Houston Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney Blog
Carl J Drake spent his life studying bugs, everything from aphids to water striders. When he died in 1965, the entomologist left his life savings and his vast insect collection to the Smithsonian. But now Drake's will has become something of a pest.
The case of the Smithsonian Museum and the entomologist Carl J Drake, as relayed in a recent article in the Guardian titled “Smithsonian Museum is bugging out over insect inheritance,” provides an example of how a gift of charity can actually be a gift of a burden to your institution of choice without the proper plans in place.
Most museums across the globe, including many Houston museums, really only start out and build their vast collections through the largesse of charitable donors. The Smithsonian is no stranger to gifts of the strangest collections with the most peculiar needs and various limiting conditions. That said, Drake’s bug collection is beginning to bug them. The Museum is actually petitioning the courts in an attempt to modify the gift.