Dandy, thanks for the reply! I've been off the net for a few days (due to some bad storms we've had), so I just read your reply today. The Royalties vary, depending on the amount of airplay, record sales, etc. I'm not too worried right now because I haven't had a major cut (such as Garth Brooks)! So far, the biggest thing that's happened is a young man sang one of our songs on the Jenny Jones Show (got a nice fat check for that one). But, I do have a lot of promising artist singing my songs and looking for record deals. If any of these artist become a major, or if a major hears one of the songs and wants to re-record it, the money could amount to quite a bit. I could get a hit song 20 years from now, but be dead. So, I'd want my kids to have the checks. They are all young adults so I guess I'll meet with an attorney as to what to do about the will. It just never occured to me until recently that I should protect the kids. I guess it would be like a book author. If he/she died, who would get the proceeds of the book sales if there were no will? I assumed the proceeds would automatically go to the heirs. But, I guess I'm wrong.
I appreciate your congrats about my songwriting! It's something I really love. I waited to raise my kids before following my dream as a writer. It just took took much out of me to raise kids and write. One or the other would get neglected, and I didn't want it to be the kids. If you like country music, you can check out our songwriter's site at
www.demosongshop.com
Once again, I want to thank you for the advice. I think I better see an attorney in person, rather than try to do a will myself on the Internet. I was looking at the documents online and don't understand all this legal talk!! You've been a great help. Have a wonderful day!
Marlee