As promised, here is Part Two of the series on Absolutely Vicious Fights Over Inherited Fortunes. Again, this was originally published on ListVerse.com 3/3/23 and written by Selme Angulo.
Read on for how messy and nasty things can get when heirs are fighting over the spoils. Last week, we left off at #6 … so this week, we begin with #5.
5 William Jennens
“The case of William Jennens, an Englishman who died in 1798, may be one of the most intriguing and complicated inheritance battles in history. Jennens was widely known as the richest commoner in England during his life. He had a fortune estimated at over two million pounds sterling. However, he died without a will. So he left behind a legacy that was up for grabs.
This led to a frenzy of people from all over the world claiming to be related to Jennens. Of course, they were hoping to stake their claim to his fortune. And it nearly worked! The confusion surrounding Jennens’s own uncertain parentage only fueled the fire. Quickly, it made the battle over his inheritance even more complicated.
The legal battle over Jennens’s inheritance lasted for over a century in total. It was so dramatic that it is believed to have served as the inspiration for Charles Dickens’s novel Bleak House. Ultimately, the lawyers took the lion’s share of the fortune. To that end, the case of William Jennens remains a cautionary tale about the dangers of dying without a will.
Whatever incredible wealth he accumulated in his wife was nearly completely wiped out in attorney’s fees. Those hoping to cash in saw it as a waste, but there was little to be done. Consider it a lesson to the most successful among us to hash out a will should the worst happen!
4 John Seward Johnson
John Seward Johnson was a well-known figure due to his association with the Johnson & Johnson company. He was married to his wife Essie for over three decades and seemed destined to live out a charmed existence. But his life took a scandalous turn when he set his eyes on a new employee. She was a 30-year-old Polish immigrant named Basia Piasecka. And despite the 40-year age difference and the controversial beginning, the couple remained together until Seward’s death in 1983. That’s when the drama really began for Seward’s children and his massive estate.
Upon the magnate’s death, his six children were shocked to discover he had left almost all his half-a-billion dollar estate to the former maid. They took her to court, claiming she took advantage of Seward’s age and mental state. But Basia was ready to fight back. She claimed that their marriage had been happy. It was the stepchildren, she asserted, who were only after the late mogul’s money.0
The case went to trial in 1986 and lasted for four months. However, right before the verdict was to be delivered, Basia changed her mind and agreed to a settlement. She walked away with over $300 million. The rest of the money was divided up between the children and the charity.
3 Nina Wang
Nina Wang was a woman of contradictions. She was known as “Little Sweetie.” She was one of the richest people in the world at the turn of the millennium. But despite her immense wealth, she lived frugally. And she had a childlike air about her, wearing pigtails, miniskirts, and ankle socks well into her 60s.
Her husband, Teddy Wang, had been an extraordinarily wealthy businessman. He was kidnapped twice during his life. The second time resulted in tragedy after a ransom was not paid quickly enough to secure his release. The shocking disappearance of Teddy resulted in a legal battle over his fortune. At one point, Nina was jailed for forgery regarding that inheritance. But finally, she did receive the value of his estate.
Then, Nina’s death in 2006 led to a second legal battle. That time, her $4 billion fortune went up for grabs. Her married younger lover Tony Chan claimed to be the sole beneficiary of her will. However, the validity of that will was called into question by Nina’s family. The result led to a lengthy court battle. It drew large crowds across China and the rest of Asia eager to snoop on the sordid details of their relationship.
The court eventually ruled that Nina’s will had indeed been a forgery. In truth, they found Nina actually left her fortune to charity. In 2012, Tony was sentenced to 12 years in prison for forging the will. Today, Nina will forever be remembered as the quirky rich woman at the center of two massive and vindictive inheritance fights.
2 Fred Koch
Fred Koch was an American oil magnate in the mid-20th century. He had four sons who were involved in the family business, Koch Industries. Upon his death, Fred left instructions for his sons to be kind to one another. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. The siblings had intense rivalries and fought for control of the company after their father’s passing in 1967. The inheritance was all tied up in the lucrative family business.
In time, brothers Charles and David bought out their other brothers, Bill and Frederick, for over $1 billion. Charles and David recognized that the value of the oil-related business was exceptionally high. Of course, a nine-figure payday is nothing to dismiss—but that’s exactly what happened.
Over the years, Bill and Frederick felt the $700 million compensation from their other two brothers had actually been unfairly low. So they spent the next two decades in court trying to win back more money. It caused a rift between the two pairs of brothers that lasted all of 18 years. It even went on all the way through their mother’s funeral.
As it turned out later, their mother had even cut Bill and Frederick out of her own will in response to the ongoing lawsuit. The legal battle finally ended for good in 1998 when Bill and Frederick lost their claim for more money. Based on the final determination of the case, the two brothers were just going to have to settle for $700 million and make do with that.
9 J. Howard Marshall
You didn’t think we were going to forget the most infamous case of an inheritance gone wrong, did you? Anna Nicole Smith was a well-known model and dancer when she met billionaire J. Howard Marshall in a gentlemen’s club in 1991. The two of them married three years later. The marriage immediately raised questions among Marshall’s family, as Anna was 26 years old, and the billionaire was 89.
Sadly, Howard passed away a year after their marriage. With his death, the vicious and bizarre battle for his inheritance began. The problem from the start was that Howard had not included Anna in his will. He didn’t include his son Howard in the will, either, bequeathing money only to his other son. Pierce. So the table was set for a vicious courtroom showdown.
The battle between Anna and Pierce quickly became intense. It was a media delight filled with twists and turns. Pierce claimed that 13 legal documents proved that he was the rightful heir. Meanwhile, Anna argued her late husband had promised to leave her half of everything when he was alive. The case was a media circus for years. It saw conflicting decisions from a Texas state court and a California bankruptcy court. It even reached the Supreme Court, which merely ruled that Anna could keep fighting for the inheritance.
Tragically, both Anna and Pierce died in quick succession in the mid-2000s. However, the case continued as Smith’s daughter became the potential heir in line for the fortune. By the mid-2010s, courts ruled against Smith’s estate in favor of Marshall’s family. Then, in 2017, the judge who had heard the entirety of the probate case was begging to be removed from it. You know a case has gone too long when the judge begs the parties not to show up anymore!”
Unless you want your heirs to fight tooth and nail after you have passed, these are ten great examples of what NOT to do when it comes to your will and estate plans. Anything left to interpretation can be “fair game” when heirs feel they didn’t get their rightful share. These examples also point out how these battles, whether over a fortune or simply a split-level home in the burbs, can go on for a long time and cost a lot of money. Why put your heirs through that if it can be avoided by working with an experienced estate planning attorney who will ensure your wishes are clear and not open to interpretation? Call me at 513-399-7526 or visit my website, www.davidlefton.com, for more information. Let’s discuss your unique situation, and allow me to help you protect your hard-earned assets and your loved ones.
Source: ListVerse.com 3/3/23 by Selme Angulo