Henry Ford II was the grandson of legendary businessman and auto company founder Henry Ford and shared in the vast wealth his family had amassed to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. When he died in the 80’s, a bitter feud erupted between his children from a first marriage and his third wife who was able to, eventually, increase her yearly stipend from a trust from $1.5 to over $10 million dollars. Now, the children of Ford are worried that the lawyer of their step-mother is seeking to exclude them from an inheritance that could be worth over $300 million. They have been denied access to her for over a year and with a recent back surgery facing complications they worry she will die before being reconciled with her. But the tensions between the step-parent and children has a long rocky history, in addition to the legal battle in the 80’s, with Henry Ford II’s children not even attending the wedding so this situation emerging is not any great surprise. But, in any event, no matter how this turns out it is just another example of the danger of conflict that exist when great wealth and death interact.
See James Wilkinson, Heirs of Henry Ford II riches say mom’s lawyer ‘may have had them written out of her will so he can take their $304million inheritance after he wouldn’t let them see her for a YEAR’, The Daily Mail, April 29, 2016.
