Texas Wills and Trusts Law Online » Wacky Will Wednesday

Wacky Wednesday: Wills That Make You Go “Hmmm…” – Sandra West

Rania Combs — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:30:52 +0000

NB: This post is part of a series highlighting wills that contain some interesting, and sometimes bizarre, bequests and stipulations. You can see all these posts here.

It has been said that Americans have love affairs with cars, but but one person took that love to an extreme.

Sandra Illene West was a Texas oil heiress and Beverly Hills socialite who died in 1977.

In her holographic will, she directed that her late husband’s brother, Sol West, bury her dressed in a “lacy nightgown” reclined in the front seat of her 1964 powder-blue Ferrari.

As an incentive for him to carry out her wishes, she specified that he would receive $2 million dollars if he did what she asked, but only $10,000 if he didn’t.

So she was placed in the front seat of her Ferrari at a comfortable slant, and the car was encased in a box measuring 6 by 8 by 15 feet.

The box was then hauled on a flatbed truck to the grave site in the Alamo Masonic Cemetery in San Antonio Texas, and was placed in a nine foot deep hole. To protect it from vandals, a concrete mixing truck poured cement over and around the box.

Wacky Wednesday: Wills That Make You Go “Hmmm…” – Carlotta Liebenstein

Rania Combs — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:00:10 +0000

NB: This post is part of a series highlighting wills that contain some interesting, and sometimes bizarre, bequests and stipulations. You can see all these posts here.

Leona Helmsley left her dog, Trouble, $12 million in trust, but that amount seems paltry considering the amount Austrian Countess Carlotta Liebenstein left her dog.

When she died in 1991, she left her entire $80 million fortune to a German Shepherd called Gunther III. This allowed the dog, and a puppy he later fathered, to live in a mansion. Gunther III, died a month later, leaving his fortune to his offspring, Gunther IV, who is now reportedly worth $372 million.

A few years ago, Gunther’s caretakers reportedly purchased the celebrity Madonna’s home on Gunther IV’s behalf for $7 million. Evidently, the dog now has free rein of the grounds and house, which includes a doggie playroom.

You can find out more about Gunther, IV by clicking here.

Wacky Wednesday: Wills That Make You Go “Hmmm…” – Jeremy Betham

Rania Combs — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 14:30:58 +0000

NB: This post is part of a series highlighting wills that contain some interesting, and sometimes bizarre, bequests and stipulations. You can see all these posts here.

Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher who died in 1832, included a very bizarre stipulation in his will.

He gave his body to his friend, Dr. Thomas Southwood Smith, instructing him to preserve his body and position it in such a manner that the whole figure could be seated in the chair he sat in while living.

After Dr. Smith had completed this process, he was to turn over control of the body to Jeremy Bentham’s executor, who was to clothe the remains in a black suit, and place the figure, seated on his chair, in a wood-and-glass cabinet known as the “Auto-Icon”.

He asked that his body be placed in attendance of any gatherings by friends or followers to commemorate him.

Because his head was badly distorted in the preservation process, a wax replica has now replaced it. For many years, the original head was stored in between his feet, but it was eventually locked away because it was a target for many pranksters.

Although the body was originally kept by Dr. Smith, it was acquired by the University College of London in 1850, and is now on display in one of the halls.

The body was brought to the meeting of the College Council on the 100th and 150th anniversary of the college, where it was listed as “present but not voting.”

Wacky Wednesday: Wills That Make You Go “Hmmm…” – TM Zink

Rania Combs — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:30:19 +0000

NB: This post is part of a series highlighting wills that contain some interesting, and sometimes bizarre, bequests and stipulations. You can see all these posts here.

TM Zink was a lawyer who noted an “intense hatred of women” in his will.

Evidently this was not based on an personal differences he had with them, but rather “the result of my experiences with women, observations of them, and study of all literatures and philosophical works.”

So when he died in 1930, he left about $100,000 in trust for 75 years, which he hoped would grow to $3,000,000 and fund the “Zink Womanless Library.” He directed that the words “No Women Admitted” be posted at each entrance, and that no books, works of arts, or decorations by women were to be permitted in or around the library.

Mr. Zink wishes were never realized because his daughter, to whom he bequeathed $5, was able to successfully contest the will. Therefore, his entire estate ironically fell into the hands of a woman, and the Zink Womanless Library was never established.

Wacky Wednesday: Wills That Make You Go “Hmmm…” – Ed Headrick

Rania Combs — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:00:12 +0000

NB: This post is part of a series highlighting wills that contain some interesting, and sometimes bizarre, bequests and stipulations. You can see all these posts here.

Ed Headrick was the inventor of the Frisbee and of the sport, Disc Golf. His son, Dan, recalls him joking that he wanted to live on as a Frisbee.

His children didn’t think he was serious, but Ed Headrick made it clear that he was. When he died on August 12, 2002, his body was cremated and his ashes were incorporated to make a limited number of “memorial flying discs.”

The discs were to be distributed to family and friends and sold to help fund a future Frisbee and Disc Golf history and memorabilia museum. You can buy a memorial disc of your very own by visiting the Disc Golf Association website.