When people pass away, their wills often determine what happens to their wealth, homes, and belongings. But not everyone uses their final words in a will for traditional reasons. Some take the opportunity to send a message, settle old scores, or even leave their fortune to the most unexpected recipients.
From completely cutting off family members to secretly leaving everything to a stranger, some people have left shocking surprises behind. For some, a will is a way to ensure their loved ones are taken care of. For others, it’s a chance to leave a lasting impact—sometimes in the most bizarre ways.
On Reddit, people shared some of the strangest, funniest, and most unexpected things they’ve seen in wills. Some of these stories will make you laugh, some will leave you speechless, and some might even bring a tear to your eye.
1. The Most Pampered Goldfish Ever
u/scarlett_pimpernel: I am a qualified solicitor, and one of the strangest requests I ever received was from a woman who wanted to create a trust fund of £100,000 for her pet fish.
Yes, you read that right—a goldfish. Not a rare breed, not an exotic species—just a regular goldfish.
She was very clear about her wishes: the fish had to be fed fresh avocado daily and looked after by a local dog walker. She wasn’t joking. She was absolutely serious. I had to ask her multiple times if she really wanted to leave such a huge sum for a fish, but she never wavered.
2. The Secret Daughter No One Knew About
u/scarlett_pimpernel: One day, an elderly woman came to me and revealed something she had never told anyone—not even her husband. She had a secret daughter.
She wanted to leave her daughter a portion of her money, along with some personal photographs. But there was one major condition: no one in her family was to find out.
“Even my husband doesn’t know about her,” she admitted in a hushed voice.
I can’t imagine the shock her family would experience when they discover this hidden truth. That will is going to cause one dramatic conversation after she passes.
3. The Bus Driver Who Got Everything
u/mommy5dearest: I worked in an attorney’s office, and one of the most shocking cases I saw was an elderly woman who left her house and all her belongings to… her bus driver.
It turned out that this kind man was the only one who was consistently nice to her. He helped her with her bags, waited for her to get to her seat, and even checked on her from time to time.
When the will was read, we all braced ourselves for chaos. Her family had no idea what was coming, and we knew they wouldn’t take it well. They could contest the will, but I was there as a witness when she signed it. She was in a sound state of mind, so legally, it would hold up.
4. A Prank for Future Archaeologists
u/WanderCold: When I was in my early twenties, I had to write a will because of my job’s health insurance policy. I decided to have a little fun with it.
I added a specific clause:
“My funeral wishes are that I should be buried in a coffin which has been spring-loaded so that if someone opens it in the future, they will get a very unexpected surprise.”
I figured if someone ever dug me up, I might as well give them a good scare! Of course, I included a backup plan: if the spring-loaded coffin idea was too expensive, I would settle for being cremated and having my ashes scattered in a special place.
5. A Horse’s Lucky Escape
u/gabberrella24: One of the strangest things I ever saw in a will was a woman who wanted her beloved horse to be euthanized, cremated, and have its ashes scattered with her own.
Luckily for the horse, she made one mistake. She had originally named a specific horse in her will, but that horse had already passed away. The new horse she got afterward was not named in the document, which meant he got to live and was eventually sent to another farm instead. A close call!
6. A Lawyer’s Strange Competition
u/PirateRobotNinjaofDe: One of the strangest wills I ever heard of belonged to a lawyer who left his entire fortune—millions in today’s money—to whichever woman in the Toronto area had the most children at a specific future date.
A few years later, a woman with ten children won the unexpected jackpot. Imagine that—a competition to inherit a fortune, based purely on how many kids you had!
7. The Power Tie
u/snoboreddotcom: My grandfather left me something odd but meaningful: a ridiculous navy-blue tie with pink elephants on it.
He had a reason for it. He told my grandmother that wearing such an absurd tie to business meetings intimidated people.
“If you’re bold enough to wear something that ridiculous, people will think you don’t care what they think. That scares them,” he used to say.
Now, every time I wear that tie, I remember his words.
8. Conditions for Inheritance
u/ALighterShadeOfPale: Some people set conditions in their wills that make their heirs work for their inheritance.
One woman stated that her son would only receive his share of the inheritance once he visited a dentist. Another son was required to lose 70 pounds before getting his portion.
Another case involved a woman who insisted her cats be cremated with her. When we told her that wasn’t legal, she compromised—she and her cats would be cremated separately, and then their ashes would be mixed together before being buried.
9. The Longest Will Ever
u/ALighterShadeOfPale: Most wills are about ten pages long, but I once came across a woman who wrote a 56-page will detailing exactly who should get every single thing she owned.
She didn’t just leave her house and money to people—she listed each and every item.
“Wooden ladle to ____, toilet paper holder to ____, magazine basket to ____.”
She did this for everything in her house. Imagine spending hours going through pages just to figure out who gets the measuring cups!
10. A Burial Problem
u/ALighterShadeOfPale: A woman once came to us with a special request: she wanted to be buried on her property, next to her husband.
There was just one problem—it was completely illegal to bury human remains there. When we asked her if her husband had been cremated, she refused to answer.
Her husband had died five or six years earlier, so this wasn’t some long-forgotten burial site. If he wasn’t cremated, then… where was he?
11. Some Good People
There was once a man who had a unique request in his will. Instead of having his family go home and grieve after his burial, he asked them to visit the zoo that same day. It was his way of reminding them that life should go on, that they should find joy even in sorrow. The people who handled his will found it heartwarming.
Besides that, we often work with people from a particular religious background. Many of them leave at least 90% of their wealth to their church instead of their families. To them, faith and devotion are more important than material things.
12. The Elvis Impersonator
I’m not a lawyer, but I have a strange story about my rich uncle. He wasn’t a very involved family member. In fact, he only visited us once every ten years. The last time he did, he took us to Denny’s for a meal—nothing fancy, just a casual diner visit.
When he passed away, we learned something shocking. He had no real friends. His wife had struggled with substance abuse, and her problems were directly tied to him. His death didn’t come with many tears from our family, but what really shocked us was his will.
He left everything—his entire fortune—to an Elvis impersonator. That’s right. A man who spent his days dressed as Elvis Presley ended up inheriting everything my uncle had ever owned.
13. The Only Beneficiary
I used to work at a bank in the estate department, handling wills and inheritance cases. One of the most unusual cases I ever saw involved a multi-million-dollar trust. There was only one beneficiary—the deceased’s son.
At first, everything seemed normal. A parent leaving money to their child is expected. But then I learned something chilling. This son was the reason his parents had died. He had been found guilty but pleaded insanity.
Now, he lived in a mental hospital, unable to touch his fortune. Once a year, he would call the bank and politely ask for $50 for commissary. “Just need some chips and gum,” he’d say.
What made it even eerier was the way his voice sounded on the call. It was always distant, like he was speaking from the other end of a long, empty hallway.
14. They Wanted to Take Revenge
Last week, I handled a case where wealthy parents left their fortune in a very peculiar way. They had millions in artwork and cash, which they generously divided among charities and various friends. But their own children? They got the family cats.
Why? It was pure revenge.
You see, the kids had given their elderly parents the cats, thinking it would bring them comfort. But the parents despised them. They wanted to get rid of them, but the kids refused. So, in the end, when the parents passed, they made sure their children inherited the thing they hated the most—those very same cats.
15. He Wanted to Give Them Something
My great-uncle had a wicked sense of humor. The City Council of a nearby town had tried twice to take his land for a new water treatment plant. He spent years fighting back and, in the end, made sure to leave them a little something in his will.
His will stated that the contents of his outhouse were to be donated to the City Council. As a joke, his kids gathered up all the old books and magazines from the outhouse and personally delivered them to City Hall. It was his final act of defiance.
16. The Man Was Clueless
One of our clients recently passed away, and her will revealed a shocking surprise. She had left nearly everything—including the entire residue of her considerable estate—to her regular taxi driver.
The taxi driver had no idea. He had been her chauffeur for years, but never expected anything from her. He was even named as the executor of the will.
Her longtime friend, who had been the primary beneficiary in previous wills, was furious. She contested the will, but after a thorough review, it was upheld. The taxi driver was now a wealthy man, while the friend was left with a mere £5,000.
From what I’ve seen, it takes much less than £5,000 to tear families apart. Money makes people do ugly things.
17. Hidden Fortune
My grandma lived in an old, run-down trailer for years. She never had much money—or at least, that’s what we thought. My husband, however, was convinced otherwise. He was certain that she was hiding a fortune and that he’d be swimming in cash once she passed.
The day of the will reading came, and my husband was practically bouncing in his seat. “Sugar, put on a smile,” he whispered. “We’re about to be rolling in dough.”
Then the lawyer began reading.
“Who’s the husband here?” the lawyer asked.
My husband stood up. “That’s me! Is there a problem?”
The lawyer shook his head. “Not at all. Your grandmother did indeed have a hidden fortune. But you’ll only inherit it under three conditions. Otherwise, the entire estate goes to the local animal shelter.”
My husband’s grin faltered.
The lawyer continued, reading out the conditions:
- He had to live in Grandma’s old trailer for an entire year without modern upgrades or outside help.
- Every weekend for the next two years, he had to volunteer at the animal shelter.
- He had to write a personal essay about humility and compassion and read it aloud at the shelter’s annual fundraiser.
My husband’s face turned from smug confidence to sheer disbelief. Grandma had set the perfect trap, ensuring that if he wanted her money, he had to prove he was worthy of it.
She taught him a lesson from beyond the grave.
These stories prove one thing—being mentioned in a will can either change your life for the better or completely destroy it. Just a few words on a legal document can alter destinies, teach lessons, and sometimes, deliver a final joke from the grave.
