Offit Kurman
By Jonathan Pollack
September 18th, 2025
Planning for Responsible Inheritance: “What Brewster’s Millions” Can Teach Us About Estate Planning
The plot of the 1985 comedy “Brewster’s Millions,” starring Richard Pryor and John Candy, centers around Montgomery Brewster, a minor league baseball player who stands to inherit $300 million from a previously unknown great-uncle. The catch? To receive his inheritance, he must spend $30 million within 30 days without receiving any assets in return, and without merely giving away all the money. If Brewster does not spend the entire $30 million in 30 days, he will inherit nothing. Hijinks ensue.
Adjusted for inflation, this $30 million bequest would be approximately $90 million in today’s dollars.
At its core, the movie is a satire on capitalism and consumerism, playing on the common fantasy of inheriting a life-changing fortune from a wealthy relative. However, the film also explores a common concern that many clients have when making their estate plans. They are worried that their beneficiaries will squander their life’s savings and exhaust their inheritance on luxury items or speculative investments. These clients consider how they can ensure that their beneficiaries will responsibly manage a significant inheritance.
Brewster’s great-uncle explains that his contest is not an arbitrary one. He wishes to teach Brewster a lesson, to hate spending money so much that he will learn to manage his inheritance wisely. By forcing Brewster to exhaust a fortune, he teaches Brewster to think very carefully about how he spends his money, making strategic and methodical decisions in pursuit of a singular goal.
While the movie’s plot is exaggerated for comedic effect, in reality, there are several well-established estate planning techniques to instill fiscal responsibility in a beneficiary without going to such extremes.
- Staggered Distributions and Trustee Discretion
- Incentives
- Designating the Beneficiary as a Co-Trustee
Estate planning is much more than merely transferring assets; it is about preserving values and ensuring appropriate stewardship of those assets.
