When someone passes away, their will is often the final way they express their wishes. Most people use it to ensure their loved ones are taken care of. However, not everyone writes a traditional will. Some people use it to make surprising decisions, keep secrets, or even take revenge on their family members.
Many people start thinking about writing a will as they grow older. They wonder what will happen to their belongings after they are gone. Some plan early and write their wills while they are still healthy. Others wait until they receive devastating news from their doctors, realizing they don’t have much time left.
Most wills divide a person’s money, house, and belongings among their family members. But some people decide to do things differently. Their wills contain shocking surprises, leaving their families in disbelief when the truth is finally revealed.
People on Reddit shared some of the most bizarre, unexpected, and even humorous things that were written in wills. Here are some of the most unbelievable ones:
1. A Trust Fund for a Goldfish
u/scarlett_pimpernel: “I work as a solicitor, and one of my clients had a very unusual request. She wanted to set up a trust fund of £100,000 for her pet fish.”
At first, the solicitor thought it must be a special kind of fish, maybe a rare or exotic breed. But the woman shook her head and said, “No, it’s just an ordinary goldfish.”
She insisted that the fish be fed fresh avocado every day and cared for by a local dog walker. She was completely serious about it.
2. A Secret Daughter No One Knew About
u/scarlett_pimpernel: “Another woman came to me with a secret she had been hiding her whole life. She had a daughter that no one knew about, not even her husband.”
She asked the solicitor to leave money and photographs for her daughter in the will, but it had to be done in complete secrecy. She didn’t want the rest of her family to ever find out.
The solicitor knew that when she passed away, the truth would come out. And when it did, her family would be in for a huge shock.
3. The Kindness of a Bus Driver Pays Off
u/mommy5dearest: “I used to work at an attorney’s office, and I once witnessed an older lady leave her entire house and all her belongings to… a bus driver.”
It turned out that this bus driver had always been kind to her. He would help her with bags, chat with her on lonely days, and make sure she got home safely.
Her family had no idea about her decision. When they found out, everyone in the office braced for the chaos that was sure to follow.
“Her family can try to contest it,” the witness said. “But I was there when she signed it. She was perfectly aware of what she was doing.”
4. A Will with a Sense of Humor
u/WanderCold: “I was in my early twenties when my work required me to write a will. I decided to add something fun.”
He included a special clause:
“My funeral wishes are that I should be buried in a coffin which has been spring-loaded so that if future archaeologists open it, they will get the shock of their lives.”
He also mentioned that if the spring-loaded coffin was too expensive, he would settle for being cremated, but his ashes had to be scattered in a specific place.
5. A Strange Request for a Horse
u/gabberrella24: “I work in probate, and I once saw a will that instructed us to euthanize a woman’s beloved horse, cremate it, and scatter its ashes with her.”
It was a heartbreaking request, but there was a twist. The horse she had named in the will had already passed away before she did.
“Lucky for the new horse she got later, because he got to live and was sent to another farm instead.”
6. A Competition for Inheritance
u/PirateRobotNinjaofDe: “One of the wildest wills I ever saw belonged to a lawyer. He left most of his estate—millions in today’s money—to a woman in the Toronto area who had the most children by a specific date.”
Years later, when the will was executed, the winner was a woman with ten children. She walked away with a fortune.
7. A Grandfather’s Business Trick
u/snoboreddotcom: “When my grandfather passed away, my grandmother gave me a navy-blue tie with pink elephants on it.”
It looked ridiculous, but there was a reason behind it.
“Your grandfather wore this tie to business meetings because he believed that wearing something so absurd made people take him seriously. If you see someone wearing something ridiculous and they don’t care what people think, it intimidates others. He wanted you to have it.”
8. Unusual Conditions for an Inheritance
u/ALighterShadeOfPale: “I work for a lawyer who handles wills, and we’ve seen some odd ones. One woman put a condition in her will that her son would only receive his share of the inheritance if he went to the dentist.”
Another son had to lose 70 pounds before he could get his share.
“And one woman wanted her cats cremated with her. We had to explain that human and animal remains cannot be cremated together. She finally agreed to have them cremated separately and then buried together.”
9. A 56-Page Will
u/ALighterShadeOfPale: “Most wills are about ten pages long. But one woman wrote 56 pages.”
She left instructions for every single item in her house. It wasn’t just the big things like furniture or jewelry—she even wrote:
“Wooden ladle to ____, toilet paper holder to ____, magazine basket to ____.”
She wanted to make sure every single item had a proper owner.
10. A Wife’s Mysterious Burial Request
u/ALighterShadeOfPale: “A woman told us to put in her will that she wanted to be buried on her property next to her husband.”
The problem?
“It’s illegal to bury human remains there. But she refused to say whether her husband had been cremated or not. She just kept insisting, ‘I don’t want to be cremated. I just want to be buried next to him.’”
Her husband had passed away about six years earlier, which made things even more suspicious. The truth behind her request remained a mystery.
11. Some Good People
There was a man who had a rather unusual request in his will. After his burial, he wanted his family to go straight to the zoo. Yes, the zoo. It wasn’t about ignoring grief—it was about celebrating life. Maybe he had fond memories there, maybe he wanted his family to smile through their tears. Either way, it was a heartwarming last wish.
On another note, we work with a lot of people from a particular religion. Many of them, instead of leaving their money to their families, choose to leave at least 90% of their estate to their church. Some might think that’s odd, but for them, faith comes first—even in death.
12. The Elvis Impersonator
I’m not a lawyer, but my uncle had a story that’s too wild not to share. He was rich, but he wasn’t exactly generous. He’d visit us maybe once every ten years—just long enough for us to barely remember his face. The last time he saw us, he took us out to Denny’s. Not exactly the most extravagant family reunion.
He didn’t have many friends, and his wife had tragically passed due to substance abuse, something that, honestly, was his fault. When he died, the family gathered, expecting some sort of inheritance. But guess what? He left his entire fortune to an Elvis impersonator. Everything.
Imagine working your whole life, building wealth, and instead of passing it to your family, you give it all to some guy who shakes his hips and sings “Jailhouse Rock.”
13. The Only Beneficiary
I used to work at a bank, specifically in the estate department. One of my jobs was handling files where people wanted to withdraw money from their inheritance. One case still gives me chills.
There was a massive multi-million-dollar trust set up for a single beneficiary—the only son of the deceased. Seemed normal enough, until I dug deeper and found out the shocking truth: the son had actually been behind his parents’ deaths. He had pleaded insanity and was sent to a mental hospital instead of prison.
Now, here’s the eerie part. Once a year, like clockwork, he would call the bank and politely ask for $50. Just fifty bucks—for the commissary, to buy chips and gum. The call was always unsettling. He was polite, soft-spoken, but the way his voice sounded… distant, like he was speaking from the end of a long, dark hallway.
14. They Wanted to Take Revenge
Last week, I dealt with a will that was nothing short of a masterclass in pettiness. The parents had millions—money, art, properties—you name it. They left their vast collection of valuable artwork to various people and a hefty sum of cash to charities.
And their kids? They got the family cats. That’s it.
Why? Because years ago, the kids had given the parents those cats as a gift, insisting that they’d be a source of comfort in their old age. The parents, however, despised the cats. They tried to get rid of them, but the kids wouldn’t allow it.
So, when the time came to write their will, the parents decided to return the favor—by making sure their ungrateful kids got exactly what they thought they wanted.
15. He Wanted to Give Them Something
My great-uncle had a wicked sense of humor. His will had a special gift for the City Council of a nearby town.
You see, the town had tried twice to take his land to build a water treatment plant. He fought them off both times, but he never forgot. So, when he passed, his will stated that he wanted to “give them something in return.”
That something? The contents of his outhouse.
As a final joke, his kids boxed up all the old books and magazines from the outhouse and personally delivered them to City Hall. I wish I could’ve seen their faces when they opened those boxes.
16. The Man Was Clueless
I work for a will-writing and trust specialist in the UK, and this case still amazes me.
One of our earlier clients had recently passed away. When we reviewed her will, we found that she had left almost everything—her house, her savings, and even the residual estate—to one man.
Her taxi driver.
Not only that, but she had named him as the executor of her will. The thing is, he had no idea. He didn’t even know she had passed.
Meanwhile, the woman’s best friend, who had been the primary beneficiary in her previous two wills, was utterly shocked. She contested the will immediately, demanding to know why she had been pushed aside.
But the will was upheld. The taxi driver, still in disbelief, found himself suddenly inheriting a small fortune, while the best friend was left with just £5,000.
This job has taught me one thing: money, even a little bit, can turn people against each other faster than anything else.
17. Hidden Fortune
My grandma, bless her heart, lived in a tiny, run-down trailer. She had almost nothing—or at least, that’s what my husband believed. He was convinced she was secretly rich, hiding a fortune somewhere, and that he’d hit the jackpot once she passed.
The day of the will reading, he was practically rubbing his hands together. He turned to me and said, “Sugar, put on a smile, we’re about to be rolling in dough.”
We arrived, and the lawyer looked around the room before asking, “Who’s the husband here?”
My husband stepped forward, grinning. “That’s me. Is there a problem?”
The lawyer shook his head and said, “Not at all. Your grandmother did leave you an inheritance… but with conditions.”
My husband’s smile wavered.
“She left behind a hidden fortune, but you can only claim it if you fulfill three conditions. Otherwise, it all goes to the local animal shelter.”
My husband’s jaw nearly hit the floor.
Condition one: He had to live in her old trailer for a full year, without making any modern upgrades or getting outside help.
Condition two: He had to volunteer every weekend at the local animal shelter for two years.
Condition three: He had to write a personal essay on the value of humility and compassion—and read it publicly at the shelter’s annual fundraiser.
His face turned from greedy excitement to absolute horror.
Grandma had one last lesson to teach, and she made sure he’d learn it.
These stories show just how unpredictable wills can be. A single sentence can change someone’s entire future—whether for better or worse. Sometimes, they reveal kindness, other times, cruelty. But one thing’s for sure: they always tell a story.
