She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. After a life of having everything she wanted handed to her, she expected that things would be the same when her father passed away.
But she was in for a surprise. Her father had included a secret clause in the will; and as a result, she would have to get on welfare to be able to support herself. How did she end up like that?
Christopher Brown was a broker who used to live in Sydney, Australia. Over the years, he amassed an impressive fortune in the stock market with an estimated worth of millions of dollars.
His financial success granted him the respect and admiration of his colleagues and his community; however, he was also envied by some.
Some people question whether the money made by stock brokers is completely legitimate or ethical; some see it as a form of speculation, ignoring that some brokers actually do contribute to the prosperity of industries creating thousands of jobs.
Still, Christopher was a man concerned with his role in the world and with what he could do to make society a better place for those who had it worse than him. And he had his own way of doing that.
Christopher Brown was known for donating large sums of money to different charities at several points in his lifetime. He felt like there was no reason for him to make all that money if he couldn’t actually give it a use besides satisfying his own wants.
Those were values that he had always tried to teach his daughter Clare, who had a privileged childhood beyond what most people can even fantasize about. However, the wealthy father had come across a few bumps in that road.
As his daughter Clare grew up, it became evident to Chris that there was a significant risk of her becoming a spoiled child, used to having everything she wanted without any effort.
Christopher knew this was a bad path for her daughter to take, regardless of whether she would ever have to worry about paying the bills; even if she could always count on her father to support her, Chris knew that she needed to make something of herself. But this wasn’t an easy thing to do with Clare.
Despite going to the best private schools in the area and getting the best education that money could buy, Clare didn’t seem to have any sort of ambition.
This was an endless source of stress and worry for Christopher. He didn’t want his daughter to be a freeloader who contributed nothing to society or did nothing to earn her privileged position. However, Clare had her own views on the matter.
She claimed that it wasn’t that she didn’t want to work or put any effort into anything; according to her, the problem was that she was incapable of doing so.
The reasoning behind this argument was one that Christopher never really bought: maybe this was due to his old-school mindset, which made it difficult for him to understand certain things. Or perhaps he saw through it and thought it was just an excuse. We’ll leave you to decide which of the two is the most likely after you’ve read Clare’s claim.
Clare claimed to be suffering from ADHD and high-functioning ASD, which made it really hard for her to focus on anything or work towards any sort of goal.
These claims, which have been the subject of controversy after the issue with Christopher’s inheritance made it into the media, may raise some eyebrows. However, there are a few things that should be considered before jumping to judgment.
It should be taken into consideration that the degree to which people suffer from these diseases can vary greatly, depending on the patient and their circumstances.
Sometimes, people who have ADHD and ASD really struggle with even the simplest tasks. In contrast, others can even hold high-pressure jobs if provided with the proper treatment. The only thing certain is that all hell broke loose after Christopher passed away.
Until her father’s death, Clare lived on an allowance of $500 a week. As she lived in one of her father’s houses with her wife Laura, this was enough for her to cover her expenses.
However, this allowance ended after Christopher passed away. And to make things worse, she didn’t have access to any part of the inheritance due to two secret clauses in her father’s will.
Apparently, Christopher’s will left $12 million to his daughter, but only under two conditions: that she got a job and that she contributed something to society.
However, to this day, Clare refuses to do any of the above, claiming that her mental health conditions prevent her from doing so. This has forced her to resort to welfare to support herself. It has also created some big and mediatic family drama.
“I understand why these people want me to be a functioning member of society,” she recently said to the press, talking about her family.
“However, you have to look at my diagnosis and realize that’s not going to happen. I am not going to learn how to drive because I have ADHD. I have the attention span of a gnat.” Her wife, Lauren, has also spoken up on the matter.
“She doesn’t have an executive function in the head,” she recently said. “Our cats would not get fed, they would starve, because she would not remember that they need to eat.”
Lauren’s mom has publicly defended Clare as well: “She can’t work because she hates crowds, can’t concentrate, and people hate her because she’s gay.” However, Clare’s family has different views on the matter.
“We’d like her to get a job and contribute to society. Instead of her agreeing to her dead dad’s wishes, she turned around and sued her trust,” has said Clare’s cousin Jimmy.
“We are at our wit’s end. We have done nothing but love Clare.” But apparently, the last thing Clare has in mind is complying with her father’s wishes.
“Give me what is rightfully mine. I am suffering”, she has pleaded with her family on a TV program. “Can you please stop with the whole “me getting a job”? It’s not happening. I am broke constantly and can’t do anything about it.”
Do you think there may be some truth to Clare’s claims? Or do you, like the rest of her family, believe they are just excuses?
