Celebrities

Meet the women who can inherit millions - but there's one big catch

Picture: Instagram/victorialaboz
Picture: Instagram/victorialaboz

Who wants to be a millionaire?

I’d dare say Marlena and Victoria Laboz do – and they’re extremely close to pocketing several million pounds each.

Their late father, Maurice Laboz, who passed away earlier this year, aged 77, left his daughters a combined fortune of $20m (£12.8m) – but there’s a catch.

The two young women can lay claim to the money only if they comply with a series of strict conditions laid out by the late Mr Laboz.

Controlling the purse strings from beyond the grave, eh?

The New York property mogul stipulated that Marlena, 21, and Victoria, 17, will each inherit $10m (£6.4m) when they turn 35, but they can receive early bonuses if they marry suitable partners, graduate from a top university and do not have children without first tying the knot, according to the New York Post.

This sounds like some kind of convoluted board game.

Here are the rules: Marlena will get $500,000 (£321,000) for getting married, but only if her husband signs a sworn statement promising to keep his hands off the cash.

She will secure a further $750,000 (£481,000) if she graduates from an “accredited” university and writes “100 words or less [sic] describing what she intends to do with the funds”. Trustees appointed by Mr Laboz will be responsible for approving her essay.

And what about his other daughter?

Both Marlena and Victoria have been given an incentive to earn decent salaries by 2020. Each young woman is guaranteed to receive an annual pay-out of three times the income listed on their personal federal tax return.

What if they choose to become full-time mothers?

If the sisters decide to have children and don’t work outside the home, the trustees will give each of them 3 per cent of the value of their trust every year – but only if their children are “born in wedlock”.

They stand to earn the same amount by acting as “care givers” to their mother, Ewa Laboz (pictured on right with her daughters), 58, whom Mr Laboz was in the middle of divorcing.

Did he leave his wife anything?

It seems there wasn’t enough of his $37m (£24m) to go around, sadly. Mrs Laboz has indicated she will contest the will.

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