Celebrity Estate Planning | Benjamin Franklin

The next celebrity estate plan we will look at is Benjamin Franklin.  Big Ben had a Will and provided for numerous gifts.  However, Benjamin Franklin could not assign his copyrights to things such as Poor Richard’s Almanac.  The reason for this was there were not yet any copyright laws to protect or recognize those rights.

It is interesting that he had revoked many previous WIlls.  Also, in one of the Codicil’s to his Will, he mentioned that he got nothing from his parents and therefore his children should get nothing from him.  He, instead, made some charitable gifts.

As a Michigan estate planning lawyer, I have seen clients who have had similar estate planning desires, such as leaving a chunk of their estate to their church or the Michigan Humane Society.

You can read Benjamin Franklin’s Will here.

-Christopher J. Berry, Esq.
Bloomfield Hills Lawyer