[Spoiler alert: if you haven’t seen Season 4, Episode 2 of Downton Abbey yet, this post contains an ever-so-minor spoiler.]
Tonight’s episode of Downton Abbey confirms my suspicion that Season 4 is the tax season. (Apparently, the writers were desperate to snare the tax attorney demographic.) So why is Lord Grantham so set on selling land to pay Matthew’s death duties? We learned tonight, in Episode 2, that other tax considerations have a lot to do with it. Continue reading
(Warning: depending on how far you are in Downton Abbey, there may be no, minor, or major spoilers ahead.)
Like apparently pretty much all British drama, Downton Abbey’s central, motivating issue is inheritance. As the series begins, Lord Grantham’s cousin and the cousin’s son have died on the Titanic. Lord Grantham has no sons, and doesn’t want to break the entail on the estate, so he cannot leave his estate or his money to his daughters. Instead, Matthew, a distant cousin, becomes the heir. Continue reading
What We Pay for Civilized Society 