Couple leaves $847K inheritance to the US government

While many people try to find ways to pay as little as possible to the government, one Seattle couple wanted their entire inheritance to go to the U.S. government.

A cashier's check in the amount of $847,215.57 was recently received by the U.S. Department of Treasury from Peter and Joan Petrasek. It's not entirely clear why the couple left their estate to the government.

Given their background, it is believed they wanted to express their gratitude to this country. It's also worth noting that ​the couple didn't have any living relatives in the United States.

Peter Winn, the US assistant attorney in Seattle told ABC News, "This case is interesting because it seems to be that these were two immigrants who felt grateful to have this adoptive country open its arms to them after having a hard time in eastern Europe during World War II..."

One of the couple's neighbors commented to KIRO TV that Peter Petrasek had talked about his family members dying during the Nazi occupation in Czechoslovakia. She noted, "He mentioned that they had passed away and we figured not in a good way."

After escaping from Czechoslovakia to Canada, Peter met Joan, an Irish immigrant. They got married in 1951 and moved to the United States a few years later. Joan died in 1999, and Peter passed away in 2012.

It took three years after Peter's death to account for everything in their name which included a house, bank accounts, and stocks.