DALLAS, Texas —
A Siamese cat, appropriately named Lucky, will inherit close to 100 million dollars unless the owner’s three children can persuade their mother, Lucille Benton, 70, to change the will.
“It’s a darn cat,” Lucille’s eldest son, Adam, told Dallas News Daily. “We’re her children. We deserve the money. I have vacation homes and many cars I’d like to pay off. I was counting on this money.”
Lucille said she will leave her children family heirlooms and every family photo in her possession, but the cat gets the cash.
“Since my husband died last year and left me the money, Lucky has been the only one here for me,” Lucille said. “My kids never visit and rarely call. My kids have good paying jobs. They can take care of themselves. There is nobody to care for my Lucky.”
Once Lucille passes, the cat will live in her sprawling suburban Dallas mansion with a full staff of 40, a limousine and chauffer for rides to the vet and wherever Lucky needs to go and a big surprise for Lucky: a private aviary stocked with every songbird imaginable so Lucky can have fun catching and eating a rich variety of birds.
Above: Lucky’s house
Lucille’s will also states that her cat should be taken on a vacation one week out of every month.
“I’ve been too sick with my diabetes to travel,” Lucille said. “But that shouldn’t stop Lucky from seeing the world after I’m gone. Lucky should see the Eiffel Tower, The Great Wall of China and I want him to go on a cruise to Jamaica. I love Jamaica and I know he will too.”
But what happens to the money once Lucky dies?
“My trustees have put a plan in place. Lucky will be cloned,” Lucille said. “So there will always be a Lucky that will need taking care of. Thanks to pet cloning, my Lucky is going to live forever.”
And if you don’t think animal cloning exists, just do a Google search. It’s a booming industry. If the cloning somehow fails, Lucile has instructions to have the money withdrawn from her accounts and — ready for this? — burned.
“If Lucky can’t have my money,” Lucille said. “Nobody will.”
“I think my mother is crazy,” Lucille’s youngest daughter, Peggy, said. “I want to get her committed and put a stop to this. I think I should be allowed to travel the word and not Lucky. She’s convinced I have some great job and lots of money… I manage a Pizza Hut. My parents have never helped me.”
“My kids can call me insane and try to have me committed,” Lucille said. “But I’ve already had three independent psychiatric evaluations which concluded I’m perfectly sane and the trustees of my Will said that is enough to hold up in any probate court if my kids do decide to challenge the validity of my Will once I’m gone.”
This isn’t the first time people have left gobs of money to pets, but this has to be the strangest of them all.