There are a wide range of different purposes a person may want the gifts in their will to serve. One such possible purpose is to serve as an expression of gratitude. It appears that this purpose might be behind an interesting gift in the wills of a deceased married couple here in America.
What makes the couple's wills interesting are what the couple did with their estate in the wills. In the wills, they left their estate to the federal government. This amounts to a nearly $850,000 gift to the U.S. government.
Both the husband and the wife were immigrants to this county.
The husband was originally from the Czech Republic. The Nazis invaded his hometown when he was a child. He was eventually able to escape from Nazi-controlled territory. After World War Two, he was granted refugee status.
The wife was originally from Ireland.
The two both lived in Canada for a time before making the U.S. their home.
An assistant U.S. attorney postulates that the gift to the U.S. government in this immigrant couple's estate plan was intended to be an expression of gratitude to the couple's adopted country.
There are many different things a person may want to do with the assets in their estate when they die. Some examples include provide support to their loved ones, help a charitable organization they care about or give an expression of gratitude for something a person, organization or even a country did for them. Estate plans can be tailored to help achieve the particular goals a person has for what their estate assets will do when they pass away. Thus, one thing individuals may want to do when it comes to estate planning is discuss their particular goals with an estate planning attorney and have the attorney help them with setting up their estate plan in a way that is best-suited for the achievement of their goals.
Source: New York Daily News, "Seattle couple leaves estate of $850,000 to U.S. government in will," Rachelle Blinder, May 21, 2015