Kalistani Major History

[Doc]

Veritable Trove of songs found in Stepanov's Estate
More than 1000 uncompleted and unpublished songs dating back to 4900 discovered
Kaliburg, Ananto
January 7, 4908


Music fans are discovering what her friends already knew: Stepanov was a brilliant songwriter

The tragic story of the untimely death of Dulnerstaad singer and keyboardist Jennifer Stepanov took an unexpected, but not entirely unpredictable turn last week as her estate was being settled. The singer, who's death last year cut short a very promising career of one of the world's most celebrated singers left no will, and so it has been up to family and friends to settle her estate before the Republic puts the matter into probate. Among the things she left behind was a pound of solid gold bullion, a photo collection that she began as a child and which features black and white stills of residents of Kaliburg and Dulnerstaad, and to everyone's surprise, seven portfolios full of music.

"Comrade Stepanov was more than a talented and well loved singer," said Francis Yerba, who has been hired to represent the Republic in any probate proceedings that may arise from the inability to settle an adequate and fair distribution of Stepanov's worldly possessions. "She was also an incredibly talented and prolific composer. In these seven portfolios, which the Republic argues should be placed in the Global Music Hall of Fame for future musicians and fans of Stepanov's to study, Comrade Stepanov has set to music more than 1000 musical compositions, ranging in genre from pop and ballads to sonatas and concertos for the piano. Scholars have even identified a few reggae tunes, but all of them, to the song end abruptly with the word 'NO' written across the bottom of the page. We believe this indicates songs that she never intended to record or publish."

The Republic plans to give all potential heirs the opportunity to evenly divide Stepanov's property among themselves amicably. Stepanov's portfolios, if they are ever published, would be worth likely tens of millions of rubles, just in terms of their artistic value alone, and focus in the division has shifted therefore to these collections of music. The two main claimants to these portfolios are her father, who argues that he supported her musical ability and her step sister, who argues that she has a better claim to the music because she was Stepanov's first audience and "endured" many of these songs as Stepanov was composing them. Jean Stepanov, the sister in question said "Yeah, you know, people claimed that she was very talented, and I can agree, she became talented. But my childhood was wasted as she forced me to sit there and listen to her pound keys on the piano until she got the melody the way she wanted. It drove me bonkers, I tell you. Gave me PTSD. So I deserve something for my pain and suffering."

Most of Stepanov's other goods have been divided among relatives, who all indicated, at the time that they were happy with their share of the inheritance, and signed quit claims before the portfolios were discovered. Of the fourteen recognized heirs to Stepanov's belongings, 11 of them have already quit claim after getting a share of her estimated 250,000 KRB fortune, most of which was earned after her win at FOMAT. One cousin only wanted her cat, and was happy to receive it. The third potential claimant, her younger brother Lawrence Stepanov has argued that the remaining music should be made public domain, so that nobody can benefit from it. "I will not rest until anyone can look at her music. That is what she would have wanted. But Jean and my father really only care about money, and they will destroy what's left of my family to get it."

The Republic has given the remaining claimants six weeks to resolve the division amicably to all parties, before referring the matter to the Kaliburg District Probate Court, who could issue a ruling on the music as soon as June of this year should the case get tossed to the courts. Besides the portfolios, there remains the matter of Stepanov's personal automobile, a 4894 MOCO S-52 sedan with fewer than 25,000 original miles on it, as well as residuals from her six singles which are owed to her from her contract with VDR in perpetuity, a large collection of vintage silverware which she was reportedly "fascinated by," said friends, who believed she was trying to learn how to twist up fork prongs with her mind, and a sizable foreign Movie collection.

"Nobody wants the dvds," said Lawrence Stepanov. "I would take them, but they would make me quit trying to get those songs declared public domain, so... I would be just as well off waiting for the judge."

While Kalistani Law merely regulates inheritance of personal property, to ensure a satisfactory division of property among all legitimate claimants, the value of the actual value of the music at the moment has not been appraised given that they were just located in the bottom of a trunk containing large amounts of other papers, drawings and musings, most of which are entirely unintelligible and were likely crated during one of Stepanov's many hallucinogenic drug episodes. Nobody, including the Republic wishes to attempt to appraise the value of these until a final division is decided upon. "It would be a real headache to do it before," said Yerba, "Then they will just fight over exactly how much of it this one will get and that one... We would prefer the portfolios remain together, as a single unit, however it goes."

More to come in this interesting turn of events.