Taxation & Estate Planning

Atticus Finch, Estate Planner

By Joel A. Schoenmeyer

To Kill A Mockingbird was originally published on July 11, 1960, so there has been a fair amount of hoopla surrounding its 50th anniversary. This has included (among other things) the publication of Scout, Atticus & Boo (an examination of the book's cultural and personal impact via interviews with a number of interesting, thoughtful people - and Tom Brokaw).

It's been a few years since I read the book, so I decided it was time for a revisit. (Another reason to revisit: I was thinking about whether it would be appropriate to read to my 8-year-old. It isn't.)

What is there to say about the book that hasn't already been said? Not much, but it is interesting to note that Atticus Finch -- in addition to practicing criminal law by defending Tom Robinson -- is an estate planner. The book alludes to this twice:

The family's friend Miss Maudie Atkinson remarks that Atticus "can make somebody's will so airtight can't anybody meddle with it." (Chapter 10)

The family's miserable neighbor Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose called Atticus to make her will just prior to her death. (Chapter 11) At the time she made the Will, Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict (an addiction she broke prior to her death), which raises a couple of interesting inter-related questions:

1. Does a morphine addict have the necessary capacity to make a Will?

2. If you were to "climb into [Atticus's] skin and walk around in it," would you agree to draft a Will for her, given her addiction?

Full post as published by Death and Taxes Blog on July 17, 2010 (boomark / email).