#1
When dad was in Vietnam, she would record him voice messages on tapes and send them to him with letters telling him what life was like in the neighborhood and how she hoped he’d be home safe soon, that she prayed for him etc. When he came home, he’d stop by to chat and help out around the house, bring her macaroons and just sit and talk for awhile.
One day Ms. Lingard passed away and a lawyer called my grandparents. She had left them a sizable amount of cash and stock, and her (paid off) house to my dad and his brother. My family had thought she was penniless.
Never underestimate how much little, simple things can mean to people. You just might be one of the best things in their life.
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This couple had 3 children whose jobs were doctor, lawyer, and teacher. They split their assets 33/33/34, in favor of the teacher who earned less money than the doctor and lawyer. The doctor and lawyer contested the will over .33% each.
This is why our lawyer recommended that we include a clause in our will to exclude anyone who contested our will.
Many parents assume that once they're gone, their hard-earned money, home, and other assets will automatically go to their children. And while that's often the case, inheritance isn't always as straightforward as people think.
Estate laws can be surprisingly complex, and without proper planning, things can become legally complicated very quickly. Kobus van Schalkwyk, Head of Corporate Development for Standard Trust Limited at Standard Bank, explains that if you pass away without leaving a valid will, the law (not your family) decides how your assets are distributed. In other words, your final wishes may not be carried out the way you intended. That's why having a will is often considered one of the most important parts of estate planning.
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Now, here's where things get even more interesting. The rules surrounding wills aren't the same everywhere—they vary significantly from country to country. If you own property, investments, or bank accounts in different places, multiple legal systems may come into play. Generally speaking, real estate is governed by the laws of the country where it's located, while movable assets like bank accounts and investments are often subject to the laws of the country where you were legally domiciled. That means two different sets of rules could apply to the same estate. It's one of the reasons international estate planning can become so complicated.
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Not a lawyer, but that's the craziest I saw from our clients.
Depending on where you live, you may not even have complete freedom to decide who inherits your assets. Many countries across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East follow a legal principle known as forced heirship. Under these laws, certain close family members (typically children, spouses, or parents) are legally entitled to receive a portion of your estate, regardless of what your will says. These rules exist to ensure that immediate family members are financially protected after someone's death. While they can limit personal choice, they're designed to prevent dependents from being left with nothing.
#10
When the mother passed away all the siblings got their share, she didn't have any money to buy hers so she was literally thrown out on the street. After caring for their mother all her life, and despite all of them having their own homes. My dad doesn't talk to that part of the family anymore.
#11
A week later she comes back in and she's in rough shape. She remembers me but her eyes are watering, she has some trouble explaining what's going on. I realize she's not even trying to change her will, she's just sort of here because she's scared about the changes in her head. So I get in touch with the person supposed to be caring for her, I talk over her will one more time, I tell her she's done everything right, her will is safe, her family knows where it is, etc.
When I said goodbye I told her I hoped to see her again, and she smiled and said she didn't think we would. I teared up a little. We'd laughed and chatted through her original will, discussed the best ways to do things. Seeing this formerly confident and witty woman, still keeping it together but obviously so concerned and knowing it was a one-way downward path. It sucked. I don't know how she's doing now.
#12
There was an old woman, we will refer to her as Granny or G so I don't have to keep saying "old woman".
Granny was a sweet old lady, relatively healthy but had some trouble getting around and taking care of herself. Her family was the typical greedy and money hungry scenario, only calling when they wanted something. I don't know the full story involving the family, but they stuck her in a nursing home and moved far away. To everyone's knowledge, Granny had very little money, but she still owned her property; a small house her best friend- my GA -took care of, and her car; a customized classic VW Bug.
The nursing home had volunteers, people to come and talk to the residents, play board games with them, basically keep them occupied. Granny's favorite was a newer volunteer, a 19 year old girl who I'll refer to as V. I only met her a handful of times, but V was a very soft spoken and kind girl. V was the only volunteer Granny liked, because they had many things in common, one of those things being their mutual love for a specific kind of car *hint hint*.
Over the next year and a half, V continued to volunteer about twice a week. Soon, Granny started to get sick, her health started to rapidly decline. Did her family come to see her? Nope. Until her last days, she only had V and my GA.
Granny passed away. Some of her family came to the funeral, but pretty much everyone only cared about the will. My GA said that the only ones who seemed sad at the funeral were herself, V, and a few of Granny's old friends.
When it came time to read the will, there was a big shock. It turned out Granny had a decent amount of money stashed away, about $10000, the family had no idea, only my great aunt knew about it. A small- SMALL amount of that was split up and given to select family members. But the rest was divided and given to my great aunt and V- V was in complete shock. The family was mad. A few other things were given to family, select items that didn't hold a whole lot of value. But it was about to get worse.
The car I mentioned earlier, the classic bug? Granny's teenage granddaughter had her eyes on that car since Granny was put in the nursing home! Everyone expected her to get it once G passed.
That didn't happen though.
Like I said, one of the things V and G bonded over was their love for bugs. G had shown V lots of pictures of her bug and V enthusiastically told G all about her own bug.
My great aunt wasn't really a fan of the car ("I like trucks!") and she said that she and Granny discussed leaving the bug to V in the will, which is exactly what G did.
If the family was mad about the money, they were FURIOUS about this car. I've seen pictures, this thing was NICE. Granny probably loved it more than anything, maybe even my great aunt. And according to her, V cried her eyes out, like she had to leave the room. She told my GA "I can't accept it. I'm not family, that car should be yours." And my GA spent over an hour and a half convincing her that G wanted her to have it.
Some family members followed V outside and started screaming at her, threatening to sue her, claiming it was part of a "plan" V must have created (what? Befriend a lonely old woman and take her fortune?), telling her she didn't deserve any of what she got and calling her awful things. One of the calmer relatives got things settled down and my GA got V out of there.
It's been a few years. My great aunt and V still talk, and V still has Granny's bug. As far as I know, after the reading of the will was over V got a lot of nasty messages online but was otherwise fine. One of the family members did contact a lawyer but they must have told them there was nothing that could be done since V never actually got sued or anything.
France offers a good example of how forced heirship works in practice. Under French law, you generally cannot completely disinherit your children, even if your will says otherwise. A fixed percentage of your estate is automatically reserved for them by law, and only the remaining portion can be distributed however you choose. Similar rules exist in several other countries as well. So while someone may write dramatic instructions in their will, the law can still override certain decisions. Inheritance, it turns out, is often just as much about legal rights as personal wishes.
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Rich uncle of mine, real crazy... Not in the good way. He would come to visit us when we were kids maybe once every ten years. Last time he did, he brought us to a *Denny's*. He met my brother in an airport, was there for an hour before he got on another plane and went home.
When he passed away he had no friends, he had driven his wife to basically drink herself to her demise a few years prior. He left his entire estate to an Elvis impersonator. Everything.
Other countries take a very different approach. Places such as the United Kingdom, and Singapore generally recognize what's known as testamentary freedom. This means people usually have much greater flexibility to leave their assets to whoever they choose, whether that's family members, close friends, charities, or someone else entirely. However, that freedom isn't always absolute. In some situations, dependents who believe they were unfairly left out of a will may still be able to challenge it through the courts. So even where people have broad choices, the legal system still provides certain protections.
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Everyone agreed.
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Even within the United States, there are important limits. Most states have what's known as an elective share law for spouses. This means you generally cannot completely disinherit your husband or wife, because they have the legal right to claim a minimum portion of the estate (often between one-third and one-half) regardless of what the will says. These laws are intended to protect surviving spouses from financial hardship. While the exact rules vary from state to state, they reflect the idea that some relationships carry legal responsibilities that continue even after death.
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We’ve had a lady put in her will that one of her adult sons was not to receive his share until he visited a dentist and the other son lost 70lbs.
Another lady put in her will that she wanted her cats cremated with her when she passed away. Told her that’s not going to happen, human remains and animal remains do not get cremated at once. So she settled on cremated separately and joined together, then buried together.
Typically wills are about 10 pages (for the average person).
We had a lady who had a 56 page will. She detailed EVERYTHING from her house to people “wooden ladel to ____”; “toilet paper holder to ________”; “magazine basket to _________” etc. For every single item in this lady’s house.
We had a man put in his will that his family was to go to the zoo immediately after his burial (that day). We thought that was more heart warming.
We had a lady that told us to put in her will that she wanted to be buried on her property next to her husband. She lived on a small rural property. Totally illegal to have human remains buried there. Refused to tell us whether her husband was cremated or not and had dictated that she did not want to be cremated. Edit: her husband had passed away 5 or 6 years prior. So it’s not as though it was 50 years where things like that may have been a little overlooked.
We work with many people from a certain religion. A lot of people we do wills for leave at least 90% of their estates to the church instead of their families.
#20
The guy also had some other interesting things in his will and was a known practical joker.