1. Shakespeare & Lincoln
Historic perspectives for 21st Century Estate and Charitable Planning

2. Snapshot
comparison
Shakespeare Lincoln
Entrepreneur – wildly
successful – several
business partners in his
company
Attorney, politician,
President – one partner
in his law firm
Net worth at death = ?
– estimate is
L20 million+ in today’s
terms
Net worth at death =
$110,000
$1.6 million in today’s
terms
Wife – life-long partner
in building the family
fortunes
Wife – emotionally
unstable spendthrift
who was always cared
for
Children –
Susanna: intelligent,
well-off
Judith: made poor
choices
Children –
Robert: 23-year old
Harvard grad – now
head of the family
Tad: special needs
adolescent
Comprehensive estate
plan for family and
business
Died intestate
No non-probate estate
plans
Both Shakespeare and Lincoln had
reached the top of their professions
and had business partners.
Both Shakespeare and Lincoln had
substantial assets in their estates.
Both had family drama in their lives.
Do their stories sound like any
clients you know?

3. Estate Administration / Legacy
Shakespeare
 Susanna / Dr. Hall - executors
 Trust Protectors
 The inventory and the second-best
bed
 Orderly probate
 What does Shakespeare’s “final word”
reveal?
 Seeing the legacy today
Lincoln
 David Davis – Supreme Court Justice
– appointed administrator
 Everything divided equally between
wife and two sons
 Wife’s 1/3 portion of chattel /
personal property
 Probate took 2 ½ years
 We will never know Lincoln’s final
word

4. Business Partners / Neighbors
Shakespeare
 Personal bequests – status
 Blackfriar’s – left to family, and rented
to the King’s Men – set up so that the
partners could eventually purchase
the property and theatre
 Retirement / business succession plan
had already been in place for some
time
 Real estate in and around Stratford-
Upon-Avon / Warwickshire
Lincoln
 Left William Herndon with no way to
buy out Lincoln’s interest in the
practice
 $250 fee for services rendered to
clients before 1861
 Family left without a source of
income from his business interests
 A few real estate investments in
Illinois
 Lincoln’s financial advisor had died in
February 1865

5. Family – the central cell of society
Shakespeare
 Protected and provided for
 Wife had a home and income
for her lifetime
 Daughter Judith’s “marriage
portion” and the rest of the
family fortune was safe
 Secure income stream in
perpetuity
 Entail to continue property
ownership(wealth) - intended
to last for future generations
Lincoln
 Vulnerable and burdened
 Family home was sold, Mary
moved into a hotel / boarding
house in Springfield
 Mary was institutionalized on
occasion, Robert bore the
burden of those expenses
 Assets distributed to each
beneficiary outright – no
creditor protection /
spendthrift protection
 Chaos and disintegration of the
family

6. What does it mean for us?
 Same issues
 Estate planning for Death and Diminished Capacity
 Grantor / Surviving Spouse
 Family – treating children equitably v. equally
 Business partners
 Lifetime & legacy gifting (family, charitable)
 Many advisors and partners around the table –
coordinated action on behalf of a client / donor
 Revealing conversations – story listening
 Don’t get caught up in the mechanics too early

7. Family owned/controlled businesses
 Family members who are employees / owners
 Family members who are not employees /
owners
 Non-family members who are key employees /
owners
 Providing a stream of income from the business
for survivors
 Using philanthropy and business succession
planning to achieve multiple goals
 Converting the business into a multi-
generational legacy for the entire family like
Shakespeare did
 “Every business can benefit from including
philanthropy in the business plan”

8. Scarlett Ann Gray
New proposals for the new paradigm

9. “I already have an estate plan . . . “
 Immediacy – date that Shakespeare executed will
 Things change
 Family situation, Laws
 Assets
 Family home / Vacation home
 Business / retirement
 appreciation
 Nomination of executors, trustees
 Will the estate plan achieve what the client really wants?
 Is the plan complete? Do all the documents and designations coordinate?
 Clarity in the documents - proper transfer of assets, distribution of income,
discretion – airtight to avoid failure of trust or litigation from heirs
 Will the philanthropic institutions accept the gifts and agree to use them as the
client wants?

10. New Paradigm – beyond the estate-tax
motivation
 Re-evaluate current plans
 Benefits of Trusts
 for Grantors/ Surviving Spouses
 for Beneficiaries
 Don’t necessarily eliminate life insurance / ILITs
 Especially if there is agricultural land / business
 Especially if there is charitable intent
 Small and medium sized estates
 Account for appreciation
 Generation skipping-style techniques
 Consider keeping bypass trusts in place
 QTIP provisions

11. Charitable Planning / Stewardship
 Demographics
 Baby Boomers: $ / Volunteer
 The follow-up generations
 Lower incomes
 Lower savings levels
 Tithing
 Support now
 Endowed support for later
 Nonprofit boards
 Elevating the discourse