Abigail Disney is a granddaughter of Roy Disney, Walt’s brother. She was born into wealth and she attended some prestigious universities. She is considered a progressive politically which is another way of saying that she is liberal. She is a filmmaker, but not a filmmaker of films that by and large make money.

In the USA Today, she has authored an op-ed wherein she states that the estate tax is the fairest tax that we have and that she is all for it. She justifies the estate tax by indicating that it is not a double tax. She contends that multi-millionaires do not become that way by earning a weekly paycheck, but rather by investing. I guess she does not know that there are plenty of businessmen and women, doctors, attorneys, athletes, entertainers, and others who have amassed a few dollars by working and even if they had never invested a penny would be subject to the estate tax.

She next argues that she is not aware of any farms that will be broken up because of there being an estate tax. It is true that there are farmers who engage in extensive estate planning who have been able to pass down the family farms, but there are certainly more that have had to sell to prepare for the estate tax. I wonder how much research Ms. Disney did on this issue and whether she contacted any estate planning lawyers in farm areas or talked to farmers or their heirs. I have a feeling she would be surprised.

Finally, she argues that the estate tax incentivizes people like her to do good with her wealth. One can argue as to whether society is benefitting by her use of her wealth and whether it would benefit just as much if she spent her money in other ways.

She does not seem to want to pay the estate tax herself. Rather, she utilizes the tax code that allows for her filmmaking and her foundations and states that she is doing good with her money. I guess her argument is if you have not created a foundation or engaged in non-profit work such as making films, or you have not given the money to charity, pay the estate tax regardless of what the rate is and know that she thanks you for it.

She obviously does not want to give her money to the government. Rather, she wants people who have not used the tax code as effectively as she has to do so. Interesting!

We, as estate planning attorneys, do our job by effectively providing advice to people to reduce their estate taxes. Ms. Disney, who argues against aristocracy and for a meritocracy, but has kept the Disney name, has certainly provided a couple of legal ways to “beat the system.”