For Songwriters

Who Inherits Your Songs? A Gentle Guide to Estate Planning for Songwriters

By the Starchild Music team · November 1, 2026 · 5 min read

A songwriter's desk by a window at dusk with a lit candle, a vase of orange marigolds, an acoustic guitar leaning on the wall, and an open notebook beside a wooden box tied with string

The short answer

In the U.S., a copyright is property that can pass by will or by inheritance law, and it lasts for the writer's life plus 70 years. Royalty societies need paperwork before they can pay your heirs, so name your songs in your estate plan, keep a catalog map and an account list where someone you trust can find them, and talk with an estate attorney.

At the start of November, many families remember the people they have lost. UNESCO says that, as practised by the Indigenous communities of Mexico, el Día de los Muertos commemorates the transitory return to Earth of deceased relatives and loved ones, with festivities each year from the end of October to the beginning of November.

For a songwriter, remembering has a practical side too. Songs outlive the people who wrote them. This guide is about making sure the people you love can find your songs, collect what they earn, and keep your name on the work. It is general information, not legal or tax advice.

Songs last longer than we do

Under the Copyright Act, a work created on or after January 1, 1978 is protected for the life of the author plus 70 years. For a joint work by authors who did not work for hire, the 70 years run from the death of the last surviving author. A catalog you build now can still be earning for your family long after you have stopped writing.

A copyright is property, so it can be left to someone

The Copyright Act says ownership of a copyright may be bequeathed by will or pass as personal property by the applicable laws of intestate succession. That is the law's way of deciding heirs when there is no will. In plain words, if you do nothing, the law decides who gets your songs. If you plan, you decide.

SOCAN, Canada's performing rights organization, makes a point worth remembering: while authorship of your copyright will never change, the beneficiary of your royalties can. Your name stays on the song. Who gets paid is up to your plan.

What royalty organizations need before they pay your family

Each society has its own process, so ask yours now. Two published examples show the pattern.

SOCAN asks beneficiaries to contact it to set up an estate account, with a death certificate, a copy of the will and probate documents (or a letter of administration where there is no will), and each beneficiary's details. It notes that royalties are taxable, which is why it needs those details to issue tax forms, and it urges you to get legal and tax help.
Teosto, Finland's music rights society, says a deceased author's membership agreement is transferred to their estate or heirs. It asks for estate documents, warns that processing takes time, and says royalties are held and paid retrospectively once the required documents arrive. When several heirs share the songs, they must name one person to deal with Teosto for all of them.

If you co-wrote with someone who has passed

A co-writer's share does not disappear. The same section of the Copyright Act means it goes to whoever inherits it, so the person to ask about the song is now their executor or heir. Splits on paper help everyone: Songtrust warns that without a split sheet, your PRO, publisher or administrator cannot confirm your ownership percentage if there is a conflict. See our guide to listing a co-written song.

Make a catalog map for the people who will need it

Imagine someone who has never seen your files trying to understand your catalog. Give them a map.

Two legal write-ups point the same way. Attorney Reshaun Finkley, writing for Hypebot, recommends keeping contracts together with your manager or lawyer, and keeping a list of every song with its release details and royalty splits. Romano Law's checklist for composers and songwriters adds a master list of usernames and passwords, works registered with your PRO and The MLC, and someone told where all of it is kept. Ask your attorney how to store login details safely.

Every song, with writers, splits, and the PRO and IPI for each writer.
Where each song is registered: your PRO, The MLC and the Copyright Office, with any numbers.
Who owns each recording, and where the agreements are.
Where the audio and session files live.
Every account that pays you: your PRO, The MLC, any administrator or distributor, and any marketplace dashboard and payout account.
The people to call: your attorney, your accountant and your co-writers.

Choose someone who knows music

An executor handles a whole estate, and your catalog is only one part of it. Finkley suggests choosing an estate administrator who is familiar with the music business. Romano Law goes further: work with a local trusts and estates attorney, because estate law is largely governed by state law, bring in an entertainment lawyer with copyright expertise, and consider naming a separate music or arts executor, with backups.

Record changes in ownership

The Copyright Office describes a transfer of copyright ownership as including a transfer by will or intestate succession. It says recording a transfer with the Office is voluntary, but that the law gives recorded documents certain advantages, such as priority between conflicting transfers. An heir may want to ask the Office, or a lawyer, about recording the documents that show the change.

If your songs are listed on a marketplace

On Starchild, partners keep their copyright and earn 50% of each sale, minus the payment fee. Sales show in the dashboard as they happen, and earnings withdraw through Stripe. Put the account on your list, and tell the person who will need it that it exists. Each platform sets its own steps, so they can ask its support what is required.

When a share changes hands, the writer and publisher details on a song need to change too. Partners can edit them from the song library, and the updates flow to every license certificate, including ones already issued.

A short list for this week

Write a rough catalog map. A rough one beats none.
List your accounts, and tell one person where the list is.
Ask your PRO and The MLC what they would need from an executor.
Book a conversation with an estate attorney, and ask them to read the part about your songs.
Check that the splits on every co-written song are on paper.

Sources

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