In the living room and offices that belong to my parents are several numbered paintings by Thomas Kinkade. He positioned himself as the “painter of light,” which really resonated with much of the Christian audience.
His work really is incredible with vivid colors that really appeared to light a dark room. And he was very successful financially in the process amassing a huge estate. We don’t have a lot of details, however, when he died we do know he was separated from his wife and living with a girlfriend.
A man esteemed for so long to live with high morals and integrity, and a proud family that wanted to keep their life and his work private is now in a battle to do so.
From this story it is clear the family set up trusts to keep the estate private and handled away from the public arena. But in this case there needed to be a family relationship plan along with a tax, preservation and privacy plan.