Should the rights owner in posthumous literary & film contracts always be named as "the estate of so-and-so" ?

Should the rights owner in posthumous literary & film contracts always be named as "the estate of so-and-so," even though his heirs now own the rights? My father's posthumous contracts were all written to his estate. Now that my mother has died, I'm uming we should continue the practice, instead of naming the 3 heirs in subsequent contracts. Estates are typically short-lived entities, dissolving at the end of probate. Is this not the case with copyright ownership?