Imogen BennettThirty years after a white BMW pulled alongside his SUV on Flamingo Road in Las Vegas, Duane "Keffe D" Davis was found guilty of first-degree murder on 31 August 2026 for orchestrating the killing of Tupac Shakur. The verdict closed one of music history's longest unsolved cases — and reignited a debate every UK musician, songwriter, and creative professional should take seriously: what happens to your royalties when you are gone?
The Verdict That Ended Three Decades of Silence
The trial of Duane Davis, 63, lasted roughly two weeks in a Las Vegas courtroom, with 25 prosecution witnesses reconstructing the events of 7 September 1996 on Flamingo Road. Prosecutors argued that Davis provided the firearm and directed his nephew, Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, to open fire from the BMW. In a 2008 police interview played to jurors, Davis himself said he had supplied the weapon.
After deliberating for just a few hours, a jury of 10 women and six men returned a guilty verdict on the evening of 31 August 2026. Davis faces a potential life sentence. For the Shakur family and his millions of fans worldwide, the verdict is a measure of closure — but it also throws Tupac's estate back into the spotlight.
The timing could hardly be more pointed: 13 September 2026 marks exactly 30 years since Tupac died in hospital in Las Vegas. In that time, an estate left behind with barely £160,000 in liquid assets has grown into one of the most lucrative posthumous music enterprises in the world.
An Estate Worth More Dead Than Alive
Tupac Shakur had approximately $200,000 — roughly £160,000 — to his name when he died aged 25. He left no will. Under California intestacy law, his estate passed to his mother, Afeni Shakur, who established Amaru Entertainment and later the Tupac Shakur Trust to manage his intellectual property.
That decision proved transformative. By 2026, the estate is estimated to be worth between $40 million and $100 million (approximately £32M–£80M), generating an estimated $9 million annually from music royalties, licensing deals, merchandise, film rights, and digital content. Interscope Records continues to distribute his catalogue, with professional trustee Tom Whalley managing operations since 2016.
But the estate has not been without turbulence. In recent years, Death Row Records producer Daz Dillinger sued the estate, claiming unpaid royalties from tracks he co-wrote and produced, including material on Shakur's landmark album "All Eyez on Me." Dillinger alleged that after demanding payment in 2024, he received $91,000 from Amaru Entertainment — with no royalty statements to verify the figure. The lawsuit illustrates a persistent tension: even a professionally managed estate can face disputes that drag on for years, costing time, legal fees, and reputational damage.
Without the trust structure Afeni Shakur put in place, those disputes could have been far more destructive — and far more expensive.
Why UK Creatives Are More Exposed Than They Think
In England and Wales, the rules governing what happens to intellectual property after death are surprisingly unforgiving. If you die without a will — intestate — your estate is distributed according to the Intestacy Rules under the Administration of Estates Act 1925. For a single person with no children, all assets pass to parents. For a married person with children, a spouse receives the first £322,000 plus half the remainder, with children sharing the rest.
Royalties, publishing rights, and master recordings are treated as assets under these rules. A music producer who dies intestate without a spouse or children may see their catalogue — built over decades — transferred to elderly parents who have no expertise in managing it, no existing relationship with the distributor or collecting society, and no understanding of what the rights are actually worth.
The Intellectual Property Office estimates that UK music royalties are worth over £1 billion annually across all rights-holders. For working musicians and songwriters, their registered rights with organisations such as PRS for Music, PPL, and MCPS often represent their most significant financial asset. Yet a large proportion of independent and session musicians have never made a will or put any structure in place to govern what happens to those rights upon their death.
The Tupac estate demonstrates what is possible when IP is managed through the right legal frameworks — and what can unravel when it is not.
When the Royalties Outlive the Plan: A Real-World Scenario
Consider a 35-year-old session guitarist based in Manchester who has co-written 14 tracks across her career, all registered with PRS for Music. The tracks earn her £6,000 per year in combined royalties — growing steadily as streaming compounds. She is unmarried, has no children, and has never made a will.
She dies unexpectedly. Under the Intestacy Rules, her entire estate passes to her parents.
Her royalty income — and all future licensing deals, sync placements, or posthumous releases — now belongs to two people in their late sixties with no music industry experience. They do not know to register her death with PRS. They are unaware she holds a 15% co-ownership stake in a publishing catalogue that a TV production company had been preparing to licence for a documentary series — a deal worth a potential £45,000 upfront and £3,000 per year thereafter. Without an informed executor to progress the paperwork, the production company moves on to another licence.
If, instead, she had made a will naming a trusted co-writer as executor and a music solicitor as professional administrator, PRS registration would be updated within weeks, the sync deal would proceed, and her financial legacy would compound rather than collapse.
Projected over 20 years at even a conservative growth rate, the difference in estate value between those two outcomes runs to six figures.
The information in this article is for general guidance only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making decisions about estate planning, wills, or intellectual property management.
Steps Every UK Creative Should Take Now
The Keffe D verdict is a reminder that the law catches up eventually — but not always in time to protect what matters most. For UK musicians, writers, photographers, and other creatives, the steps to protect posthumous IP are straightforward and far less costly than the disputes that arise without them.
Make a will. The UK government's official guidance on wills and probate, published at GOV.UK, sets out the legal requirements for England and Wales. A solicitor specialising in entertainment law can ensure your royalty-generating assets are correctly accounted for — specifying who manages rights and how income should be distributed.
Register your estate contacts with collecting societies. PRS for Music, PPL, and MCPS all allow rights-holders to specify estate contacts. Ensure your registrations reflect your current wishes and that your executor knows how to find the relevant documentation.
Consider a trust structure. For creatives with a larger or growing catalogue, a trust — as used by the Shakur estate — offers protection against intestacy disputes, more nuanced tax planning, and professional long-term management. A wealth management specialist can advise on whether this is appropriate for your situation.
Appoint the right executor. A general executor may be unfamiliar with the music or creative industries. An executor who understands collecting societies, licensing, and publishing contracts can make a significant difference to how your estate is actually administered.
The Tupac Shakur estate will reach its 30th year having outlasted a murder trial, multiple royalty lawsuits, and a complete transformation in the global music industry. That resilience was not accidental — it happened because someone made legal decisions to protect it in the earliest days after his death.
Thirty years on, the question for UK creatives is whether their catalogue will have the same chance.
Expert Zoom connects you directly with accredited wealth management professionals and solicitors specialising in estate planning and intellectual property rights across the UK.
