimise being shafted by the man and maybe, just maybe you might even make a bit of coin by being smart.
As an ‘emerging artist’ aka a struggling filmmaker and part time author, i’ve had a good decade with the wifey bouncing around the tropics and avoiding real adulting. But my eyes are a bit more open to the fact that I am my own business and I need to get my affairs in order whilst i’m still breathing so I can preserve my work, legacy, art and artistic vision and not let my kid, family, randoms, or a court deal with it.
If you’re worried about your work or your assets or you’re clueless like I was about how you gonna deal with things, just send a message to Colin or Shreya over at LayRoots. They can help with the small details or the larger issues. And if you would like to see more of what I do, check out my shop here.
