Some of history's strangest will requests include a tanning magnate who paid to keep dinner on the table for his deceased family, a Pringles inventor buried in one of his own cans, and a Canadian bachelor who left his fortune to whichever woman had the most children within ten years of his death.
Most wills are straightforward documents about who gets the house and who gets the savings account. But every so often, someone uses their last wishes to make a statement, play a joke, or indulge a genuinely strange belief. Here are some of the oddest real will provisions on record, along with what they can teach the rest of us about writing a clear, enforceable will. FastWill's will package helps you put your own wishes, however ordinary or unusual, into a document that actually holds up.
Dinners With the Dead
John Porter Bowman, a tanning magnate from Vermont, lost his wife and two daughters. Believing in reincarnation, his will created a trust fund to maintain the family mansion exactly as it had been when they were alive, including setting the table for dinner every night, in case his family returned. The arrangement was honored from his death in 1891 until the money ran out in 1905. Bowman also spent a substantial sum on a mausoleum topped with a statue of himself. Whatever you think of the request, it shows that a will can fund almost any legal instruction as long as the money and the trustee are actually in place to carry it out.
Buried in a Pringles Can
Frederic Baur, the food scientist who invented the Pringles can while working at Procter and Gamble, joked for years with his children about being buried in one. When he passed away in 2008, his children honored the request. He was cremated, and his ashes were placed in a Pringles can, in the Original flavor, according to his oldest son's account to Time Magazine. It is a reminder that a will can also carry instructions for a memorial or burial preference, even an unconventional one, as long as you actually write it down and share it with the people who will carry it out.
Napoleon's Hair
Napoleon Bonaparte's will included a request that his head be shaved after death and locks of his hair distributed to family and friends. Nearly two centuries later, scientists tested strands of that preserved hair and found elevated arsenic levels, though historians remain divided on whether this points to poisoning or simply reflects common arsenic exposure in the 19th century. The case is a curious example of how a small, personal request in a will can leave behind physical evidence that outlives the person by centuries.
No Mustache Allowed
An Englishman named Henry Budd left his substantial estate to his two sons in 1862, on the condition that neither of them ever grow a mustache. A trustee was instructed to revoke the inheritance if either son broke the rule. This is an early example of a conditional bequest, a gift under a last will and testament that depends on the beneficiary meeting a specific condition. Courts generally enforce these as long as the condition is legal and not against public policy, which is part of why oddly specific conditions like this one can actually hold up.
The Great Stork Derby
Canadian attorney Charles Vance Millar died a bachelor without children and used his will to set off what became known as the Great Stork Derby. His estate was awarded to whichever woman in Toronto had the most children within ten years of his death. A judge upheld the unusual condition as valid, and four women eventually split the award equally after each having nine children in the decade that followed. Millar's will also included other pointed jokes, including leaving a vacation property jointly to two men who disliked each other, on the condition that they live there together.
Heirs Chosen From a Phonebook
Luis Carlos de Noronha Cabral de Camara, a Portuguese man who never married or had children, wrote a will twenty years before his 1988 death that picked 70 names at random from a Lisbon phonebook. None of the strangers had ever met him or each other, yet each received a share of his estate once a lawyer tracked them down after his death.
What These Stories Actually Teach You
Beyond their entertainment value, these examples make one thing clear: a will can carry out remarkably specific and personal wishes, as long as those wishes are clearly written, legally permissible, come from someone with testamentary capacity, and are paired with an executor capable of carrying them out. A vague or unclear instruction is far more likely to be challenged or ignored than a strange but specific one. If you want your own wishes, whatever they are, to hold up, precision matters more than convention. Our guide on shocking truths about wills covers more surprising rules that shape what a will can and cannot actually do, and our roundup of celebrities who died without a will shows what happens at the opposite extreme, when there is no will at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a will legally include unusual burial requests?
Yes, as long as the request is legal and someone is designated to carry it out. It is best to also share these wishes directly with family, since a will is not always read before a funeral takes place.
Can I attach conditions to an inheritance in my will?
Generally yes, as long as the condition is legal and not against public policy. Courts have historically enforced conditions ranging from age requirements to more unusual personal restrictions.
Can I leave my estate to strangers instead of family?
Yes. You can name any beneficiary you choose in a valid will, including people you have never met, as long as the will meets your state's execution requirements.
What happens if a will's condition is impossible or illegal?
Courts will typically strike an illegal or genuinely impossible condition, and depending on the state and the will's language, either void that specific gift or let the rest of the bequest stand.
Do strange or unusual wills get contested more often?
They can, particularly if family members disagree with the terms, but a clearly written and properly executed will still holds up regardless of how unusual its instructions are.
Make Your Own Wishes This Clear
Whether your wishes are conventional or completely your own, clarity is what makes a will enforceable. Start your will with FastWill and put your actual intentions in writing, precisely.
