After an Author's Death

[Shreddies]

So, say an author dies but leaves behind unfinished work. Or nearly finished work.

I was wondering who, if anyone, would compile and publish those stories. I thought it would be his children, but what if the author is unmarried and has none?

Also, would it be any different if the author was a professor rather than a novelist, and his work was academic in nature?

 

[Steerpike]

Generally, ownership of the work will pass to the author's heirs. If the author has a will, the author may have specified precisely who obtains ownership of the work. If there is no will, then the property passes according to statute (which can vary from state to state in the U.S.), for example to wife, children, parents, siblings, more distant relatives, or whatever the statute authorizes. From a legal standpoint, in terms of ownership, the academic nature wouldn't make it any different.

 

[GregorsMentor]

Many authors will name a literary executor to handle their published and unpublished works, this is usually a trusted friend, fellow writer or former student.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

In essence all of the author's works, published and not, are a part of his estate. Whover is the executor of the estate will determine according to the authors provisions in his will and of course the law, who gets what. If the author has no heirs, then the general understanding is that the estate goes to the state - i.e. government. Then they will decide what to do with it. In New Zealand this would be the Public Trust I assume, and if I knew an author had passed with unfinished / unpublished work and wanted to publish it myself, I would have to make application to them. I assume that the same would hold elsewhere.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[CupofJoe]

Could the unfinished/unpublished work not be the property of the publishing company?
If the author had signed a three book deal, taken an advance and then died before book 3 was handed over, would not the Publishers want something for their money? or their money back?
In academia it is not uncommon for unfinished work to pass to the coauthors and for them to finish the book, monogram, paper etc. As an example, a beloved friend died early last year and they have a book coming out "Summer 2013"...

 

[GregorsMentor]

I could see an estate owing a publisher money from an advance but I have trouble seeing a scenario where an estate would be forced to publish an unfinished book based on a contract signed before death. Death usually voids contracts. A lot of estates will publish posthumous works, either because they were closed to done or for the money, but that would involve a separate contract between the publisher and the executor.

 

[Shockley]

Sometimes the work gets thrown to a ghost writer (Michael Crichton) or a new writer (Brandon Sanderson) and sees the light of day. Sometimes the family will just make things coherent and toss it out for the world to see (J. R. R. Tolkien). Sometimes, (I'm thinking V. C. Andrews here) they never even make it clear the original author has died and just keep pumping things out with their name, using it as little more than a fancy cash cow.

Legally, that's up to the author and anyone who has any legal claim to the work. But the above is what usually happens.