Every Little T’ing Wasn’t All Right- A Review of Bob Marley’s Estate

Rumor has it that Bob Marley, upon learning that his death was imminent, asked his attorney about his choice to not execute a will (Kaminsky, 2020). The attorney is said to have replied, “Every little t’ing’s gonna be all right.” The absence of a will did not end “all right” for his family.

“Don’t you rock my boat . . . keep it steady like this.” Unlike many stories of someone passing away without a will, Marley’s case was a deliberate one. His Rastafarian faith didn’t permit a belief in death. So, its not surprising that made a conscious decision not to plan. As Rocco Beatrice, Managing Director of Estate Street Planners, LLC, which is the parent company of UltraTrust.com (2014), says, “[Marley] inadvertently created a lengthy probate mess that is bound to continue for many decades. This could have been avoided with an irrevocable trust in the proper jurisdiction.”

In an interview featured in the documentary of his life, Time Will Tell (Lowney, 1992), Marley said “My home is inna my head.” Something that legal documents could have established is domicile. Although he lived in Wilmington, Delaware in 1966, and in London England within 2 years of his death, his estate was settled intestate in his home country, Jamaica. Under Jamaican law of intestacy, Marley's widow, Rita, was entitled to only 10% of her husband's $30 million estate and held a life estate in another 45%. Marley's 11 children (4 by his wife and 7 by other women) were entitled to equal shares in the other 45% as well as a remainder interest in Rita's life estate. 55% would stay in Bob Marley’s estate instead of passing to his heirs (Kaminsky, 2020).

A common estate planning mistake by those who have a will is failure to update it with life events like marriages, divorces, and births of children. Without stating the names of heirs in writing, the estate can be tied up for years while the administrators respond to claims from strangers purporting themselves as rightful heirs. “When the court advertised for heirs, [there were] hundreds stepped forth claiming to be Marley’s offspring (Caribbean National Weekly (CNW) 2016). Other celebrities, like Heath Ledger (Pitsker 2018) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Goldsmith et al, 2018), have inadvertently disinherited children or subjected their estates to challenges by failing to update their documents after the births of children.

“I Shot the Sherriff.” With Marley’s apparent distrust of government officials, it is a bit surprising that by not selecting an executor of a will or a trustee of a trust, he was putting his estate into the hands of a court. A court-appointed administrator of the estate proved to be an antagonist of the family. The administrator attempted to evict Marley’s mother from a house her son had given her (but not legally transferred). He also tried to have property seized from Marley’s widow and accused her of illegally diverting royalty money that should have been part of the contested estate (CNW 2016).

Other celebrities whose estates were tangled in trouble because of promises made by spoken word only were J. Howard Marshall III & Anna Nicole Smith (Goldsmith et al, 2018), Marlon Brando & his housekeeper, and Olympic sprinter Florence Griffith-Joyner & her mother (Pitsker 2018). As Goldsmith et al remind us, “oral promises are not the same as written contacts, especially in family matters (2018).”

“Stand Up for Your Rights.” The family was immediately concerned after learning the absence of a will meant that the estate, not they, owned the rights to Marley's name and likeness (Kaminsky, 2020). When MCA records tried to buy the Marley catalog of music from the estate, Chris Blackwell loaned $11.5MM to the Marley family and the Jamaican Supreme Court sided with the family’s desires to be the purchaser (CNW 2016). Once the owner, the family has continuously fought unauthorized use of Marley’s likeness on products of all kinds.

How much has all of this been worth to the family? Just in economic terms, Forbes magazine listed Bob Marley as 2019’s 5th highest earners among dead celebrities, at $20MM that year.  As was suggested by the attorney mentioned earlier , “[Marley] inadvertently created a lengthy probate mess that is bound to continue for many decades. This could have been avoided with an irrevocable trust in the proper jurisdiction.”

If the jurisdiction were established in the United States through a will, trust, and corporations/companies, US law could have governed the administration of Marley's estate. He and his family could have accomplished the following:

●    Even if he didn’t want to decide how his estate would be divided, it would have helped those who were administering his estate to have a defined list of his heirs (his children). This would have been especially useful since he had at least 7 children with women other than his wife.

●    With a trust, he (rather than the court) could have appointed trustees to provide for his, his wife’s, his marital children’s, and the non-marital children’s, or their guardians’ livelihood based on whatever religious or other principles he valued. This would have allowed him to delegate the management of his affairs in closer accordance with his feeling about wealth (Lowney, 1992).

●    By including the use of special powers of appointment in his legal documents, he could have delegated a lot of flexibility to the trustees and heirs to work in the best interest of his children. While Marley’s heirs weren’t allowed lump-sum payments at potentially young ages, they weren’t allowed access to the principal at all. The absence of trusts removed the option of having access to principal, and for heirs to disclaim their shares of inheritance for their mother, or their own children (Goldsmith et al, 2018).

●    The Marley Foundation could have started its philanthropic work 20 years earlier had the heirs not been embroiled in a legal fight with an antagonistic administrator for 10 years, followed by 10 years of paying back the money they borrowed to buy the rights to Marley’s music and likeness from the estate.

This case is a good example that everyone has a will and an estate plan, whether it is written by the individual, or by the state.

Caribbean National Weekly. (2016). This Day in History: Bob Marley’s estate is settled in court and left to his family. https://www.caribbeannationalweekly.com/uncategorized/day-history-bob-marleys-estate-settled-court-left-family/

Goldsmith, Jessica Galligan, Kamen, Shaina S., Lazo, Christiana M., Posner, David J., & Steiner, Bruce D. (2018). Celebrity Estate Planning: Misfires of the Rich and Famous. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/real_property_trust_estate/publications/probate-property-magazine/2018/july-august-2018/celebrity-estate-planning/

Greenburg, Zach O’Malley. (2019). The Top-earning Dead Celebrities of 2019. https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2019/10/30/the-top-earning-dead-celebrities-of--2019/

Kaminsky, Michelle. (2020). Administrating the Bob Marley Estate: Are the Marleys Waiting in Vain? Legalzoom.com. https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/administrating-the-bob-marley-estate-are-the-marleys-waiting-in-vain

Lowney, Declan (Director). (1992). Time Will Tell. (1992). [Film: Documentary, Biography, Music].

Ultratrust.com. (2014). Bob Marley's Estate Planning Battle Continues to Explode 33 Years Later, Claims UltraTrust.com [Press Release]. https://www.prweb.com/releases/bob_marley/estate_planning/prweb11863718.htm

 This information is not intended to be a substitute for individualized legal advice. Please consult your legal advisor regarding your specific situation.

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