An elderly woman has got the ultimate revenge on her selfish children after deciding to leave her $2.8 million fortune to her pets instead.
Relationships within families tend to change over the years as children grow up and move out, starting lives and families of their own.
However, you’d expect that most kids would still take care of their elderly parents – or at least call and visit them as much as they can – when they reach old age.
One woman was left so disappointed by the fact her kids reportedly never bothered to show up for her when she was old and sick that she decided they wouldn’t get a penny of her $2.8 million fortune on her death.
The old woman made a last-minute change to her will. Credit: Fancy/Veer/Corbis/Getty Images
As reported by The South China Morning Post via News.com.au, the woman from Shanghai, who was only identified as Ms Liu, cut her children out of her will entirely, due to their behavior.
She instead decided to leave her 20 million yuan ($2.8 million) fortune to her cats and dogs as they were her only comfort and companions in her old age.
Several years earlier, Ms Liu had made a will in which she left her three children money and property, but changed her mind about what she wanted to do with her money after none of them bothered to visit her or care for her, with the report stating that they rarely even contacted her.
Her new will, according to the outlet, states that all of her money must instead be used to care for her pets anf any of their offspring.
She had wanted to bequeath the money to ger dogs and cats directly, but this is not legally possible in China according to an official from the Will Registration Centre headquarters in Beijing, so she has had to appoint a local veterinary clinic as the administrator of her inheritance, and they must take care of her animals.
Her pets will become millionaires upon her death. Credit: John Lund/Getty Images
Chen Kai told the outlet: “However, there are alternatives to solve this issue. Liu’s current will is one way and we would have advised her to appoint a person she trusts to supervise the vet clinic to ensure the pets are properly cared for.”
Another official said that they had warned Ms Liu of the risks of leaving all of her money in the hands of the veterinary clinic, adding: “We told Auntie Liu that if her children change their attitude towards her, she could always alter her will again.”
So it looks like her three kids may still have a chance of getting their hands on the cash – but only if they seriously buck up their ideas before their mother eventually dies.
Ms Liu’s decision to leave all of her money to her pets is not the first time a person has left their cat or dog a millionaire, as a wealthy businessman in Tennessee left his eight-year-old border collie Lulu a massive $5 million on his death in 2020.