Prior to his untimely demise, Matthew Perry was allegedly making a sizable sum of money from his most famous role as Chandler Bing in the television series Friends. Perry received $20 million year in royalties from streaming and syndication. On October 28, Perry seemed to drown and passed away. Just after 4 p.m., his body was found in the hot tub of his Pacific Palisades neighborhood house.
The actor’s estate is likely the owner of whatever residual income they get. The remaining payments are regarded as their personal property once they pass away. Charlie Douglas, a licensed financial advisor and the head of Atlanta’s HH Legacy Investments, told NBC News that there are three possible outcomes for Perry’s money under California law.
First, contracts between the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists provide members to choose dependents to receive residual income in the event of their death. If this is true, Perry may have mentioned specific names here.
Douglas said that Perry could have chosen to designate a trust as the beneficiary as an alternative to designating a specific person. In such a scenario, the residuals would go to the trust, with conditions attached to who may get them. Trusts are private, therefore we might never find out who will receive the money.
Third, it’s possible that Perry did not designate any beneficiaries at all, in which case his estate plan would be determined by state law.
“It’s quite possible that, not having a spouse or children, he didn’t [write in] anything,” Douglas mentioned.
Perry is single and has never been married. Perry’s parents might choose to accept a “qualified disclaimer” in this situation, giving up their claim to the residuals. Douglas said the money would go to his half-siblings in this instance. “It’s not unheard of at all that wealthy parents make disclaimers,” he added.
“Probate is especially undesirable in California because it’s expensive, time-consuming and an invasion of privacy [since] all court matters are public record,” mentioned David Oh, head of tax and estate planning at Arta Finance.
He elucidated that for celebrities like Perry “not having an estate plan creates confusion, attracts unwanted media attention and can cause family disputes.”
In a 2022 conversation with a media outlet, Perry stated, “When I die, I know people will talk about ‘Friends,’ ‘Friends,’ ‘Friends.” And I’m glad of that, happy I’ve done some solid work as an actor … But when I die, as far as my so-called accomplishments go, it would be nice if ‘Friends’ were listed far behind the things I did to try to help other people. I know it won’t happen, but it would be nice.”
