The Settlement of Ellen White's Estate

As noted in the text, Ellen White employed an experienced accountant who kept careful records of expenses and incomes and also the record of borrowed monies with which to aid the cause of God and to carry forward her book work. According to these records at the time of her death, Ellen White's properties, including home, farm, book plates, copyrights, and manuscripts were valued, in round figures, at $121,000; the liabilities were recorded at $88,000. When her will was probated in the usual way in the NAPA County Supreme Court, the judge, though riendly, did not agree with the advice of attorney bell that provision could be made for the creditors to await payment pending the earnings of the estate in book royalties. Rather he held that, in compliance with law and normal procedures, all claims against Ellen White's estate must be met promptly and the estate closed up.6BIO 456.8

The judge appointed three men to appraise the property: J. H. Steves, a St. Helena hardware merchant; L. M. Bowen, manager of the St. Helena Sanitarium; and H. S. Davis, a St. Helena Businessman. It was not difficult for these men to look over the real estate, farm implements and stock, office equipment and supplies, and put down their value. The bulk of the estate, however, was in literary properties, book plates, and copyrights (the record of which was in the elmshaven vault), and the E. G. White manuscripts, which had been put on the books of account at the cost of production in labor and materials. All of these the appraisers were obligated to list at their estimated value at a sum that they would bring in an immediate sale. Mr. Steves told the author that when W. C. White opened the vault door and explained that it held the E. G. White manuscripts and the records of copyrights and book plates, the appraising committee was at a total loss to arrive at an evaluation, and so the men wrote down an arbitrary figure of $40,000. Merely a guess.6BIO 457.1

This $40,000 for literary properties, together with the $26,000 at which the home and other properties were listed, left the estate $21,000 short of its obligations. Ellen White was, for legal purposes, declared insolvent. The White trustees and the leaders of the general conference who were called in for counsel were confronted with an unexpected but very real problem. These were days when money was in short supply, $21,000 was a large sum, and the shortage was a baffling matter. From a financial standpoint there were no means with which to meet all the bequests of the will. It was considered a “Dry Trust.”6BIO 457.2

It was finally agreed:6BIO 458.1

(1) That the general conference corporation would advance to the White Trustees, as an interest-bearing loan, sufficient funds to meet all outstanding obligations. The loan would be repaid by sale of property and from royalty incomes.

(2) That each of the two sons to whom 10 percent of the estate was bequeathed would, in exchange for a modest settlement, relinquish their claims on the estate. To J. E. White, this meant a cancellation of his obligations to the estate for the nearly $10,000 advanced by his mother to assist in his publishing ventures. To W. C. White, it meant a like amount.6BIO 458.2

(3) The four individuals to whom $500 each had been bequeathed would, when all debts were paid, receive the money from royalty incomes. This was in time accomplished.6BIO 458.3

(4) in view of Ellen White's Estate being a “Dry Trust,” the provision in her will that would have made 5 percent available for educational purposes could not be carried out. The three trustees who were to administer the fund relinquished all claims upon it.6BIO 458.4

Thus, no heir of Ellen White benefits financially from the fact that she was an author.6BIO 458.5

With the money advanced by the general conference corporation at 4 percent interest, all financial obligations were promptly met and the estate of Ellen G. White properly closed. The home property was sold to help in providing funds. Because royalty rates were in 1918 reduced by 50 percent, and because the royalties paid were divided between supporting the work of the White Trustees and debt repayment, it took considerable time for the White Estate to buy its way out. In 1933, in agreements entered into between the five originally appointed trustees and the general conference corporation, the work of the Ellen G. White estate, incorporated, was put on a more stable financial basis. From that time it has been supported by an annual budget provided by the general conference of Seventh-day Adventists as a part of the work of the Church. In turn, the general conference corporation receives all royalty incomes from the distribution of the Ellen G. White books.6BIO 458.6

The support provided by the general conference is in three areas: first, assistance in translating and publishing the E. G. White books overseas, A point touched on in Ellen White's will; second, in providing a budget for the operation of the work of the White Estate; and third, in the establishment and operation of the several Seventh-day Adventist Ellen G. White research centers overseas.6BIO 458.7

These three features call for funds far in excess of royalty incomes from the sale of the E. G. White books. Thus, through the arrangement with the general conference, funds are made available for an outreach that serves the church well and would delight the heart of Ellen G. White.6BIO 459.1