A $1.2bn Harry Potter inheritance
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:
