Celebrity Estates: Buddy Holly

Charles Hardin “Buddy” Holly wrote such hits as Not Fade Away, Peggy Sue, Listen to Me, and Every Day. Between 1957 and 1958, Buddy Holly and the Crickets had 7 different singles in the Top 40. The Beatles were quoted to say that the music of Buddy Holly was their single greatest and most important influence. In 1986 he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and in 1996 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.

Unfortunately, the accolades and awards were mostly earned postmortem. On February 3, 1959, Buddy Holly died in a tragic plane crash shortly after taking off in a small airplane, flying from Iowa to Moorhead, Minnesota. There are, however, a few lessons we can learn from how his estate was administered.

Buddy Holly’s Estate

Buddy Holly first recorded music in 1956. His music career was very short - only four years long. He began his career playing music influenced by gospel and country music. It was only after opening for none other than Elvis Presley that Buddy Holly’s music took a turn to Rock & Roll. While he was a budding musician and his music became well known after his death, his estate was relatively modest at the time of his death.

When he died, Buddy Holly was only 22 years old. He was married to Maria Elena Santiago-Holly, but only for a year at the time of his death. Buddy Holly died “intestate” - meaning he had no will or other estate planning in place. When someone dies intestate, the courts follow the laws of intestacy to determine who - what heirs and other interested parties - receive the estate.

New York Intestacy Laws

While Buddy Holly died in Iowa, he resided in New York at the time of his death. Accordingly, it was the laws of the State of New York that governed his estate. Modern New York laws of intestacy are enshrined in EPTL 4-1.1.

The laws were most certainly different in some respects in 1959 when Buddy Holly died, but the first rule - that if a one of a married couple dies intestate and they have no children, the surviving spouse inherits everything - seems to be no different today than it was back then.

What Actually Happened

When Buddy Holly’s estate went to probate, the Court deemed that Buddy Holly’s wife, Maria Elena Santiago-Holly, was the sole heir-at-law. Mrs. Santiago-Holly inherited the entire estate, which amounted to approximately $60k in royalties. That may not seem like much, but adjusted for inflation, it was approximately worth $1 million. Notably, it included the rights to Buddy Holly’s name, image, and related trademark, and several other intellectual properties, including his royalties. The estate went on to earn millions over the following years.

Mrs. Santiago-Holly had no obligation to give any of the estate to Buddy Holly’s parents (her in-laws), but even so, she gave them half of the rights to Buddy Holly’s music. This was done of her own free will - there was no legal claim asserted by the parents on the estate, and this does not appear to be a part of any settlement. Notably, Mrs. Santiago-Holly was a fierce protector of the Estate of Buddy Holly, and there was, over the years, litigation between her and her in-laws.

Lessons from the Estate of Buddy Holly

One thing to take away from the Estate of Buddy Holly is that the laws of intestacy are inflexible. If an unmarried person has, for example, an only child that they have disowned and not been in contact with for decades, has no estate planning in place, and then dies, guess who inherits the entire estate?

In the Estate of Buddy Holly, there was no obligation for Mrs. Santiago-Holly to give anything to Buddy Holly’s parents. That was done independently, possibly from the goodness of her heart. What if, under different circumstances, Maria Elena Santiago-Holly and Buddy Holly were not officially married. Even if they were planning on getting married, even if they had been together for 50 years, she would have gotten nothing. The law of intestacy recognizes blood, marriage, and adoption, and very little if nothing else.

The other take away from the Estate of Buddy Holly is that 22 years old is not too young to do your estate planning. If you have started or will soon begin accumulating assets, have started a family, gotten married, or had a child, putting together a will or trust can be a huge gift to your family and friends in case of an untimely death. Even if none of those apply, putting together a durable power of attorney and health care directive is important the second you turn 18.

If you are interested in finding out what kind of estate planning is appropriate for your situation, please contact Signature Law for a free consultation!