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One of the amazing things about the sitcom Friends is the sheer amount of money it generated, especially for stars of the show like Matthew Perry, well after it went off the air.
The stars of the show were reported to be making something in the neighborhood of $20 million in residuals every year.
It’s a truly staggering number considering the show’s last episode aired almost 20 years ago on May 6, 2004.
Sadly, the most troubled member of that cast, Matthew Perry, passed away unexpectedly on Oct. 28.
Perry’s character on Friends, Chandler Bing, has long been a fan favorite and was a big reason why the show remained popular and was still able to capture the attention of a whole new generation of viewers.
Many of today’s fans of the show, however, would like a scene involving Matthew Perry removed following his unexpected death.
So, the question now exists, with the sitcom still remaining popular almost 30 years since it debuted, what happens to that $20 million a year in residuals that Matthew Perry was making now that he is gone? He had no wife. He had no children. So who gets it?
“There may be a trust, and that would be administered privately, through his trustee. He could have had a will — that would be administered under [probate] court supervision. If he had neither, there’s a statutory framework put in place, where there’s a listing of his heirs that would get his estate,” Los Angeles entertainment lawyer Tre Lovell told the New York Post this week.
That would include Matthew Perry’s parents and his half-siblings Caitlin, Emily, Will, Madeline and Maria.
“They would split his estate. His siblings would be next in line, after the parents. But, since both of his parents are living, they would get it,” Lovell explained.
Matthew Perry’s cause of death is currently listed as “deferred” pending further investigation and toxicology testing by the Los Angeles Medical Examiner. A “less-in-depth” initial toxicology test stated the actor did not have fentanyl or meth in his system at the time of his death.
One of his co-stars on Friends, Jennifer Aniston, is reportedly really “struggling” with Perry’s passing. She and the other main cast members attended his funeral at Forest Lawn cemetery in Los Angeles on Friday.