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5 Unusual Wills and Last Requests

It is important to make a Will to ensure your wishes are carried out – especially if you have unusual legacies or last requests to make in your Will.

We have been making Wills for clients for over 125 years and so if you want to make an unusual Will or last requests contact us to find out how we can help you make sure your wishes are properly recorded.

When someone passes away, their last requests or wishes as spelt out in their will tend to be an important immediate factor. Everyone has thoughts on how they wish to be remembered, and most people will look at ways to fulfil requests within a will as accurately as possible. These are normally financial, estate or business-related – however sometimes they are slightly more quirky. Here are 5 unusual requests that have been recorded over the years.

Unusual Wills

Mark Gruenwald – Editor – Marvel Comics
Mark Gruenwald was so attached to the comic incarnations of the superheroes he created that he decided, upon his death, he was to have his ashes mixed with ink to use on the cover of the paperback version of Squadron Supreme. For 4000 copies of the first run edition of Squadron Supreme, Mr Gruenwald is literally immortalised in the print of the books he created.

John Bowman
John Bowman was an American lawyer, educator and scholar who died in 1891. He wrote into his will that a trust of $50,000 was to be set up to pay for his servants to keep running his huge home – which included cooking an evening meal in case him or any of his deceased family returned hungry. Incredibly, this carried on for 59 years until the fund ran out of money in 1950.

Harry Houdini
The American magician and stunt performer became heavily spiritualised after his mother’s death. At the event of his own passing, he requested that his wife hold an annual séance in order for him to come back and ‘reveal himself to her’. She gave up after 10 years.

Charles Vance Miller & ‘The Stork Derby’
Canadian Lawyer Charles Vance Miller was a wealthy investor, who lived alone as a bachelor his whole life. Upon his death in 1926, he bequeathed the value of his entire estate to the woman who could birth the most children in Toronto between 1926 and 1936. Naturally, in a poor depression-torn city, the competition was popular and became known as the ‘Great Stork Derby’

Gene Roddenberry
The man who created the original series of Star Trek was worshiped amongst Sci-Fi fanatics the world over. When he passed away in 1991, he requested that his ashes be carried into space. In 1997, a Pegasus XL rocket did just that – scattering his ashes in low orbit and immortalising his memory amongst a world he created.

So there we have 5 people, amongst many, who have made unique, personalised and specific wills and last requests. It is important for many that their last wishes are fulfilled, and at Burt Brill and Cardens Solicitors we work closely for those needing to make a will. We provide expert, professional and sensitive will writing services – please contact us for more information.

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