An unlikely millionaire left a staggering $13 million to charity when he died – but did not specify who the pile of cash was intended for, leaving his lawyer to try to divvy it up.
The lawyer’s method made some organizations think it was a scam and they lost a part of the unorthodox legacy.
Terry Kahn, an Indianapolis resident and Veterans Administration employee for 30 years, died in 2021 with no immediate family to leave his fortune to.
Kahn said in his will that it should be donated to “charity,” but he did not designate any particular organization that he supported.
Kahn’s attorney, Dwayne Isaacs, told CBS News that Kahn “was incredibly frugal” and didn’t even own a cell phone because he thought it was too expensive.
After his client’s death, Isaacs was tasked with cold calling dozens of local nonprofits and essentially offering them millions.
“Probably three or four different entities lost because they just didn’t take my call,” Isaacs told the outlet.
The late Terry Kahn left his $13 million estate to charity. CBS Terry Kahn died in 2021, leaving $13 million to an unspecified “charity.” C.B.S.
A nonprofit executive who took his call recalled hearing Isaacs’ shocking question.
“The first thing he said was, ‘What would you do with $1 million?’” recalled Emmy Hildebrand, executive director of Helping Veterans and Families of Indiana.
He wasn’t the only one who was stunned by the calls.
Margaret Sheehan, executive director of Teachers’ Treasures, a free store for educators in need of school supplies, received $1.5 million, about double the group’s annual budget.
Attorney Dwayne Isaacs was the executor of Kahn’s will and donated millions to nonprofit organizations. CBS “Probably three or four different entities that lost out because they just didn’t take my call,” Isaacs told the outlet. C.B.S.
“It was an act of amazing kindness to which I responded, ‘I need to sit down,’” Sheehan said.
“We float above our own bodies, thinking, is this real?” another beneficiary, Julie Henson, vice president of development for Coburn Place, which supports survivors of domestic violence, told the outlet.
According to Isaacs, Kahn lived in a modest house, drove an old Honda, and asked that when he died no money be spent on a death announcement.
“He’s smiling somewhere, there’s no doubt about it,” Isaacs told the outlet. “He would have fun with this.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn