Mia JonesBen Saunders, the 43-year-old British-Dutch singer who won the inaugural series of The Voice of Holland in 2011, was found dead in a lake near Arnhem on 16 September 2026. Emergency services recovered his body from the Rijkerswoerdse Plassen after witnesses reported seeing a man enter the water and not resurface. Police confirmed the death is not being treated as a crime.
For fans of the talent show era, the news carries a particular sting. Saunders burst into public consciousness with his audition for The Voice of Holland, his rendition of Kings of Leon's Use Somebody stunning the judging panel. He was 28, British-born, raised in the Noord-Holland town of Hoorn, and seemed on the edge of something substantial. That trajectory didn't quite materialise — by his forties, he had redirected his life toward a tattoo parlour in Arnhem. Now, at 43, he is gone.
Behind the wave of grief scrolling across Australian news feeds on Wednesday morning, a practical question takes shape — one that affects thousands of Australian musicians, podcasters, visual artists, and digital creators: what happens to a creative professional's intellectual property, streaming income, and digital assets when they die unexpectedly, without an up-to-date will?
The Estate Planning Blind Spot for Australian Artists
The Australian music industry generated over $1.2 billion in recorded music revenue in 2025, with streaming accounting for more than 72% of that figure according to ARIA estimates. Behind those aggregate numbers are hundreds of thousands of individual creators — independent artists, session musicians, co-writers, producers — many of whom receive regular royalty distributions from digital platforms, collecting societies like APRA AMCOS, and sync licensing deals.
The problem is that most of these artists have no will, or have a will that is years out of date and doesn't reflect their digital and intellectual property holdings.
Under Australian law, copyright in a musical work subsists for the life of the creator plus 70 years. That means a song written by a 43-year-old today will continue generating royalties until roughly 2119. That is not a trivial asset — it is a generational income stream. And without an explicit estate plan, it may not end up where the creator intended.
The Australian Attorney-General's Department confirms that copyright is a form of personal property that passes under the creator's will, or — if there is no will — under the intestacy laws of the relevant state or territory.
Why Dying Intestate Is Especially Costly for Musicians
Dying without a valid will — dying intestate — means your estate is distributed according to state legislation, not your wishes. The statutory formulas, while designed to be fair, are rigid. They do not account for the complexity of music royalties, publishing agreements, digital asset accounts, or the informal business structures that many independent artists use.
Consider the practical problem: a deceased artist may have active streaming distribution contracts with a distributor like DistroKid or TuneCore; publishing agreements with sub-publishers in multiple countries; co-writing credits where the copyright is split with a living collaborator; a Bandcamp store with physical and digital inventory; a monetised YouTube channel; and recurring subscription revenue through Patreon or Substack.
Each of these requires different legal steps to transfer or administer after death. Without a will that explicitly identifies these assets and appoints an executor with appropriate authority, the family faces months — sometimes years — of legal administration, paperwork, and cost before a dollar of income reaches a beneficiary.
When Streaming Royalties Become an Estate Problem: A Real-World Scenario
Imagine Sarah, a 38-year-old Brisbane singer-songwriter. She has built a modest but sustainable income: three self-released albums on Spotify, an APRA AMCOS registration for 11 co-written songs generating approximately $9,600 AUD per year in combined streaming and broadcast royalties, and a sync deal with a production music library paying a $450 quarterly flat fee.
Sarah has no will. She is single with no children, but has a long-term partner of four years — not married, no registered relationship — and two siblings. Her estate is otherwise modest: a car, some savings, and a laptop.
Under Queensland intestacy law (Succession Act 1981 (Qld)), with no registered de facto partner, no spouse, and no children, her estate passes to her siblings in equal shares. Her partner of four years receives nothing — regardless of what Sarah would have wanted.
Here is the specific cost of not having a will. Before her siblings can access or redirect those APRA AMCOS royalties, they must apply to APRA as successor rights holders. APRA requires a certified copy of a grant of letters of administration — a document that is not needed when a valid will names an executor. Getting letters of administration in Queensland currently takes 10–16 weeks and costs a minimum of $1,200–$2,500 AUD in court filing and legal fees, before the estate solicitor's hourly rate.
If Sarah's quarterly sync deal was paid to a personal ABN that died with her, the production library may put payments on hold pending legal confirmation of the estate administrator. Two held quarters means $900 in paused income — and the library may cancel the deal entirely rather than manage the complexity.
If/then scenario: If Sarah had signed a new sync agreement in the three months before her death without updating her will, that new contract would have no named beneficiary or executor with standing to enforce it. The estate administrator would need to negotiate with the library from scratch, at the library's discretion — and the library has no legal obligation to continue the arrangement.
The cost of preventing all of this? A single afternoon's consultation with an estate planning solicitor runs $350–$600 AUD for a straightforward will in Queensland. For that fee, Sarah could have named her partner as primary beneficiary, identified every active IP and digital asset, and appointed an executor with explicit authority to collect and administer royalties from APRA AMCOS, her distributor, and her sync partner.
Five Things Australian Creative Professionals Should Do This Week
Estate planning lawyers consistently identify creative professionals as among the most financially exposed group when it comes to intestacy. These are the practical steps:
Audit your digital income streams. List every platform generating income — streaming, sync, YouTube AdSense, Patreon, merchandise stores. Include account login credentials in a secure document held by your executor (not in the will itself, which becomes a public record).
Draft a will with IP-specific clauses. An online template will rarely address music rights, digital accounts, or international royalty agreements. An estate planning solicitor experienced with creative professionals will include clauses that transfer specific rights explicitly.
Name an executor who can navigate music industry administration. If no family member has the relevant knowledge, consider a professional executor — a solicitor or trustee company — to handle the music rights side of the estate.
Register your co-writing credits with APRA AMCOS before you die. Unregistered works create significant administrative delays, as the society must verify claims before releasing royalties to any successor.
Review your will after every significant new contract. A new album release, a publishing deal, or a sync agreement is a material change to your estate. Annual reviews are a minimum for active creators.
The Right Time to Consult an Estate Planning Solicitor
The Ben Saunders news is a reminder that unexpected death does not give notice. If you earn income from any form of intellectual property — music, visual art, written works, podcasts, software, or digital content — the time to act is before a crisis.
An estate planning solicitor with experience in intellectual property can assess your specific contracts, your royalty structures, and the most appropriate estate framework — whether that is a straightforward will, a testamentary trust for ongoing royalties, or an enduring power of attorney that allows someone to manage your affairs if you become incapacitated.
A single consultation typically costs less than one month of streaming royalties. The cost of not having one can span generations.
Disclaimer: This article provides general information only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice specific to your circumstances, consult a qualified Australian solicitor or estate planning professional.
