When I grow up… I don't want to be broke: The problems with child actor trust fund requirements

• Published date: 01 October 2023
• Author: Leah Gaydos
• Date: 01 October 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12745

STUDENT NOTE

When I grow up…I don't want to be broke:

The problems with child actor trust

fund requirements

Leah Gaydos

Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra

University, New York, USA

Correspondence

Leah Gaydos, Maurice A. Deane School of

Law at Hofstra University, 121 Hofstra

University, Hempstead, NY 11549, USA.

Email: leahmgaydos@gmail.com

Abstract

Child actors have consistently been treated as typical

minority laborers, with all of their earnings legally belonging

to their parents. After many child actors were left with

scraps at the end of their minority, Coogan's law was

enacted in California to require parents of child actors to

withhold some of their earnings in a trust. However, almost

a century after Coogan's law was passed, there are still

many child actors left with nothing. This Note proposes to

both enact further union regulations to protect child actors

in every state, and also to raise the required amount with-

held from fifteen percent (15%) to fifty percent (50%).

KEYWORDS

child actors, child labor compensation requirements, child labor

exploitation, Coogan's law, SAG-AFTRA and minors

Key points for the family court community

•There is no federal law requiring parents to withhold any

amount of a child actor's pay.

•Most Coogan's laws today require parents to withhold

fifteen percent (15%) of their child's paycheck, distrib-

uted into a trust or “Coogan account,”with a cap of fifty

percent (50%).

•The New York version of Coogan's law imposes a mini-

mum withholding of fifteen percent (15%) and has no

maximum or cap.

DOI: 10.1111/fcre.12745

© 2023 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.

918 Family Court Rev. 2023;61:918–936.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fcre

•The only states with any kind of child actor compensa-

tion laws are: California, New York, Florida, Massachu-

setts, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico,

North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.

•There is no SAG-AFTRA requirement to withhold funds

from a child's pay; the union only follows state and fed-

eral law.

INTRODUCTION

Child actors have been a part of the entertainment industry since it began. Historically, these children have been

overworked, underpaid, and sometimes not paid at all; but any compensation they might receive has traditionally

belonged to their parents.

1

What happens when a parent realizes that their child can be the sole breadwinner of the

family?

2

Or, more naïvely, parents with the best intentions, hire an agent, a manager, or an accountant who knows

how to take advantage of their mini cash cow?

3

Herein lies a tale as old as the Golden Age of Hollywood itself.

4

Some of the most famous child actors in history have been exploited by their parents or management, leaving them

with pennies once they reach majority: Macaulay Culkin (Home Alone),

5

Shirley Temple,

6

and Gary Coleman (Diff'rent

Strokes).

7

Up until the early 2000s, there were little to no protections for child actors, so it was not uncommon for

them to lose their entire fortunes by the time they turned 18, due to the unhealthy spending habits of their parents

or by the exploitation of their management.

8

Best known for his portrayal of Kevin McCallister in Home Alone, Macaulay Culkin was thrown into extremely

high-grossing roles at the young age of six.

9

Through his explosive popularity, he became the main source of financial

support for his parents and siblings.

10

This was not a small sum of money either; it was estimated that Culkin made

over $50 million between 1990 and 1995 alone.

11

Culkin has said in multiple interviews over the years that his par-

ents, specifically his father, were extremely abusive, and overworked Culkin, forcing him into role after role with no

break in sight.

12

The situation became dire when his parents began their divorce in 1994, but trouble began when

they started to fight over control of Culkin's finances.

13

The custody battle was a thinly veiled legal proceeding akin

to the ancient saying, “whoever controls the heir controls the throne.”

14

It became obvious that the custody battle

1

Erica Siegel, Lecture: When Parental Interference Goes Too Far: The Need for Adequate Protection of Child Entertainers and Athletes,18CARDOZO ARTS &ENT LJ

427, 428–430 (2000).

2

Chris Heckmann, When Was the Golden Age of Hollywood–And Why Did It End,STUDIOBINDER, Dec. 19, 2021, https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/when-

was-the-golden-age-of-hollywood/ [https://perma.cc/Z5D7-8Z2U] (the Golden Age of Hollywood lasted roughly from 1910 to 1940).

3

Id.

4

Id.

5

Siegel, supra note 3 at 439.

6

Id.

7

Id.

8

Id.

9

Rebecca Pocklington and Rachael Ellenbogen, Inside Macaulay Culkin's tragic life with “abusive”dad & sisters' deaths before finding joy with Brenda Song &

baby,T

HE SUN, Aug. 26, 2020, https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/1372445/macaulay-culkin-baby-brenda-song-sisters-death-dad/ [https://perma.

cc/J87Y-N7GM].

10

Siegel, supra note 2 at 439.

11

Susie Linfield, Trouble in the House THAT Mac Built: A Custody Battle for Macaulay Culkin byHis Parent-Managers Offers a Glimpse Into What Can Happen in

Hollywood When a Son Is Also a Star,T

HE L.A. TIMES (Nov. 5, 1995), https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-11-05-tm-64948-story.html.[https://

perma.cc/4J5U-RVK6].

12

Pocklington and Ellenbogen, supra note 11.

13

Linfield, supra note 13.

14

Id.

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