Unusual wills. Weirdest Wills Toronto Dreamer

The longest testament was written by one of the founding fathers of the United States - Thomas Jefferson. In this document, instructions on property were side by side with reflections on the history and future of America. Jefferson's heirs could only take over after the emancipation of all their slaves.

The most boring will in the world, consisting of 95,940 words, was written by an American housewife, Frederick Evelyn Stilwell Cook, unknown until 1925 (the year of her death). It seems that no one managed to finish reading this work, which she created for 20 years.

Friends who caught her doing this thought she was writing a novel. However, they weren't too wrong. The fact is that the housewife made many friends and enemies during her long life, and she dedicated a couple of lines to each of her acquaintances. By the way, there was practically no talk of money in the document - Frederica was poor.

The shortest

But one London banker found only three words for relatives: "I am completely ruined." But still, the shortest suicide order in the world belongs to the German Karl Tausch. On January 19, 1967, in the presence of a notary, he wrote a simple and understandable phrase on a piece of paper: “Everything is for my wife.”

Most offensive

The most offensive testament was made by one medieval farmer. He left 100 livres for his wife, but ordered that another 100 livres be added if she remarried, in order to brighten up the lot of the poor man who decides to become her husband.

Although the testament of the Australian Francis Lord would also compete for this title. He donated all his property to charitable organizations, leaving his wife one shilling to “I bought a tram ticket, went somewhere and drowned myself.”

Wills to four-legged friends

Shot from the film "The Diamond Arm"

Also wanting to annoy his wife, American producer Roger Dorcas left 65 million dollars to his dog Maximilian. He made sure that the will was not disputed during his lifetime, having made human documents for the dog. He left his wife only one cent. But the wife turned out to be more cunning than Roger: she married a dog and inherited all his fortune.

The largest amount left to an animal was DM 139 million. This is how much the German millionaire Countess Carlotta von Liebenstein bequeathed to her dog Gunther III in 1991. By the way, his only son and heir was ... Gunther IV.

To avoid such things in the future, in many countries of the world it was forbidden to bequeath property to animals, but it was allowed to create a charitable foundation or some other organization whose task would be to take care of his beloved animal. Leona Helmsley did just that: she did not bequeath $12 million to her beloved dog, but created a charitable foundation with this money, which is obliged to take care of the dog.

The most ridiculous

In general, despite the fact that wills must be drawn up "in their right mind and sober memory", the authors of several documents could compete for the prize in the nomination "the strangest will" at once.

A certain Frenchman bequeathed to hold a competition for the most beautiful nose with all the money left by him, but demanded that: “representatives of all nations and races, with the exception of Russians, be allowed, provided that the participants in the competition had red hair and black eyebrows.”

A London banker left an inheritance to the children, on the condition that they: "never become a member of Parliament, hold any other public office, play the stock market, convert to another religion, or marry a non-Jewish woman."

Vermont entrepreneur John Bowman buried his wife and two daughters and was firmly convinced that he would meet them in the next world. And after the meeting, he hoped to somehow return to this world with them. His will stated that their mansion should be kept ready for the return of the owners, and even a late dinner should be served on the table every evening. John Bowman died in 1891, and brunch was no longer served at his house in 1950 - the money allocated for the maintenance of the house and servants ran out.

A citizen of Finland bequeathed his property to Satan. The state has successfully proved that this money should belong to him.

Most Useful for Historians

But enough curiosities! William Shakespeare left the most useful will from a historical point of view: he listed all his property from furniture to shoes, disposing of each thing separately. For historians, such a list is simply an invaluable gift, moreover, it is practically the only document that undeniably proves the existence of Shakespeare himself.

Shot from the film "Shakespeare in Love"

The hardest

Niels Bohr's laboratory assistant compiled the most complex testament in the world, consisting of special terms and very complex phraseological phrases - even expert linguists were called in to decipher it.

The most secret

Michel Rothschild's will was recognized as the most secret in the world: "I categorically and unequivocally forbid any inventory of my inheritance, any judicial intervention and disclosure of my fortune."

most famous

The most famous and, perhaps, one of the most useful will for all mankind was as follows: “I, the undersigned Alfred Bernhard Nobel, after mature reflection, hereby declare: ... all my remaining property must be invested by my executor in reliable papers and will form a fund , the interest on which will be distributed annually in the form of bonuses to those who during the previous year have brought the greatest benefit to mankind ... The interest should be divided into five parts, which will be distributed as follows: one part to whoever makes the most important discovery or invention in the field physics; one - to the one who will make the most important discovery or improvement in the field of chemistry; one - to someone who makes an important discovery in the field of physiology or medicine; one - to the one who in the field of literature will create the most outstanding work of the idealistic trend; and one to the one who will make the greatest contribution to the cause that contributes to the destruction or reduction of existing armies, support or encouragement of peace congresses.

The Most Impossible

The most difficult condition for entering into inheritance rights was set at the beginning of the 20th century by the German professor Paul Wolfskel: the one who is the first to present a complete proof of Fermat's theorem, the Göttingen Academy of Sciences is obliged to hand over 50,000 gold marks. The amount has not yet been received.

Just like no one has received the million dollars that Charlie Chaplin bequeathed to the one who can release five rings of tobacco smoke and pass the sixth through them.

The best thing for a compiler

And the most pleasant testament for himself was made in 2002 by the 72-year-old German disco magnate Rolf Eden, who deservedly enjoys the fame of Germany's main playboy. Since he never married and has no direct heirs, the eccentric rich man promised to leave part of his fortune, or rather 250 thousand euros, to the woman in whose passionate embrace he would die.

“I want to die at the most beautiful moment of my life. First I will have a good time with a beautiful woman, then I will have violent sex with her, then a heart attack will come, from which I will die, ”he explains.

Eden prefers to have a person no older than 30 years with him at the hour of death. Eden's proposal caused a serious stir among the fair sex, and for 14 years he has been successfully using the fruits of his ingenuity. Now he is 86 and he is not going to die yet.

Rolf Shimon Eden, sourcea photo

Preview illustration: Streis, Alexandre Theodore Honore, Birds of Prey. Testament”, fragment of a painting

Who wrote the world's longest will? and got the best answer

Answer from Marina_Anatolievna[guru]
Brevity is the soul of wit
The last will of the German Karl Tausch is officially considered the shortest testament. On June 19, 1967, in the presence of a notary, he wrote with his own hand on a piece of paper only two words: "All to my wife."
Another example is the will of a banker from London. It contained three words: "I am completely broke."
With all due respect...

Another example of a long will was written by one of the founding fathers of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. Indications regarding property were interspersed in the document with discourses on the history of America. Under this will, Jefferson's heirs received their shares of the inheritance only on the condition that they set free all their slaves.
Source:

Answer from 2 answers[guru]

Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: Who wrote the world's longest will?

Answer from User deleted[active]
The longest will in the world was left by an ordinary American housewife, Frederica Evelyn Stilwell Cook, in 1925. It consisted of 95,940 words and was never read in its entirety aloud. She wrote a will for 20 years, and many who saw her doing this were sure that she was writing a novel. Mrs. Cook's condition was modest, but the lady had a brilliant memory and found a few words (good or evil is another matter) for all her friends and enemies.

Answer from Yofya Kotelnikova[guru]
The longest testament was written by one of the founding fathers of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. Indications regarding property were interspersed in the document with discourses on the history of America. Under this will, Jefferson's heirs received their shares of the inheritance only on the condition that they set free all their slaves.

Answer from Ђ@nyushka[guru]
The longest testament was written by one of the founding fathers of the United States, Thomas Jefferson.
Indications regarding property were interspersed in the document with discourses on the history of America. Under this will, Jefferson's heirs received their shares of the inheritance only on the condition that they set free all their slaves.

They are short, long and simply ridiculous. Animals can get fortunes, and shoemakers swear not only in life, but also in wills. So what are the most interesting wills in the world?

The shortest wills

The essence of these orders is embedded in just a few words, but they are so concise that they fully convey the whole meaning of what was written. The first can hardly be called a testament. After all, a banker from London, well-known in his circles, left nothing to his heirs, except for the three words “I am completely ruined.”

The shortest testament in the world consists of two words

His record was broken by Karl Tausch. He wrote only 2 words: “Everything to my wife”, after which he went down in history as the person who made the shortest testament in the world.

The most ridiculous wills

Here the fantasy of the rich played out in earnest. For example, Samuel Bratt's passion for smoking made him take revenge on his wife by making an unusual declaration of will. In order for the spouse to enter into the rights of the inheritance, which amounted to 330,000 pounds, she is obliged to smoke 5 cigars a day. Thus, he took revenge on his wife, who forbade him to smoke his favorite Cuban cigars.

Cigars were mentioned in one of the most unusual wills

Angel Pantoia's relatives granted the deceased's last wish in a rather shocking way. The young man was found dead under the San Juan bridge. The killers were never found. To perpetuate the memory of Angela, his relatives embalmed his body in an upright position and placed him in one of the rooms of his home. According to the brother of the murdered man, they fulfilled his desire to be happy and stand firmly on his feet in his house. And where else can he be happy, if not in the circle of relatives? Anyone can look at Angel by paying only $5.

This is how Angel Pantoia's will was carried out.

The most unusual heiress was the four-legged friend of Leona Helmsley. After the death of the woman, her will was made public, according to which she left $ 12 million for the maintenance of her beloved dog Bedka. According to the deceased, she did not want the pet to lose its proper care and habitual way of life, having lost its mistress. After her death, Bedka is to be buried next to Leona in a posh mausoleum worth about $1,500,000. To manage the inheritance of the dog, the woman entrusted her brother, to whom she left 10 million national American currency. Leona did not forget about her granddaughters, bequeathing them $ 5 million. The relatives categorically disagree with such an expression of will of the deceased and are still challenging it in court.

Leona Helmsley bequeathed $12 million to her dog Bedka

But old Leona was surpassed by film producer Roger Dorcas, who made a ridiculous will in favor of his dog Maximilian, according to which the four-legged became the owner of 65 million dollars. While Roger's wife received only 1 cent. The court recognized the millionaire's order as legal, since during his lifetime he made human documents to the dog. But Roger's wife was not taken aback. Having become a widow, she married a happy heir - the dog Maximilian, because he had all the necessary documents. After the death of the Doberman, the woman, with the full rights of a widow, entered into inheritance rights, because the dog did not leave a will.

Dog Maximilian - an animal that received a record inheritance

Vermont entrepreneur John Bowman also distinguished himself by writing an interesting will. 2 years after the funeral of his beloved wife and children, he died himself, having previously voiced his last wish. According to his considerations, in the afterlife he should meet his family, and reincarnate with them on Earth. Therefore, he ordered that the house be kept clean for the return of the owners and that the table be laid every evening for a late supper. And although the entrepreneur himself died in 1891, his last wish was fulfilled for another 59 years, until the funds allocated for the salaries of the servants and for the repair of the house ran out.

Served table - part of one of the most unusual wills

Fulfilling the last will of California socialite Sandra West, she was buried in a silk peignoir at the wheel of her beloved Ferrari. Moreover, the performers responsible for ensuring that the secular lady was buried in comfort carefully monitored the position of the driver's seat relative to the steering wheel and the degree of location of the mirrors, creating an ideal overview. However, the executor decided to concrete the grave of the star so that her car would not become a temptation for vandals.

Longest Wills

The man - a legend, who made the longest will in the world, is a hitherto unknown housewife from America, Frederica Evelyn Stilwell Cook. Her author's work has more than 95 thousand words. No performer has been able to read it aloud from beginning to end. Without much wealth and luxurious real estate, Frederica managed to acquire many friends and enemies in her life. So she dedicated her will to them, writing a few lines about each. It took the housewife 20 years of her life to create such a document. Close people who noticed her at this occupation believed that she was writing a book. And some still believe that if you replicate her testament, you get a great women's novel.

Frederica Evelyn Stilwell Cook wrote the longest will in the world

The second place in the creation of the longest will is given to one of the founders of the United States - Thomas Jefferson. Anxiety about the history and future fate of his native country did not leave him even during the preparation of the document. Therefore, among the legally significant lines about the rights of heredity, quite often there were lyrical digressions about the hard fate of the inhabitants of America. As a result, the heirs of Thomas were given the condition that they could legally dispose of the inheritance only after the emancipation of all their slaves.

Some rich and famous people express their last will in a very peculiar way. There are cases when their wills became a real sensation and shock to the public. Today we will talk about such expressions of will of celebrities. Whatever the main goal they did not pursue, they achieved one thing for sure - even after many years, their name is still well known.

Samuel Bratt

Being addicted to smoking, the wealthy Mr. Bratt, dying, decided to take revenge on his wife, who tried to fight his bad habit through the strictest prohibitions. Under the terms of the will, she could only exercise the right to the inheritance if she began to smoke five cigars a day. The state of Mr. Bratt at that time was estimated at 330 thousand pounds.

Leona Hemsley

The last will of the eccentric millionaire was that after her death, her own grandchildren should receive $ 5 million, but her beloved dog - twice as much. When she is gone, then, at the request of Hemsley, the animal should be buried next to her in a special mausoleum for one and a half million dollars.

Henry Ford

The famous tycoon left half a billion dollars for charity after his death. He wished that the money went to more than 4 thousand educational and charitable institutions. This is the largest donation in history to date.

Gene Rodenberry

The creator of the Star Trek franchise gave himself a 'fantastic' funeral. Even during his lifetime, he wished that his body was cremated and the ashes scattered in space. Rodenberry's will was fulfilled the way he wanted, immortalizing him in the unexplored expanses of the Universe.

Angel Pantoia

The Puerto Rican died a violent death. It is still not known by whose hands. The victim's brother voiced the desire of the deceased to live in his father's house and stand firmly on his feet. Relatives fulfilled his will in a very peculiar way - they left the embalmed body of Pantoya in the mother's house in an upright position.

Heinrich Heine

All his life, the famous poet Heine regretted that he had tied the knot with a stupid, quarrelsome and unkind woman - a shoe saleswoman Evgenia Mirat. After his death, he left her his fortune with the condition that his wife officially marry a second time. Thus, he considered singing, at least one person will understand him and will grieve about his death.

A will is one of the ways to leave a mark on your life. As you can see, people use this opportunity in different ways: someone for revenge, and someone for good deeds. What will be the last will of a person is the personal choice of everyone. In any case, this decision will determine what kind of life a person lived, and what descendants will remember about him.

Date: 2010.04.26

The most indecent testament in history was left by a shoemaker from Marseilles. Of the 123 words recorded in it, 94 are impossible to pronounce even in a relatively decent society.

The world's longest testament was left by an unknown American housewife, Frederica Evelyn Stilwell Cook, in 1925. It consisted of 95,940 words and was never read aloud in its entirety, as is usually the case. Mrs. Cook did not possess much wealth, and her movable and immovable property could be counted on the fingers. But Mrs. Cook, having made many friends and enemies in her long life, had a brilliant memory and found a few words (good or evil is another matter) to all of them. She wrote a will for 20 years, and many who saw her doing this were sure that she was writing a novel. By the way, those who nevertheless managed to read the will in its entirety claim that it reads like a real women's novel, and if it is printed, then reader success is guaranteed.

The most offensive testament was made by the Australian Francis Lord, who, having written off his fortune to charitable organizations, friends and servants, also mentioned his wife at the end. He bequeathed one shilling to her - so that she "buy a ticket for the tram, go somewhere and drown herself."

The most generous testator can be considered the famous writer Robert Lewis Stevenson, who gave one of his friends his birthday. The lady was born on Christmas Day 25 December, and her own holiday was always forgotten. Changing this date to November 13, the writer's birthday, could change the situation, but the last will of the author of "Black Arrow" and "Treasure Island" was forbidden by the court to satisfy: Stevenson was not the legal owner of the birthday, and therefore could not bequeath it to anyone.

A resident of the American city of Springfield (Oregon) in his will wished that his skin be made into a binding for his collection of poems. But the authorities refused the heirs: the will of the testator came into direct conflict with the norms of local legislation on how to deal with corpses.

Nor was the last wish of Mary Murphy, a wealthy California widow, fulfilled. She ordered that her beloved dog Saido be euthanized in order to "save the latter from the moral anguish associated with the loss of its mistress." The Society for the Fight against Cruelty to Animals stood up for the dog, which proved that the killing of a healthy and young dog violates California law.

The most difficult testament to understand was drawn up by the laboratory assistant of the famous physicist Niels Bohr. There were so many technical terms and complex phraseological turns in the will that experts-linguists had to be called in to decipher it.

The most stupid story about the inheritance is connected with the name of Roger Dorcas. The millionaire and film producer left all his $65 million to his beloved dog Maximilian. The court recognized such a decision as legal, since during his lifetime the millionaire straightened out completely human documents to Maximilian. Dorcas left 1 cent for his wife. But she, according to the same dog documents, married a dog and, after his death, calmly entered into inheritance rights, since the dog, of course, did not leave a will.

The richest animal is a dog named Gunther IV. In 1991, German millionaire Countess Carlotta von Liebenstein left DM 139 million to her dog Gunther III. From him, the money passed to his only son and heir - Gunther IV.

Heavy smoker Samuel Bratt used his last wish purely for revenge. Since during his lifetime his wife did not allow him to smoke, in his will he left her 330,000 pounds with one condition: in order to receive an inheritance, the widow must smoke 5 cigars a day.

Millionaire Leona Hemsley became famous for leaving 5 million to her grandchildren and 12 million to her dog. When the dog dies, it is to be buried next to its owner in a magnificent mausoleum worth nearly a million and a half dollars.

Gene Rodenberry, the creator of the Star Trek phenomenon, wanted his body to be cremated and sent into outer space after death. In 1997, a Spanish satellite delivered the ashes of the deceased into orbit, where the contents of the urn were released into the upper atmosphere.

The last wish of the misogynistic lawyer who died in 1930 was to build a library in which all works were written only by men, and the staff also consisted only of men. He left $35,000 for this. His daughter received a $5 bequest.

A certain woman from Cherokee County, North Carolina, left her entire fortune to God. The court, having considered the will and not finding grounds for its cancellation, instructed the local sheriff to find the beneficiary and ensure the transfer of the inheritance to him. A few days later, Cherokee County became famous throughout the world as the only place on the planet that officially recognized its godforsakenness. The sheriff's report to the local judge said, "After extensive and thorough searches, we have not been able to locate God in this county."

In turn, the Finnish government has every reason to be considered the only representative of the devil on earth. One of the citizens of the country bequeathed all his property to Satan. The state successfully sued all the money to itself.

And one of the wills still unfulfilled was made by a certain Frenchman who left all his property "to the first person who came into contact with an inhabitant of any celestial body, with the exception of Mars."

One Frenchman left money for an annual competition for the most beautiful nose, to which "representatives of all nations and races, with the exception of Russians, are allowed, provided that the participants in the competition have red hair and black eyebrows." And a certain Viennese millionaire, who was afraid of the dark, demanded that a light always be on in his grave.

John Bowman, a Vermont entrepreneur, died after burying his beloved wife and two daughters. Absolutely confident that he would meet them in the next world and somehow manage to return to this world, he ordered that his mansion be kept in full readiness for his return and serve a late dinner on the table every evening. Bowman died in 1891. Late dinner in his mansion was stopped only in 1950, when the money allocated for the maintenance of the house and servants ran out.

California high society star Sandra West's last will was to be buried in a silk nightgown at the wheel of her beloved Ferrari, with her executor tasked with seeing to it that the seat was retracted for maximum comfort. The last wish was fulfilled. True, the executor decided to fill the grave with concrete, fearing vandals who could encroach on an expensive car.

One of the theaters in Buenos Aires gladly accepted several tens of thousands of dollars from the former artist Juan Potomacy, agreeing to the condition of the will that Mr. Potomacy's skull would be used in productions of Hamlet.

With all the many eccentric wills, the Canadian lawyer Charles Millar can rightly be considered the champion among testators, whose will is not just a collection of not-too-kind jokes on his neighbors, but also a document that had a fantastic impact on the life of not only his hometown of Toronto, but also throughout Canada.

Charles Millar died in 1928, and his last will became an instant sensation. He mentioned in his will two friends, a judge and a priest, known throughout Canada for their hatred of any form of gambling. He left them a large stake in one of the hippodromes. In addition to both profiting from gambling as a result, they automatically - as shareholders - became members of the jockey club, with which both had been fighting for many years. The judge and the preacher accepted the gift. To five more of his comrades, principled opponents of drunkenness and alcoholic beverages, Millar bequeathed shares of the brewing company. Only one out of five refused the inheritance. To three more acquaintances who could not stand each other so much that they refused to be at the same time in the same place, he bequeathed his villa in Jamaica. But the most important point was an unprecedentedly large sum of money, which the lawyer bequeathed "to that of the residents of Toronto, who within ten years from the time of my death will produce the largest number of children." This clause of the will was repeatedly tried to be challenged in court, but Millar was a good lawyer, so there was nothing to complain about. What happened next in Canada was called the "Great Toronto Derby". The surge in births in Toronto, and indeed across Canada, this decade has been phenomenal. As a result, on May 30, 1938, exactly ten years after Millar's death, the city court began to consider applications for inheritance. A woman who managed to give birth to ten children in ten years was disqualified - it turned out that not all of her children were from the same man, as Millar demanded. Another woman was also disqualified: she gave birth nine times, but five children were stillborn. Both ladies received a consolation prize of $13,000. $500,000 were distributed in equal shares among four families, in which nine children were born in ten years. As the newspapers later reported, there were no more children in these families.