23 October 1939
Dear Nathan,
I am in favor of our granting the total funds requested at the level requested, provided we still have enough. At the same time, however, we should convey that we are high and dry for now. Perhaps I may have the opportunity to earn a larger sum again sometime. That wretch, the “Herald Tribune,” to whom I emphatically wrote, refused to pay more for the article.
When you speak to the lawyers about the will, please explain the difficulties that led me to that complicated testament. The issue is that I definitely do have to care for the sick boy, but, owing to the insecure income situation there, I do not know how large the necessary allowance will be, so an amount fixed right now will probably have to be changed again and again. Furthermore, I have to care for certain childless people as best I can, as long as they live, but must see to it that the remaining capital is passed to my son over here, resp., to his children. It seems to me that considering the relatively modest sums available, there can hardly be an alternative solution to the one we have proposed.
Cordial regards, 
Yours, 
	A. Einstein.
Dr. Otto Nathan
132 West 11th St.
New York City
 [TLS. On embossed letterhead: “A. Einstein, 112, Mercer Street, Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.A.”]