A Series of Unfortunate Events was my favorite book series as a child. It taught me that well-meaning people that do nothing can be just as harmful and those who set out to commit evil while being comedic and ridiculous. My dad bought me the entire series box set as a law school graduation gift. I still reread it from time to time.
Now that I read the series as an Estate Planning Attorney, I find myself mortified that the Baudelaire parents, who had a “massive fortune” created such a terrible estate plan despite having so much money.
While I understand the need for the terrible estate plan to further the plot, I can’t help but look at how this all could have been avoided. Let’s break down some of the lessons from the Baudelaire’s estate plan.
The Importance of Specificity in Guardian Nominations
The Baudelaire’s will only says that the children must be raised in the most “convenient way possible” and doesn’t name any potential guardians. Nor does it define what “convenient” means. Mr. Poe, as the executor, takes this to mean that the Baudelaire children must be raised as close to their now burned-down home as possible. This leads them straight into the custody of Count Olaf, a nefarious villain who would stop at nothing to steal the Baudelaire fortune and the source of all future woes for the Baudelaire children.
As the guardians are taken out one by one by Count Olaf, who shows up in poorly constructed designs that fool the adults, Mr. Poe is forced to relocate the children, often dropping them into more and more dangerous homes where they are mistreated and forced to fend for themselves in a system that fails to protect them.
This could have been prevented had the Baudelaire parents listed multiple guardians that they wanted to step in and care for their children.
The Importance of Properly Structuring Distributions
The massive Baudelaire fortune is set to be inherited by Violet when she turns 18. At the beginning of the books, Violet is 14. That’s four years of fiscal management with no direction, not to mention giving everything outright to Violet at 18 – what about Klaus and Sunny? While they may expect Violet to take care of Klaus and Sunny, since there are no written instructions for her to do so, Violet could take off with the money and never been seen again if she wanted to. Once you give money outright to someone, you cannot tell them how to spend it.
Not only do they leave Klaus and Sunny out of the distribution, but the Baudelaire parents are giving a lump sum of cash to an eighteen-year-old. How many eighteen-year-olds do you know that would responsibly handle millions of dollars handed to them all at once? Probably not many.
This could have all been handled with a structured trust that gives Mr. Poe a guide on how the Baudelaire parents want the money used up until the children are 18. In the book, Mr. Poe doesn’t even allow the Baudelaires to use the money for clothes or groceries, they must rely on the kindness of their guardians. If provided with instructions, Mr. Poe would have used the money to ensure the children were comfortable until they received their inheritances. It also would have specified at what age or ages (25/30/35 are the most popular age distributions I’ve seen) that the children would receive distributions.
In short, had the Baudelaire parents created a structured trust, Violet, Klaus and Sunny would have been much more comfortable and Count Olaf would not have spent years pursuing them to steal the fortune.
The Importance of Your Executor/Trustee
The Baudelaire parents named the inept Mr. Poe as their executor. I’m sure they picked him because he’s a banker and assumed he would do well handling the money. However, Mr. Poe was a bureaucrat through and through. He followed the baffling instructions to a T, much to the dismay of the Baudelaire orphans.
Had the Baudelaire parents named someone more adept at managing their estate, the Baudelaire orphans would have received better care, at least. Or maybe some money to cover HEMS (Health, Education, Maintenance, and Support) to ensure that their lives were at least as comfortable as before their parents’ (alleged) murder. Instead, the children were left to fend for themselves because Mr. Poe followed the black letter rule of the vague estate plan.
The End
The Baudelaire orphans’ misfortunes – while outlandish – serve as a reminder that we have a duty to our loved ones to create the best plan possible when trying to care for our loved ones upon our passing.
Schedule a consultation today if you are looking to avoid a series of unfortunate events upon your passing.