TV sitcom syndication payouts…. What happens when an actor dies? (1 Viewer)

[eoMMan]

All of the Friends cast was making great money from the show being in syndication. When one of them passes, does that money just stay with the production company? Does it keep getting paid to the actor’s estate? For how long?

 

[belljr]

Although SAG-AFTRA is responsible for administering these payments, residuals are the personal property of the performer, who may leave them to anyone in a will or trust. If a performer fails to make an estate plan, residuals would then pass under the intestacy laws of the state governing the person's estate.Sep 26, 2014
https://www.sandiegoestateplanninglawyerblog.com › ...

Collecting Payments After Your Death​

 

[Runkle]

All of the Friends cast was making great money from the show being in syndication. When one of them passes, does that money just stay with the production company? Does it keep getting paid to the actor’s estate? For how long?

Definitely the estate. In fact, they were probably never paid to the actor as a person anyway. Almost all professional actors incorporate and the payments are to their loan-out corporation. Shares in that would be divided to his heirs.