Joan Crawford's Kids Didn't Inherit Millions: What Happened To All Her Money?

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Joan Crawford was a wealthy woman when she died, but her children didn't inherit millions from her estate. Far from it; the iconic Hollywood star actually donated a large portion of her net worth to charity. As for what she did leave to her children (Joan adopted three daughters and one son), let's just say there was a ton of drama. There are plenty of successful stars who have vowed not to leave fortunes to their kids when they die, so Joan certainly wasn't alone in that department. Plus, of those celebs who have confirmed that they won't be leaving a massive inheritance behind, many plan to donate their wealth to worthy causes instead, which is precisely what the "Mildred Pierce" star did with her roughly $2 million net worth. 

According to Vanity Fair, the organizations she made provisions for were the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Motion Picture Home, the U.S.O of New York, and Wiltwyck School for Boys. Director George Cukor wasn't surprised the Hollywood legend earmarked so much of her fortune for charities, because Joan was always incredibly generous (she donated her total earnings for movie "They All Kissed the Bride" to charity). 

Cukor pointed out that when she first started earning big paychecks, Joan partnered with her doctor to pay for hospital rooms to ensure those working low-paying jobs in the movie business had access to free medical care. However, she kept it quiet. "Some of those people lived good lives, which they owed to Joan. They might not have lived at all if not for her, but she didn't want even the people she did it for to ever know," Cukor noted. Her generosity in her will makes sense, but not everyone benefited.

Joan Crawford keeping her philanthropy a secret means there are still many who don't know about it. Sadly, the same can't be said for her relationship with her kids, and the actor's stated desire to exclude Christina and Christopher Crawford from her estate made headlines. While Joan bequeathed each of her twin daughters Cathy Lalonde and Cynthia Crawford $77,500, the explicit instructions to exclude her eldest daughter and son were made painfully clear. As reported by Vanity Fair, Joan declared in the document, "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." 

Though Christopher did not pursue a public life, Christina famously accused her mother of abuse in her tell-all memoir "Mommie Dearest." The "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" star was aware a book was in the works before her passing, even acknowledging in 1976, "I suppose she doesn't think that I'm going to leave her enough or that I'm going to disappear soon enough." As for Christina, she told HuffPost in 2017 that she only started writing "Mommie Dearest" after Joan's funeral and the will reading were over. She was admittedly shocked by "The unmistakable implication that my brother and I had done something unspeakably wrong." 

Ultimately, Christina and Christopher did inherit a small amount from Joan's estate, after they took the matter to court. As noted in a 1979 report in The New York Times, the sibling duo was ultimately awarded $55,000. Unlike their younger sisters, though, they had to split that amount between them. As for the charities the money had been earmarked for, they reportedly agreed in order to avoid an expensive legal battle. A difficult situation all 'round.