What would your last wishes be? One Victorian requested to be buried ‘as far from his former wife as possible’ – another that he be entombed with his brief case.
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State Trustees has compiled a list of some of Victoria’s strangest last requests – and where they’ve been left.
Here are some of the strangest requests:
1) Competitive to the end
A woman left a 5000 piece jigsaw puzzle to her sister, with whom she had a very competitive relationship. The puzzle was found to be one piece short. Other bequests have included stubby holders, records and an Elvis DVD collection.
2) It’s the thought that counts ...
One client requested his The Flying Doctors DVD collection be left to the Royal Flying Doctors.
3) Human pendant
A woman requested her ashes be turned into a gem pendant.
4) Tending the roses
People have requested to be scattered as rose fertiliser, sent into space and scattered at sea, overseas or from an aeroplane.
5) Bound to his brief
A man requested to be buried with his briefcase.
6) Upstanding citizen
A person requested that they be buried standing up to save room.
7) It’s a dog life
Another left their life interest to two dogs, and then onto named charities.
8) Last request refused
A man requested his dog’s ashes be buried with him in his plot. The cemetery, which only interred human remains, refused.
9) Where’s the will?
Wills have been written into exercise books, stored with jewelry in the freezer and scanned onto a computer.
State Trustees chief executive Craig Dent’s most memorable find? A will vacuum-sealed and secreted in a toilet cistern.
10) I daren’t say where
One elderly lady left a note that her will was “with my unmentionables” (stored in her underwear drawer).
11) More than meets the eye
Behind paintings is a favourite – which sometimes means the will is inadvertently lost or destroyed.
12) Safekeeping
Some took too much care, others too little. One person locked their will in a safe but had not shared the combination. Another left theirs on the kitchen table.
Jessica Black
Ballarat journalist.
Ballarat journalist.
