Couple Donates Their $850,000 Estate To US Government

In late April, the estate of Peter and Joan Petrasek, via their lawyer, sent a cashier's check for $847,215.57 to the US Department of Treasury.

Attorney Peter Winn, who helped in the transferring of the funds to the US government, said that he was fulfilling the terms of the deceased couple's will, which called for all of the money in their estate to be donated to the US government once they passed away.

According to Winn, the couple, who emigrated from Czechoslovakia after the conclusion of WWII, were so grateful to the United States that they wanted to make the donation to "make a statement about how much it meant to them to be able to call themselves American citizens". The couple had no children.

Winn went on to say that it took three years to liquidate the couple's home and stock portfolio, but that a check was officially given to the Department of the Treasury on May 13th.

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The Bureau of the Public Debt of the Department of Treasury accepts gifts in order to help pay down the national debt.

In 2014, a total of $5,103,452.84 was donated to the US government to help tackle its massive debt load. This was the second highest year on record, topped only by the $7,749,618.27 that was donated in 2012.

Through the first six months of the 2015 fiscal year, $413,027.54 has been donated to the US government, though the contribution of the Petrasek estate will obviously increase this number significantly.

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With the United States burning through billions of dollars per day in deficit spending, the $850k contribution from the Petrasek's will not last very long.

Source: CNN.com - Couple Leaves $850,000 Estate To U.S. Government

Source: TreasuryDirect.gov - Gift Contributions To Reduce Debt Held By The Public

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