Your will is the simplest way to make your wishes on death known. Communication is always key to avoiding disputes and making sure that your bequests are understood, but this is especially true if they fall outside of the norm.
With that in mind, here’s your rundown of five of the weirdest (and in some cases, the most heart-warming) bequests of all time.
1. Shakespeare’s “second-best bed”
The prize for the most famous bequest in history may well go to playwright and Bard of Avon, William Shakespeare.
On his death, he left his wife, Anne Hathaway, the couple’s “second best bed”. For a long time, this stipulation was seen as a slight against his wife, raising the question of who his best bed was bequeathed to.
Was it evidence of strained marital relations? Might the best bed have gone to a secret mistress, possibly “the Dark Lady” to who many of Shakespeare’s sonnets are dedicated?
In recent years, the contents of Shakespeare’s will have been re-examined.
According to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the second-best bed might have been the marital bed. Back in the 1600s, beds were expensive and seen as status symbols, likely to be kept downstairs to ensure visiting guests could see how well a household was doing. It was also this bed that would be offered to guests.
The couple’s “second best bed”, in this case, would’ve been the one kept upstairs and used by Shakespeare and Hathaway themselves. Maybe Shakespeare wasn’t as mean as once thought.
2. A Portuguese aristocrat chose 70 beneficiaries at random from the phone book
When Portuguese aristocrat Luis Carlos de Noronha Cabral da Camara died at the age of 48 with no living relatives, his wealth could have passed back to the state.
Keen to ensure that wouldn’t happen he had, in fact, made plans 13 years earlier. He asked a Lisbon notary to list 70 beneficiaries, all of whom Luis Carlos had chosen at random from a local phone book.
Understandably, when the beneficiaries were contacted and informed of their inheritance, the foremost emotion was surprise, followed by scepticism.
As reported by the Guardian back in 2007, one heiress claimed that she “thought it was some kind of cruel joke” because she had “never heard of the man.”
3. A 100-year-old bequest to clear the national debt
Back in 1928, an altruistic donor bequeathed a massive half a million pounds to Britain. The one proviso, the money had to be used to clear the public debt, and only at such time as the amount would write off all of the money owed.
While this was an incredible gesture – and the amount huge in 1928 terms – the money has yet to be used.
The original £500,000 is currently worth an impressive £350 million. Unfortunately, this pales compared to the current national debt, which in 2024 stands at £2.8 trillion.
4. A Swansea man sent 7 friends on a booze-filled weekend break to Berlin
In Graham Swift’s 1996 novel Last Orders, four friends meet at their local south-east London pub to carry out the last wishes of their friend. Their subsequent road trip takes them to Margate to spread Jack Dodds’ ashes.
When Roger Brown passed away in 2013, he sent his friends slightly further afield. He left £3,500 to seven friends, stipulating that the money was to be spent on a boozy European city break.
Roger’s closest friends from Swansea’s Vivian Arms pub, including a Mr Roger Rees, took up the challenge and headed to Berlin.
On their return, Mr Rees (as reported by the Mirror) said, “Roger was a humorous and inspiring friend greatly missed by all of us, and he was never far from our thoughts in Berlin.”
Mr Rees was also quick to apologise to Roger’s two sons, for “taking away some of their inheritance”. He added, “We spent most of it on beer, the rest we wasted.”
5. A single red rose every day for life
Finally, a touching and romantic bequest from US comedian Jack Benny.
Benny’s long career in entertainment began on the radio in the 1930s before he made the move into television during the 50s. He died in 1974.
The next day, a florist delivered a single long-stemmed red rose to his widow Mary Livingstone. As bequeathed by her husband, Livingstone received a red rose every day for the next eight and a half years, until her death at age 78 in June 1983.
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This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
