Planning for your Will

In 2017,  77-year-old Heinz Sommerfeld quietly passed away in a nursing home. You may think that a man who died in a nursing home passed away without a penny to his name, but that’s not the case; in fact, his Will was forged to gain access to his money. 

It was probably not known that this man was extremely wealthy, until his estate and assets were all funneled into the bank account into someone who was not his heir. The correct heir to the money ($800,000) was Sommerfeld’s younger half-brother. Instead, it wound up in the bank account of police officer Robert Konashewych.

Konashewych  filed a false affidavit with the courts and had forged Sommerfeld’s Last Will and Testament. Konashewych conspired with a senior client representative at the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee to ease the way for this fraud. He had essentially The police officer in question, had a an annual salary of $120,000. How did they think this would work? People would be curious as to why such a large sum of money wound up in the bank account of someone unrelated to the Testator. It is similar to the article we posted about Karen Williams, who became the Executor of a woman that their loved ones didn’t know. 

You can read more about the case, here. 

The loveable actress who played Mary Ann on the hit show, Gilligan’s Island, passed away in December of 2022, due to complications because of COVID-19. Wells was a much-beloved actress who appeared in the show as Mary Ann Summers. Wells had the foresight to create a Last Will and Testament. Much like other celebrities we’ve written about, she left a lot of items and assets from her estate to her family and loved ones. The Last Will allows her to dictate where her assets, items, charitable donations, etc., will go after their death. Good on Dawn for creating a Will. 

Curious to know what’s in her Last Will and Testament? You may be surprised to know that despite being a popular character on a hit television show, Dawn passed away with very few assets left in her name. This is surprising, because it is assumed that being on a hit television show like Gilligan’s Island, you would have assumed that she would have racked in millions. However, she believes that she was the lowest-paid cast member on the show, only earning about $700 a week. Taking into account for inflation, that would be around 5,000 as of 2023, according to this.  It still wouldn’t be enough to live on. If this account is true, then perhaps it’s not too surprising that she didn’t have much to leave behind. You can read about her Last Will and Testament here:

The Last Will and Testament of Dawn Wells

26-year-old Gina Rutledge was a doting mother over her two children, Jude aged 7, and Javen aged 6. Her Last Will and Testament specified that in the event should anything happen to her, her mother should take custody of her two children. Sadly, she passed away from brain cancer in 2021. Another party had contested the Will, arguing that they should take custody of the late mother’s two children: Gina’s mother, Jes, believes that the other party would be unable to properly care for her grandchildren. Besides, they are HER grandchildren and should naturally go to the grandmother. Family friend Fiona McKenney, agrees. 

There wasn’t much of a description about the other party seeking custody of the two children, other than the fact that they’re not biologically-related to the children in anyway. It’s apparent that the children are not being fought over by the biological father’s family. Details on who is fighting for custody and is “trying to run up legal fees in court,” are scant. McKenny, one of the owners of J.M. Automotive, generously donated a organizing a raffle for the grandmother’s 1996 Ford Escort. This was done to help offset legal costs in court, should the matter be taken to court. Tickets for the raffle were $50 each. At this time, in 2023, the result of this raffle (and the possible ensuing court battle) are unknown. You can read more here.

The purpose of a Last Will is so that you, as an individual, can bequeath your items/assets/estate to whomever you like. Thorny moral (and legal) issues are raised,  however, when a massive fortune is left behind and NONE of it goes to a person’s family…that is just a guarantee that people will fight over your fortune and inheritance. An inheritance (particularly in this day and age) can either help set you up for life, or be so little, that the amount you are getting worth almost nothing. We’ve previously written about many disputes in court over wealthy inheritances; many even relying on their parent’s inheritances to help them pay off debt, and others who have felt ignored by their parents simply favouring one child of the other. We have also written about inheritances given by wealthy people to their pets (Lagerfeld left behind $3 million to the care of his cat, for instance). That money, depending on what you personally believe, could have perhaps been better used elsewhere. How much money does a cat need to survive? 

The case we’re looking at today isn’t much different: an inheritance that shocked family members, that was given away to someone other than family. You have heard of Harry Potter? The billion-dollar franchise that J.K. Rowling created? The family of the man who ran Scholastic, the company that publishes the famous Harry Potter books, left his family reeling after it was revealed in his Last Will and Testament, that the family would not be getting ANY inheritance. The 1.2 billion fortune would instead be going to Richard Robinson’s lover, with nothing for his ex-wife or his two sons. Maurice “Reece” Robinson, the youngest son at the age of 25, spoke on behalf of the family, calling the decision to leave no inheritance to the family as “shocking.” The 2018 succession plan has outlined Scholastic’s chief strategy officer Iole Lucchese as the sole successor. You can read more in the link below: 

The 1.2 BILLION fortune that was left behind.