|
|
Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Dec 22, 2004 17:12:52 GMT
Here is a transcript of the will for anyone who has not seen it. 
"I am troubled
Immeasurably
By your eyes
I am struck
By the feather
Of your soft
Reply" Last Will & Testament of JAMES D. MORRISON I, JAMES D. MORRISON, being of sound and disposing mind, memory and understanding, and after consideration for all persons, the objects of my bounty, and with full knowledge of the nature and extent of my assets, do hereby make, publish and declare this my Last Will and Testament, as follows: FIRST: I declare that I am a resident of Los Angeles County, Califonia; that I am unmaried and have no childern. SECOND: I direct the payment of all debts and expenses of last illness. THIRD: I do hereby devise and bequeath each and every thing of value which I may die possessed, including real property, personal property and mixed properties to PAMELA S. COURSON of Los Angeles County. In the event the said PAMELA S. COURSON should predecease me, or fail to survive for a period of three months following the date of my death, then and in such event, the devise and bequest to her shall fail and the same is devised and bequeathed instead to my brother, ANDREW MORRISON of Monterey, Califonia, and to my sister, ANNE MORRISON of Coronado Beach, California, to share and share alike; provided, however, further that in the event either of them should predecease me, then and in such event, the devised and bequest shail go to the other. FOURTH: I do hereby apoint PAMELA S. COURSON and MAX FINK, jointly, executors, of my estate, giving to said persons, and each of them, full power of appointment of substitution in their place and stead by their Last Will and Testament, or otherwise. In the event said PAMELA S. COURSON shall survive me and be living at the time of her appointment, then in such event, bond is hereby waived. I subscribe my name to this Will this 12 day of february, 1969, at Beverly Hills, California. JAMES D. MORRISON "Why do I drink
So that I can write poetry. Sometimes when it´s all spun out
and all that is ugly recedes
into a deep sleep
There is an awakening and all that remains is true.
As the body is ravaged
the spirit grows stronger.
Forgive me Father
for I know what I do.
I want to hear the last Poem
of the last Poet. " |
|
|
|
Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Dec 22, 2004 17:16:21 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Dec 22, 2004 17:18:54 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by eressie on Feb 27, 2005 12:47:17 GMT
I need this to be explained to me...the will says
FIRST: I declare that I am a resident of Los Angeles County, Califonia; that I am unmaried and have no childern.
Yet, Pam is desribed as a widow and has the name Courson Morrison. Were they married or not?!
|
|
|
|
Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Feb 27, 2005 13:21:17 GMT
I need this to be explained to me...the will says FIRST: I declare that I am a resident of Los Angeles County, Califonia; that I am unmaried and have no childern. Yet, Pam is desribed as a widow and has the name Courson Morrison. Were they married or not?! No! Jim was never married to anyone though both Pam and Patricia Keneally induldged in a fantasy that they were maried to Jim. Pam's fantasy was a bit more innocent than Patricia's as Pam was what could be reffered to as Jim's 'common-law wife'...... Kennealy spent years telling people on the Net how much integrity she had by not using 'Morrison' as her name and then when it suited her after The Doors movie she became Kenneally-Morrison......bit sad and pathetic really..... When Ray invited Jim and Pam to his marraige to Dorothy Pam badgered Jim to make it legal between them but he was having none of it...  "It was so easy. I didn't know getting married could be so easy. Did you Jim?'....
Jim coughed and dived for the chips and salsa...'No I didn't honey' he mumbled under his breath. He knew what was coming. She was going to be on his case for the next three years. 'Jiiim! It's so easy. remember how Ray and Dorothy did it.'Pam to Jim at Ray and Dorothy's wedding reception... from Ray's account 'Light My Fire'. |
|
|
|
Post by eressie on Feb 27, 2005 13:32:50 GMT
But that will is a legal document? If so, how can she be listed as a widow with the name Morrison if that was not so? How could that will be legal if it contained false information?
|
|
|
|
Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Feb 27, 2005 13:41:23 GMT
But that will is a legal document? If so, how can she be listed as a widow with the name Morrison if that was not so? How could that will be legal if it contained false information? Perhaps common law allowed her to do it....she had lived with him long enough to qualify as his common law wife. Whatever her status was Jim left it all to HER! Fact remains Jim NEVER married pamela or anyone else...  |
|
|
|
Post by bluelady on Mar 8, 2005 9:40:11 GMT
There has never been "common law marriage" in California. Pam pulled a fast one by claiming they took out a marriage license in Colorado and that they had spent the night together in Arizona, both supposedly giving her "legal" rights. The first thing Penny Courson said to Cheri Siddons while waiting for Pam and Bill to return from Paris was, "Please tell everyone they were married, please." Pam was known to be an inveterate liar.  |
|
|
|
Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Mar 8, 2005 9:55:54 GMT
Yeah its probably true that Pam 'lied' about being married to Jim but the fact remains Jim left all he had to her so he must have thought something about her!  |
|
|
|
Post by bluelady on Mar 8, 2005 10:13:41 GMT
Yeah its probably true that Pam 'lied' about being married to Jim but the fact remains Jim left all he had to her so he must have thought something about her! I totally agree with you, I was just explaining that they were never legally married nor does CA recognize common law marriage. She didn't have to claim to be his "wife" to have inherited his estate because she was named his sole beneficiary. |
|
|
|
Post by darkstar on Mar 8, 2005 12:37:46 GMT
I don't know what Calfornia law stipulated in 1971 but I'm living proof that the state does recognize common-law marriage. I've been in a common-law marriage for 22 years.
|
|
|
|
Post by bluelady on Mar 9, 2005 2:22:26 GMT
I don't know what Calfornia law stipulated in 1971 but I'm living proof that the state does recognize common-law marriage. I've been in a common-law marriage for 22 years. Traditionally, when a man and a woman lived together and held themselves out to the world as husband and wife for a certain period of time (such as 7 or 14 years), the law of the state in which they resided recognized them as husband and wife despite the lack of the formal legalities of marriage. Most states no longer recognize common law marriages. However, if a couple meets the requirements for a common law marriage in a state that does recognize common law marriages, and the couple then moves to a state that does not have common law marriages, the new state will usually recognize the "common law" marriage. For example, if a couple lived in Texas, a state recognizing common law marriage, and met the requirements for a common law marriage, and then moved to California, which does not recognize common law marriage, California will recognize the couple as being married.I have been a CA attorney for over 25 years. |
|
|
|
Post by eressie on Mar 9, 2005 7:02:31 GMT
So that gave Pam the right to call herself Morrison? Could she change to Morrison on ID, passport and driver´s license as well without having a marriage certificate? Just curious about how things work.
|
|
|
|
Post by bluelady on Mar 9, 2005 7:46:43 GMT
So that gave Pam the right to call herself Morrison? Could she change to Morrison on ID, passport and driver´s license as well without having a marriage certificate? Just curious about how things work. Apparently, Jim's lawyer, Max Fink, prepared the probate petition and request for widow's stipend so as to claim marital rights for Pamela. I haven't seen the documents, but this is the only way Pamela could have received funds during the three-plus years it took to settle Jim's estate. Anyone can change his/her name provided that s/he is not doing so for fraudulent purposes. Perfect example is Patricia Kennealy, who said she legally added "Morrison" to the end of her name to reflect her status with her dearly beloved mate, years after he died. The truth is that Jim Morrison never legally married anyone. He did name Pamela Courson as his sole beneficiary, and it was Pamela who wanted to be known as Jim's widow. As for people who think they are in "common law marriages" in California, I hasten to remind them of the Lee Marvin-Michelle Triola palimony suit in the late 1970s. Ms. Triola was awarded $104,000 for "rehabilitation," NOT spousal support as demanded, BUT the CA Supreme Court overturned that decision and she wound up with nothing. If Ms. Triola could have claimed "common law marriage," her claim to 50% of Lee Marvin's fortune would not have been questioned (CA is a community property state). As it was, because common law marriage is not recognized in CA, she had to go for the palimony instead.  |
|
|
|
Post by eressie on Mar 9, 2005 8:55:20 GMT
Thank you for your answer. I find it interesting, because the laws here in Sweden where I live are so different from the U.S laws and I want to understand how things work in the U.S, that´s why I ask so many questions.
That is the big difference here I think. Here in Sweden I could never have called myself Morrison or any other name just because I live with a man with that name. I could live with him for 40 years and still not be able to change my name. Here, you must be legally married to have his name.
I have many relatives in U.S and I wanted to change my name to Seashore since more or less every Seashore in U.S are a relative of mine (the reason I wanted to change is a long story and of no relevance here), but I was not allowed to do so without the permission from the other Seashores and it would take me years to find them all.
But since you explained how the laws work in U.S, I can understand better about Pam changing her name.
|
|
|
|
Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Mar 9, 2005 8:57:35 GMT
I dunno about any of you guys but I for one do not begrudge Pam the use of either Jim's name or her place in his will. I am not paticularly interested in Pam, Pat etc as the subject bored me to death during the Pam/Pat wars of a couple of years ago but Pam for all her many faults belived in Jim's poetry and talent where his mates such as Ray simply believed Jim to be thier meal ticket once the initial honeymoon phase of the Doors was over and the business side kicked in. Pam tried to get Jim to leave The Doors ....something I would have been damned angry about in 1970 had I known but looking at it with 30 odd years of hindsight I can see the benefit to Jim in ridding himself of Ray and company. Yes it may be true that she may well of been one of the reasons for his death and yes it's true she was a drug addict and yes it's true that she had many a fault....pissing his money away on Themis for example..... But when Jim pleaded with his fellow Doors that he was having a breakdown and wanted to quit touring and making albums for a while Ray coerced him into carrying on which may well have been a death sentence....we will never really know. Pam got him to Paris and away from being a Door....something on the evidence of Gilles Yepremain he had no interest in talking about when he got there. Pam for all her faults seemed to care more for the man than the money....something his three mates cannot claim .....  Maybe he was a dead man walking anyhow by that time but of all his 'friends' she was more true to Jim the artist than most. |
|
|
|
Post by eressie on Mar 9, 2005 10:09:19 GMT
I absolutely agree with everything you said here. It´s so sad she got him away too late. I also believe she really loved Jim for who he was, the person and the poet.
My interest in the name changing is only out of curiosity of how things work.
|
|
|
|
Post by lawless on Jun 30, 2005 17:32:59 GMT
At the risk of being seen as stupid, I can't help wondering how someone like Jim could make a Will so early?
Someone who by all accounts lived only for "the moment" and seemed to care little for material things!
How does someone like that make a Will in his mid twenties, albeit only a year and a half before he died..?
The Will begins like the 'Ode to L.A. While thinking of Brian Jones Deceased' - and Brian died on the same date as Jim, only a different year!
|
|
|
|
Post by ensenada on Jun 30, 2005 17:46:39 GMT
its does make ypou think doesnt it? although people with property and material wealth etc etc do make wills quite early on in life i think, especially if they have achieved and gotten so much so early in life. i am 29 and i havnt got a will, but then thatsbecause i havnt got any property yet or anything of material wealth, sept a car, computer etc butonce my teaching career is underway and i get more, i will make a will for my missis to getevery thing i guess. but perhaps jim sensed his downward spiralling health and thought it might be a wise thing to do...just incase |
|
|
|
Post by jym on Jun 30, 2005 17:52:52 GMT
It's common practice to make a will once you've achieved success, it may have even been a requirement once The Doors incorporated.
|
|
