Understanding Ellen White

Estate debt resolution

Following Ellen White’s death, the probate court appointed three appraisers to value her estate. They estimated its worth at $65,721.87¹⁰ against an indebtedness of $87,250.00,” ¹¹ leaving an overall deficit balance of $21,528.13. Throughout her lifetime, Ellen White had donated heavily to support the work of the church, sometimes borrowing money on which she paid interest—at least once as high as 7 percent—in order to have funds to donate to church projects. ¹² Additionally, money was borrowed to pay for preparing and printing the several books published during the last fifteen years of her life, ¹³ not to mention the ongoing preparation of other book manuscripts that were in various stages of readiness at the time of her death. ¹⁴ Ellen White also had lent money to both of her surviving sons. ¹⁵ UEGW 216.1

In fairness to Ellen White, she died with no idea that her estate was insolvent. According to the financial records maintained by her accountant, her net worth was considerably more than her indebtedness. ¹⁶ The difference between her net value as shown on the accountant’s books and the value of the estate arrived at by the court appraisers was due to the way the two totals were figured. The court appraisers based their appraisal upon what they thought things would sell for in an immediate court-appointed sale, whereas the accountant figured Ellen White’s net worth at the value that the book manuscripts, printing plates, and so on, had originally actually cost to produce. Neither figured the potential future value of the royalty income generated from the sale of Ellen White’s books. A few weeks prior to Ellen White’s death, several of her future trustees met at Elmshaven, and compared her net worth to her obligations. They were satisfied that the estate could cover all her debts. ¹⁷ UEGW 216.2

Because Ellen White’s estate did not have sufficient readily available assets to cover her indebtedness, in accordance with California law the court required that an estate sale be conducted. ¹⁸ On October 2, 1916, the General Conference paid $87,250.00¹⁹ to acquire the entire estate, including Elmshaven. ²⁰ Legally, Ellen White’s estate ceased to exist, though church leaders seem to have viewed the purchase more as a loan to the estate than as an actual purchase of it. ²¹ Prior to that sale, the court would have received a copy of the terms of the agreement that had been worked out between the executors of the estate and the General Conference²² planning to honor some provisions of Ellen White’s will, though not all of them. ²³ One provision that was honored was the trust arrangement whereby the five trustees named by Ellen White²⁴ received her general unpublished letter and manuscript file. Eventually, the trustees repaid at 4 percent interest the estate’s entire indebtedness to the General Conference. This was from royalties earned on the sale of Ellen White’s books. ²⁵ The repayment arrangement was in harmony with the intent of Ellen White’s original will. ²⁶ Honored also was the provision leaving her personal effects to her sons. ²⁷ UEGW 216.3