Art Law Lunch Talk: Perspectives on Legacy and Estate Planning
February 24, 2026
About the Event
When planning for the preservation of their professional legacies and the future custodianship of their oeuvres’, artists are faced with unique concerns and challenges. During this event, Frank Born, artist and art dealer, and Caryn Keppler, tax and estate attorney, shared their perspectives on legacy and estate planning. Discussion focused on which documents to gather, and which professionals to get in touch with throughout the process of legacy planning. Frank Born shared his own experiences as an artist and advised on steps artists can take to protect and insure their art, keep good records and plan for the preservation of their works after death. Caryn Keppler discussed common issues she sees when working with artists’ estates and how to address these challenges and mitigate issues.
This event is affiliated with the Artist Legacy and Estate Planning Clinic which seeks to connect artists, estate administrators, attorneys, tax advisors, and other experts to create meaningful and lasting solutions for expanding the art canon and art legacy planning.
About the Speakers
Frank Born | Artist and Art Dealer | Frank Born Arts
Frank Born is a figurative painter living and working in Brooklyn. He has exhibited in the United States and Japan. Institutional exhibitions include University of Texas at Arlington, Pacific Union College, Cabrillo College, and the Institute for Humanities at the University of Michigan. His work consists of portraits from life and narrative paintings derived from dreams. His 2014 portrait of Nicholas Delbanco hangs in the Hopwood room at the University of Michigan alongside the portrait of Avery Hopwood painted by Florin Stettheimer. Born has been an art dealer since 1987 when he founded Frank Born Arts in San Francisco. He specializes in modern and contemporary art, offering an inventory of available works and providing advisory services to collectors and individuals. Services include appraisals, advice and representation for sales and purchases. He has a specialty in the work of Yayoi Kusama.
Caryn Keppler | Attorney | Offit Kurman
Caryn Keppler is a principal in Offit Kurman’s Estates and Trusts Practice Group. Caryn considers herself a “primary care provider,” whose role is to recognize and solve a client’s multiple legal issues and, if necessary, direct them to other specialists as needed. Caryn has extensive experience in all aspects of estate, gift, and charitable planning for foreign and domestic individuals, artists and collectors, conventional and alternative families, as well as business and continuity planning. Caryn has experience representing artists’ foundations, acting on behalf of both fiduciaries and beneficiaries, in the administration of domestic estates and trusts, as well as estates and trusts with contacts to international jurisdictions and litigation in the Surrogate’s Courts. Prior to entering private practice, she served as an attorney with the Internal Revenue Service. Caryn is a frequent speaker and has written extensively on the special planning needs of artists and other creative individuals.
