Pennsylvania estate planning attorney Patti Spencer recounts in a recent blog entry about the various estate planning lessons to be learned from "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."  Since Big Daddy was a Mississippi planter, I thought her post would be especially of interest to readers of this blog: 

"Big Daddy… What is it that makes him so big? His big heart, his
big belly, or his big money?"
– Brick Pollitt, character in the play

Last week my husband and I saw Tennessee William's play "Cat on a Hot
Tin Roof" at the Fulton Theatre. The theme of truth vs. mendacity runs
through the play as a dysfunctional family fights over an inheritance in
the Mississippi Delta.
Plantation owner Big Daddy has come home from the clinic on his 65th
birthday. In addition to Big Mama, his sons and their families are
there to welcome him and to tell him he is dying of cancer! Big Daddy
favors his tormented, alcoholic, former-football-hero son Brick, married
to Maggie the cat. Their marriage is childless and on-the-rocks.
Brick has quit his job and taken to drinking after the death of his
friend Skipper, with whom it is intimated he had a homosexual
relationship. Gooper, the less-loved son, and his over-bearing wife Mae
are there with their 5 children (no-neck monsters) and another on the
way.
Everyone except Big Daddy knows that he does, in fact, have terminal
cancer. The maneuvering begins for the inheritance. What does Big
Daddy own? "Close on ten million in cash an' blue-chip stocks, outside,
mind you, of twenty-eight thousand acres of the richest land this side
of the valley Nile!"
As the family quarrels and postures, trying to gain control of Big
Daddy's estate, we are given lessons in human nature, family dynamics
and estate planning:
1. Make your will now. Big Daddy couldn't decide whether to leave
the plantation to older son Gooper, whom he hates, or younger son Brick,
whom he loves but knows is an alcoholic. "I didn't make up my mind at
all on that question and still to this day I ain't made no will! – Well,
now I don't have to. The pressure is gone. I can just wait and see if
you pull yourself together or if you don't." The audience knows he is
in fact dying – so it looks as though he will die without a will. Don't
wait until there is a crisis situation to make a will. If drafted in
response to a crisis, the disposition of your estate may not be the
result of thoughtful, careful consideration but a knee-jerk reaction
influenced by the situation.
2. Is blood thicker than water? Should it be? Big Daddy's
hesitation over leaving the plantation to Brick is two-fold: 1) he is an
alcoholic and Big Daddy doesn't want to "subsidize a [@#$%&*] fool
on the bottle," and 2) Brick has no children so that Big Daddy's legacy
will not continue past Brick's generation. An estate plan can address
questions such as 1) do I need to control distributions to a beneficiary
who is incapable of handling money, 2) do I want to provide for future
generations or 3) are there beneficiaries other than family members I
want to consider.

3. Even with an estate plan, don't think there won't be sibling
rivalry. Even if your kids get along with each other and you, they may
have spouses. Gooper and Mae pretend to be the dutiful, attentive son
and daughter-in-law, when in truth they are driven solely by the desire
for material gain. Children who keep their animosity damped down while
you are around lose that inhibition when you are gone. No matter what
Big Daddy does, it appears that the sequel to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof will
be Cat and the Will Contest.
4. Don't try to use your money to control people. They may be nice
to your face, but behind your back they will hate you. Who could expect
Big Daddy's statement to Brick as to who will inherit the plantation,
"I can just wait and see if you pull yourself together or if you don't,"
to produce anything but Brick's disdain for his father.
5. Provide for your spouse. What about Big Mama? It becomes clear
that Big Daddy hates her, although he puts on a show of caring for her.
What does she get when Big Daddy dies? No one seems to think she will
inherit – it's only the two sons. If you are married, make sure your
spouse is providing for you adequately. If your spouse dies without a
will in Pennsylvania, you do not inherit the whole estate. If there are
children, you get the first $30,000 and one half of the remaining
amount with the kids getting the other half.
6. Bring out the skeletons. There are repressed ideas in Cat on a
Hot Tin Roof that are finally revealed at the climax of the play. But
in many lives, hidden secrets are never exposed. Don't assume you know
and understand everyone in your family. If there are difficult
situations or problems, your attorney needs to know.
The biggest lesson of all? In Big Daddy's words, "You can't buy back
your life when it's finished."