Did you ever have a fantasy that an uber rich Eastern European baron dies and reveals on his death bed that you, his obscure nephew, are his sole heir? It’s an unlikely future, I know, but most of the people below felt just as hopeless before someone dropped them tons of money in their will. Check out these stories about crazy inheritances, and maybe you’ll study up on your family’s Ancestry.com page.

Mort Zachter grew up poor. He watched his parents toil away in a bakery owned by his two uncles. When the uncles passed away, Mort realized they were bizarrely wealthy and listed him as their sole heir of $6 million. His parents knew of this arrangement, yet refused to take any of his money as income for all those years.

Poverty-stricken brothers Zsolt and Geza Peladi lived outside Budapest, Hungary, until they suddenly inherited a share of a $4 billion fortune. Their mother apparently came from a wealthy family, but burned that bridge long ago. She abandoned them many years ago, but her passing reforged the familial bond.

Luis Carlos de Noronha Cabral da Camara was a wealthy Portuguese aristocrat who, instead of naming his family members as heirs, chose 70 random people out of the phonebook to inherit his money.

Sergey Sudev lived a normal, not particularly wealthy life in Maldova, when 950 million euros suddenly came into his life. A recently-deceased wealthy uncle who hadn’t seen in 10 years wrote him into his will. He was studying to be a journalist, but on that day in Maldova, Sergey himself made the news.

Tomas Martinez was a homeless man living on the streets of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. On one seemingly normal day, a couple of police officers came after him, causing him to flee and never be seen again. Little did he know that the police weren’t after him for drugs, but to tell him he inherited $6 million from his ex-wife’s passing. He still has yet to see his money.

Leona Helmsley was a New York hotel owner worth billions. When she passed away, she left around $12 million for her pet terrier named Trouble. This was “trouble” indeed for the two family members that were completely cut out of the will.

A 17-year-old waitress named Cara Wood waited on a widower who often sat in her section. The widower enjoyed Cara’s company so much that he rewrote his will. When he passed on in 1992, she received half a million dollars.

Eva Paole spent nine years proving she was the bastard daughter of baron Rufino Otero, who died 25 years ago. The tests came back positive, despite the fact that, at one point, someone had robbed the tomb of the body and switched the bodies.

Charlse Vance Millar was a wealthy prankster, who on his deathbed said that his estate balance was to go to the woman who produced the most children. What became known as “The Great Stork Derby” was eventually split by 4 Toronto women who each bore 9 children.

Nina Wang was the richest woman in all of Asia by the time of her death. She gave it all to a feng shui master who promised her eternal life.

A young man named Josh inherited his grandfather’s private island. The grandfather even sent him on a treasure hunt to find buried treasure. Josh’s grandfather hid his precious jewelry in a thermos, which is supposedly under the beaches somewhere on the island.

 

Credits: By Tim Unkenholz  Viralnova