Who Inherited Joan Crawford's Money After She Died?

At the time of her death, Joan Crawford left behind her an estate with an estimated value of $2 million, the equivalent of more than $10 million as of 2023. As well as her lucrative acting career, Crawford was also involved with the Pepsi-Cola Company through her fourth husband, Alfred Steele, as a board member and later as a spokesperson. She was unmarried when she died, and many would reasonably assume that her fortune was shared among her four adopted children: Christina, Christopher, and twin daughters Cathy and Cindy, who were all in their 30s at the time of Crawford’s death.

However, the strains in Crawford’s family shone through in her last will and testament, which included the provision: “It is my intention to make no provision herein for my son Christopher or my daughter Christina for reasons which are well known to them.” Instead, Crawford left around $150,000 ($760,000 today) to the twins, with Cathy also inheriting the vast majority of her mother’s property assets. According to Vanity Fair, the actress also left a $35,000 bequest to her longtime secretary Betty Barker, while the rest was split between several charities, including the American Cancer Society, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and the charity she co-founded, Motion Picture Home.

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