Craziest Wills of the 20th Century

Normally when a person writes his or her Last Will and Testament, they carefully consider the assets they own, who they wish to bequeath those financial resources to, as well as other details of their estates. Some people, however, follow their own agenda when it comes to writing their wills. Their claim to fame, if nothing else, is that they were the authors of some of the crazy wills of the 20th century.

A man named E.J. Halley of Memphis, Tennessee had money and a penchant for booze. When he died in 1910 and his will was read, it was revealed that Halley left his money to everyone and anyone he felt had done him a kind service during his lifetime. As generous and compassionate as these gestures may sound, Halley's bequeaths were rather odd. For example, he left the cook at the hospital "who took the snakes out of my broth" $5,000. Another five grand was left to the
nurse who got rid of the "pink monkey that was in my bed". It goes without saying that Halley's family contested his wacky will.

Paula Yates, who had been a Penthouse centerfold and the girlfriend of the INXS' lead singer Michael Hutchence, died on September 17, 2000. Yates had been married to singer Bob Geldof and the couple had three daughters: Fifi Trixabelle, Peaches Honeyblossom and Pixie. Yates eccentric tastes followed her to her grave- she was buried in her white mink bikini that she just adored.

Charles Vance Millar left this earth in 1926. Millar was a Canadian attorney and a wealthy financier. He left a large estate behind, but no family to will it to. Millar had obviously already thought of that. So, in his Last Will and Testament, one of his instructions was that the remainder of his estate be liquidated and given to one certain woman. Who was this woman? It was the Canadian woman who gave birth to the most babies in the decade after Millar's passing. Six women ended up sharing the prize money and there were 36 babies born in the process.

Another crazy will of the 20th century involves Countess Carlotta Liebenstein who died in 1991. In her will, the Countess left her beloved dog "Gunther III" a tidy sum of about $80,000,000. The canine later sired an offspring, "Gunther IV", and the inheritance allowed the two pets to live in a mansion full of luxuries.

A Californian man named Robert Brett loved to smoke cigars. Unfortunately, his wife didn't share his passion and prohibited Brett from smoking at their home. When Brett died in 1997, his will left his entire estate to his dear wife... if she smoked five cigars a day for the remainder of her life.

Choreographer and Film Director Bob Fosse stipulated in his Last Will and Testament that 66 certain people were to be given nearly $400.00 each. His instructions said they were to "go out and have dinner on me." Some of the recipients included Neil Simon, Dustin Hoffman, Melanie Griffith, Liza Minnelli and Roy Scheider.