Fortune for Fido

When heiress Huguette Clark died at age 104, her will revealed that she left a substantial portion of her half-billion-dollar estate to her longtime caretaker. Many other wealthy figures before her have similarly left their estates to caretakers or pets instead of family members.

 Lawyer Ed Haynes says that estranged relationships between testator and family members explain these unusual dispositions. Robert Frank, author of Richistan, disagrees: “It’s not that they’re estranged from their children—it’s that they want to encourage them to make their own way.” Additionally, leaving money to a dog is probably easier than leaving it to staff because no one can accuse the dog of undue influence.

Alexandra Wolfe, Maid of Millions, Town and Country, Sept. 2011.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.