Estate Planning

Kafka: A New Twist - The Unpublished Works

By Hull & Hull LLP

Franz Kafka left a will instructing his friend, Max Brod, to burn his manuscripts and not to publish them.  However, Brod spent much of his life editing Kafka's work for publication, making Kafka's writings into very influential pieces of fiction.  However, Brod's life work, and his alleged actions are currently under scrutiny in Israeli courts.

It appears that certain Kafka manuscripts have fallen into the hands of two sisters who received them from their mother.   Their mother, Esther Hoffe, received them from Max Brod, some 20 - 30 years after Kafka's death.   The sisters allegedly sold some manuscripts for millions of dollars and shared the profits with their mother.   Others purportedly remain in a safety deposit box.

This matter is currently before Israeli courts and it appears that there is some debate about the manner in which the manuscripts were received.  It further appears that true ownership of the documents is being contested, and the courts have given the parties involved, including the State of Israel and the National Library, an opportunity to settle this matter out of court.  The settlement deadline expired last week.  If the parties have not yet reached a settlement, the courts have indicated that they will order the safety deposit box where the manuscripts are being held to be opened, potentially damaging the manuscripts and reducing their value.

The outcome of this litigation will surely be interesting from an Estate perspective, but also may provide us with several new literary works from a truly famous author.   Only time will tell if the world will be gifted with such new works. 

Until Tomorrow,

Nadia
 

Full post as published by Toronto Estate Law Blog on January 20, 2010 (boomark / email).