Peter Barton, who played Dr. Scott Grainger on the soap opera The Young and the Restless back in the late 80’s and early 90’s, and Kevin Brophy, who starred on the Lucan television series that aired for a couple of years during the 1970’s, recently came into inheritances.
The windfalls that these two veteran actors received were very much unexpected.
A fellow named Ray Fulk died in Illinois over the summer. He was the owner of about 160 acres of property that has been appraised at just over $1 million, and he reportedly had over $200,000 in additional assets.
He didn’t have any close family or friends, and he never had any children. But he did have a very good idea about what he wanted to do with his estate, and in 1997 he got together with an attorney to put an estate plan in place.
He told the lawyer that he wanted to leave everything except $5,000 to a couple of friends of his. These “friends” were Brophy and Barton. The other $5,000 was earmarked for a Chicago area organization that fights animal cruelty.
Though he never met the actors in person he had apparently sent them letters, and both of them took the time to send a response. Apparently this was something that meant a lot to Fulk.
This may seem like an unconventional way to plan your estate, but each one of us has the right to leave inheritances as we see fit. The compensation may be a bit extreme, but these two actors were certainly rewarded for their small acts of kindness toward a stranger.
Paul A. Kraft, Estate Planning Attorney
Mr. Kraft assists clients primarily in the areas of estate planning and administration, Medicaid planning, federal and state taxation, real estate and corporate law, bringing the added perspective of an accounting background to his work.
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