[Duanemclemore]

I can only imagine that he pledged his actual papers to a museum or University film school a long time ago. It's not uncommon to do that well before you pass away. And you / your estate gets a very substantial tax break for it.

So I would -definitely- guess this is what's left after anything of scholarly or creative value was taken care of.

I mean - the sale of two of the three adjacent properties he owns just off Mulholland would be enough to keep those inheriting his estate going for a while on their own. I doubt "everything must go" to pay off creditors or something...

Anyway - yeah I can only imagine the actual papers are at a scholarly institution.

[qmr]

> very substantial tax break

How would this be valued precisely?

[Duanemclemore]

I've never gone through the process, but I imagine it would involve establishing the historical importance of the person who owned them, establishing their significance as instruments of the thing for which the person is known, and establishing their authenticity. Then from that an appraisal would be done and the proper documentation generated that would protect the donor from accusations of tax fraud. The donor and recipient would both agree upon the language of these documents and possibly on an officially recognized value for the donation.

[zxexz]

Yep, you've pretty much nailed it, at least in the US and UK.