Will Survives RAP, Probated 92 Years After Testator’s Death

Willington R. Burt was one of America’s richest men when he died in 1919. Prior to his death, Burt decided he did not want his children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or dogs to inherit his money. Instead, Burt wrote a will based on basic inheritance laws, but Burt delayed the passage of his estate until twenty-one years after the death of his youngest grandchild.

The youngest grandchild, Marion Stone Burt, died in 1989, and the twenty-one year countdown began. This year, ninety-two years after Willington Burt died, the time ran out and Burt’s surviving heirs received millions. The $110 million fortune was divided among three great-grandchildren, seven great-great grandchildren, and two great-great-great grandchildren.

See William W. Bedsworth, Viewpoint: Let the Good Times Rot, The Recorder, Nov. 11, 2011.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of law, UC Davis School of Law) and Erin Gallagher (2008 Graduate, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.