Some people aren’t content with simply leaving a legacy for their nearest and dearest, a Yahoo Finance! UK article points out, describing the contents of a number of highly unusual celebrity wills.
- After a long and successful career at Procter & Gamble, food storage expert Fred Bauer directed that, following his death, his remains were to be buried in a Pringles container. Today that container resides in the Arlington Memorial Gardens in Cincinnati.
- Eccentric Portuguese aristocrat Luis Carlos de Noronha Cabral da Camara directed that his wealth be divided among 70 random people plucked out of a Lisbon phone book.
- In his will, comedian Jack Benny left a sizeable amount of money for a local florist, with the directive to send Benny’s wife a single red rose every day for the rest of her life.
- Escape artist Harry Houdini’s will included a request that his wife would conduct a yearly séance. He named an esoteric 10-digit code his spirit would use. Mrs. Houdini carried out the request over the next ten years, but Houdini never showed up.
- Canadian lawyer Charles Vance Millar stipulated in his will that his fortune would go to the family that had the most children over the next ten years.
- Victorian gentleman Henry Budd left his Berkshire estate to his two sons on the strictcondition that they were never to grow mustaches.
Unusual requests aside, in discussing wills with our estate planning clients at Geyer Law, we explain some of the things to be accomplished through a will, which, in addition to leaving assets to specified beneficiaries, include:
- Saving time, money, and stress for loved ones.
- Determining who will manage the settlement of your affairs.
- Choosing who will take care of your minor children.
- Providing a home for your pets.
- Leaving instructions for your digital assets.
- Supporting favorite causes.
- Providing funeral instructions.
At Geyer Law, we understand that, even without unusual requests and bequests, estate planning in general has become more complex due to societal changes, tax law changes, and longer life expectancies. The complexity, however, is not in the documents, but in the decisions that need to be made. Whether your needs are “usual” or “far-from-usual”, our Indiana estate planning attorneys stand ready to discuss – and document them.
by Ronnie of the Rebecca W. Geyer & Associate blog team
