Surprisingly only one third of the population has a will. There seems to be a general reluctance to get down to it, which can only be good news for the lawyers who unravel the consequences of dying intestate. The longest will ran to almost 100,000 words packed into four volumes. One unusual bequest is that of a legacy left to two sisters of their own weight in one pound notes. One got 51,200, the other 57,344.
Friends do quite well.
A resident of the Isle of Man left his executors 10,000 with the wish that they spend it on a celebration lunch or dinner. Needless to say animals feature alot. A retired major left 755 to an animal charity in memory of his faithful companion Jane who was a dog he found lost soon after landing at Normandy in June 1944 and which followed him around for the rest of the war, dying twelve years later. There are some classic errors. Someone left a beneficiary 156 per annum.