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Death of grandchild of eccentric millionaire Wellington Burt triggered 21-year countdown clause in one-of-a-kind will He called it his “golden egg”, and for 92 years it has been incubating quietly in a trust fund in his hometown of Saginaw, Michigan. But by the end of this month its shell will crack and out will come a fortune worth up to $110m (£67.5m), enriching people he never knew and bringing to an end the saga of one of the strangest bequests in US history. The “golden egg” belonged to one Wellington Burt, a fabulously wealthy Michigan lumber tycoon who was, according to the account of his contemporaries, brilliant, crotchety and eccentric in equal measure. When he died in 1919, aged 87, he had a multimillion fortune to give away, and was expected to provide handsomely for his immediate family and for the various Saginaw causes that he espoused. It was not to be. Nobody quite knows why — some say it was the result of petty gripes against family members, others that he was a sour old man who wanted to wreak his revenge beyond the grave — but Burt wrote one of the most peculiar wills that probate lawyers can remember. The “golden egg” he said would remain in its nest for 21 years after the death of his last surviving grandchild. That last of his grandchildren alive when he died was Marion Lansill, and she herself passed away in November 1989, thus starting the 21-year countdown that ended last November. Since then a local judge in charge of the trust fund has been poring over 30 applications from individuals eager to share in the spoils. The local newspaper, the Saginaw News, reports that at the end of the judge’s researches, 12 people will divide up the golden egg, now estimated after interest to be worth between $100m and $110m. The beneficiaries form a disparate group, spread out from the east to west coasts of the US. None of the 12 knew Burt, though the eldest of the group was two years old when he died. The sum they receive varies greatly too, under a formula agreed between family lawyers that grants most money to those closest in generation to Burt with fewest siblings. The greatest individual profit is $16m and the least $2.9m. For those who came before them, and who were deprived of any of Burt’s fortune, his legacy was one of bitterness, and some say a curse. The newspaper says that Burt’s six children, seven grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and 11 great-great grandchildren all received not a penny, either because they died while the “golden egg” lay dormant or because they were deemed ineligible. To rub salt into the wound, Burt left his immediate offspring a relatively miniscule annual allowance of as little as $1,000 a year — the same as he left his cook, housekeeper and coachman. The youngest of the 12 heirs, Christina Cameron, 19, who will receive almost $3m, as will her sister Cory, told the Saginaw News that she had mixed feelings about the windfall as she had seen the pain it caused her forebears. First her grandfather had been due to inherit, but he died two years ago. Then her mother was in line, but she died aged 50 last February. “I guess all of this happening within a year made this seem more like a curse,” Cameron said. “My grandfather was pretty excited about it, and then my mother was pretty excited about it as well. Cory and I are not as excited.” Michigan United States Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk