Henry Ford II had barely returned from military service when he took over the helm of the Ford Motor Company in 1945. He modernized the company and made it one of the largest car manufacturers in the world. The charismatic leader marries three times. He leaves behind a trust in which the widow and son from his first marriage duel for years.Henry Ford II died on September 29, 1987 at the age of 70 from pneumonia in the Henry Ford Hospital, which was named after his grandfather. The car magnate leaves behind three children – Charlotte, Anne and Edsel Ford – from his first marriage and his third wife. The photo model Kathleen DuRoss is 23 years younger than him. Ford made her his wife in a flash marriage in the western town of Carson City in 1980 after divorcing the Italian aristocrat Maria Cristina Vettore after ten years of marriage. His children, who are almost the same age, are neither enthusiastic about their young stepmother nor are they present at the celebration, as their mother was abandoned by their busy father after 24 years of marriage. Wife number three inherits the passionate sailor and hunter in the seventh year of marriage.Continuing the usual standard of livingThe total assets of Ford II, known through court proceedings, are around 350 million US dollars, including eight percent of the Ford Motor Company, many properties and a Boeing 727. It arrives into a trust whose primary beneficiary will be 48-year-old widow Kathleen. She receives $1 million in cash immediately and another $2 million six months later. This is followed by at least $1.5 million for life as well as the income from the trust, at times more than $10 million per year. Kathleen has three residences in Palm Beach, Grosse Pointe Farms (Michigan) and London at Eaton Square. In addition, in order to continue the standard of living she was used to at the side of “Hank the Deuce,” she is allowed to finance three additional properties using funds from the trust and furnish them to her liking. Not a bad legacy. The foundation for the family fortune was laid by Henry Ford I, who invented assembly line production and the legendary model Tin Lizzie, but also missed out on a model successor. His son Edsel died early at the age of 50, so grandson Henry took over management of the company in 1945 after his return from military service. Ford flourished, in 1968 more than 415,000 employees were already producing almost 5 million automobiles a year. Henry Ford II is known for his assertiveness and determination. A strategist, a charismatic and inspiring personality. A natural leader who is used to success and who at some point has to ask himself the same question as anyone who draws up a will: Would the longer-living partner prefer to receive part of the assets or would it be better to receive an ongoing monthly provision? Love, but no money for the childrenIn the first solution The survivor receives a share of the estate assets, for example 50 percent of the estate (as in the case of legal succession and community of gains) or the same as each child (as in the case of legal succession and separation of property). But there is also another model: allocating to the spouse what they need each month for a comfortable everyday life and for retirement. This is exactly what Henry Ford II chose. The wife receives the right of residence, current income and household goods as the basis of everyday life. However, the bulk of the estate goes into the trust. Inheriting like Henry Ford II means providing your spouse with the best possible current needs, but leaving the substance to others. If you want to do like Henry Ford II, even without having managed a car company for 35 years, take a piece of paper and write Write the will on it and then determine what the longer-living partner should receive. At the same time, a decision about the substance of the assets is due. What a trust is to “HF2” may be a foundation to others. A family company for children and grandchildren is also possible. For legal implementation, legacies can be created for the partner, be it through usufructs, housing rights, ongoing monetary payments or one-off payments at the beginning. An inflation clause should be added to monetary amounts in order to maintain purchasing power. If you fear a dispute during the settlement or a failure to make monthly payments, you should also have a will executed. The inheritance case of Henry Ford II contains further special features, because the rich car manager, who has no professional qualifications, only leaves a video tape to his children and his two ex-wives, but no assets. In the film, Ford II explains that he loves them all very much, but that he will not leave them any more assets. For tax reasons, he gave his children and wives money and goods during their lifetime. Perhaps the disinheritance was also due to the fact that Ford’s children ignored their father’s wedding to Kathleen, who was almost the same age as them. Ford II, equipped with an unconditional will to win in his professional and private life, perhaps could not ignore this. If possible, no personal statements. Today, anyone can create video messages on their smartphone, and there are also online offers for digital messages after death. They create the basis for a farewell letter with warm words to the bereaved. They enable closeness and authenticity. What is legally questionable, however, is that wills can easily be challenged on the basis of such personal messages, because preconceptions or expectations of the deceased can be inferred from every single statement – and it is precisely these that allow a challenge if they contain an error (§ 2079 BGB). As life progresses, errors are almost certain. Lawyers therefore recommend that the safest way is to avoid making personal statements as much as possible – or to end them with a clear note that they should never justify a challenge to the will, even if you are wrong.Henry Ford II, the producer of legendary vehicles such as the sports car Ford Mustang, the luxury car Lincoln Continental and the GT40 racing car, stipulates in his will that his trust should go to his six grandchildren after the death of his wife Kathleen. In doing so, he skips over his children, which is not uncommon in the USA for tax reasons. Anyone who wants to argue gets nothing. It can even lead to a special tax, the “generation skipping tax”. The will speaks for the business acumen of the former CEO and chairman of the board of Ford Motor Company, who also has a penalty clause formulated: If the children challenge his will or trust in court, their descendants will lose their share in the trust. Anyone who argues receives nothing. The strategist Ford II is securing the future of his life’s work in his own way. A remarkable personality. But the car magnate, who is known in the company as a control freak, doesn’t succeed in everything. What was hardly foreseeable: his trustees in the trust are no longer there. In addition to his wife and his son Edsel from his first marriage, one of his confidants is supposed to mediate and make decisions there. The businessman Martin Citrin, who was designated in the will, turns out to be mentally unstable and commits suicide in a motel at the Detroit airport. Ford appointed Wall Street banker William Donaldson as his replacement. But he has to face legal proceedings because he demands too much compensation for the job and then withdraw from the trust.More on the topicNo other replacements have been named, and therefore there is no neutral person of trust appointed by Ford II. As a result, the other administrators of the trust, widow Kathleen and son Edsel, blocked each other for years. At times, for example, they argue about issues such as reinvesting $25 million that has fallen due, but even about banalities such as bills for $200 for small items. However, over time and through mediation and legal agreements, both parties recognize the need to work together to protect the legacy of Henry Ford II and the well-being of the Ford family. Nevertheless, it remains to be noted that not even the great designer Henry Ford II managed to create a complete will – completely contrary to his credo: “I am the king, and the king cannot make mistakes.” The author is a lawyer at the law firm Dr. Ostertun, who specializes in inheritance law as well as asset and business succession.
Go to Source