Singer Aaron Carter is pushing for legal change in Hollywood surrounding the management of child stars' money after mismanaging his own funds to the brink of bankruptcy.
The I Want Candy hitmaker shot to fame at the age of 10, just a handful of years following his older brother Nick Carter's launch into superstardom in the '90s with the Backstreet Boys.
Aaron had trouble managing his earnings from his years as a child star, having been forced to file for bankruptcy in 2013 and settle his tax debt with America's Internal Revenue Service the following year, and now the 30-year-old is trying to institute substantial change in his industry to prevent other young entertainers from suffering similar financial woes.
"One of my things that I wanted to do and one of the things I'm still striving to do is to create a new law," he explained to Entertainment Tonight. "Paul Petersen (actor) created the 'Coogan Law' that puts 15 per cent of (a) kid's money into a block trust fund account before they turn 18, but there are some faults in that.
"(Under the Coogan Law) you just turn 18 and you've got all of this money, like, what are you going to do? So, I really want to try to recreate a new law called the 'Carter Law' that makes kids have to go through business schoolings and they get their money through increments throughout a 10-year period after they turn 18, so that they actually learn to manage their own finances and they don't blow through it and they're like, 'Oh, I'm so grateful that 10 years later I had a third of my trust account still waiting for me after I learn more about life and experiences.'"
Aaron, who just released Love, his first album in 15 years, on Friday (16Feb18), has faced a number of personal troubles in the past five years beyond his financial problems. The star was also arrested for driving under the influence last year (17), and he checked into rehab for an eating disorder shortly after the incident.
Now that he has turned over a new leaf, he is concerned with leaving a positive legacy with the Carter Law.
"I actually met with Paul Petersen, it was a while ago, but... it's going to be tough to do, but that's one of my goals and one of the things I want to leave as my legacy is that I went through certain experiences and then I created this law protecting kids from themselves essentially and from their lack of experience (sic)," he added.
