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1. A child's earnings under a court approved
contract to perform in a feature film approved prior to Jan. 1, 2000,
belong to the minor's parents.
2. A child's modeling contract with K-Mart is
subject to the Coogan Law.
3. All of the earnings of a minor under a
contract described in Family Code §6750 are subject to the
guardianship law as set forth in the California Probate Code.
4. A minor's contract under §6750 may be
disaffirmed by the minor if it is not approved by the court.
5. Monies set aside in a Coogan account under the
minor's contract are not subject to Probate Court jurisdiction in
the minor's guardianship.
6. The parents of a minor who has performed in a
few successful commercials, has earned a total of $4,000 (after taxes)
and is about to sign a new contract under which she will receive
$2,000 need not file a petition with the Probate Court to determine
how to hold those funds.
7. The most business flexibility and legal
certainty when dealing with highly paid minors in a rock band is
provided by a probate guardianship.
8. A minor rock star cannot enter into a mutually
binding (non-disaffirmable) contract with a music industry manager
without a guardian being appointed to represent his estate.
9. If the parents of a successful minor
playwright have been appointed guardians of her estate, they can pay
themselves fees as her literary agent if the Probate Court has
approved their agency agreement.
10. With prior Probate Court approval, a
minor's guardian may purchase a residence for the minor and his or
her family with the minor's estate, even if the purchase requires
encumbering the property with a purchase money first trust deed.
11. A minor who is living temporarily in Los
Angeles County may have a guardianship established there for his or
her estate.
12. A guardian of a minor's estate must be
bonded for an amount of the guardian's own choosing.
13. A guardian may pay legal fees due to his
child's entertainment attorney without prior court approval.
14. A guardian must file an annual accounting to
the Probate Court of all of his or her receipts and disbursements,
reporting all purchases, sales and other transactions and requesting
compensation for themselves and their attorneys.
15. The most significant change in the Coogan Law
in January 2000, was that all of a minor's earnings under a contract
described in Family Code §6750 now belong to the minor and not to his
or her parents.
16. A guardian who discloses all transactions in
a regularly filed accounting may not be held liable for fully
disclosed transactions with no fraud involved, even after the minor
attains majority.
17. Without a guardianship, a minor may form a
valid personal service corporation and enter into a non-disaffirmable
contract with the loan out company and the loan out with the
production company, if the contracts are court approved.
18. The natural parents of a minor may be
appointed guardians of his or her estate without a noticed hearing in
Los Angeles County.
19. The Probate Court may authorize all of the
minor's funds to be held and invested under a custodianship under
the California Uniform Transfers to Minors Act.
20. Now that the minor owns his or her earnings
under a contract described in Family Code §6750, the Coogan Law
protects the production companies more than minors. |
