Initially the man was active in the wood trade, but instead earned his millions from steel. Furthermore, he invested in railway companies and banks. Being a courageous man, he also purchased railways in China and Russia at the time, which was unheard of at the time.
So a nice sum accumulated in Burt’s account, at the time 40-90 million dollars, which in today’s currency would amount to 500-1.2 billion dollars. At the time he was firmly among the ten richest Americans.
He had been married twice in his life and at the time of his death had seven children and two grandchildren.
Even before his death, in 1915, he built an immense garden around his large villa. Local officials then came to check whether the 82-year-old man had still paid his property tax correctly. Burt was supposed to pay $400,000, but the demand amounted to $1 million. The man got so angry that he had all the national organizations removed from his will. He said, “You’re just killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.”
But the man was also very bitter towards his family. For years, family members had come to him to ask for money, deceived him in various ways and disappointed him. Ended marriages and general disagreements caused the man to draw up a will, which is still talked about today.
42 pages of explanations
He didn’t hide his pain and had lawyers insert a “mocking clause” into his will. As a result, after his death, his assets were placed in a modest investment trust. It’s still nothing, right? But his relatives had a big surprise. Wellington added a clause that the money would never be distributed to any of his children or grandchildren. You have to wait until everyone dies. More precisely, it was written that when the last grandchild dies, one must wait another 21 years, and only then the inheritance will be distributed. The will was accompanied by a 42-page text in which he explained why he didn’t like his family at all.
However, it should be noted that few people left empty-handed. For example, some of his children later received $1,000 to $5,000 a year from that account. However, the favorite son received 30,000 a year. One daughter got nothing. The longtime secretary received $4,000 a year, while the cook, driver and some other employees received $1,000 a year.
Family members were shocked and thought it couldn’t be legal. And actually part of the will was contested. That is to say, not all American states allow such a generation-skipping will. One of these states was Minnesota, where much of Wellington Burt’s fortune had been amassed. Then the family contested the will and got $720,000 and $5 million in assets in Minnesota. That was little consolation, though.
And so began the long wait, made especially tense by the fact that Burt’s last granddaughter, Marion Lansill, died at the age of 80. The year was 1998. Now began a wait that lasted 21 years, which ended in November 2010.
By May 2011 the relatives and their lawyers had figured out how to distribute the property correctly and advantageously. $110 million was to be divided among 12 descendants. Three great-grandchildren, seven great-great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. Most of them had never heard of old Burt. On average, an heir received $2.9 million. The eldest heirs received 14.5 million, the oldest of whom was 94 years old. The youngest was 19, having been born in 1992, 72 years after Wellington’s death.
In total, over 30 people were disinherited and had to die before Wellington’s money was distributed.
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2024-01-20 16:00:00
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