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Home / Entertainment

Revealed: The one major clause in Hugh Hefner's will

By Kelly McLaughlin
Daily Mail·
21 Dec, 2017 09:10 PM3 mins to read

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From Guinness world records to personal zoos, what else do we know about the ultimate playboy?

Hugh Hefner's widow and children must stay away from drugs and spend responsibly if they want to inherit his fortune, new documents have revealed.

The Playboy founder - who died in September aged 91 - stipulated in the trust document that if the beneficiaries to his estate frequently use illegal substances or become dependent on alcohol or any drugs, they will be suspended from the trust.

Beneficiaries listed are his wife Crystal and his children, Christie A Hefner, David Hefner, Marston Hefner and Cooper Hefner, according to the Daily Mail.

Hugh Hefner and Crystal Hefner. Photo / Getty Images
Hugh Hefner and Crystal Hefner. Photo / Getty Images

Before his death, Hefner's fortune was estimated to be $43 million (NZ$61.3m).

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While the Playboy Mansion was known for its legendary parties throughout the years, Hefner has previously expressed disdain for drugs and alcohol.

He once said that drugs and alcohol hurt and killed people.

The documents, which were obtained by The Blast, state that if the trustees believe any of the beneficiaries consume or rely on illegal substances not prescribed to them, they can be suspended.

The documents add: "If the Trustees reasonably believe that as a result the beneficiary is unable to care for himself or herself, or is unable to manage his or her financial affairs, all mandatory distributions... to the beneficiary... will be suspended."

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The documents also state that trustees may request a drug test from a beneficiary they suspect of abusing illegal substances.

If a trustee is suspended, they may have their rights to the trust restored after a 12-month period of sobriety.

The documents explained: "[Rights to the trust may be restored] in the case of use or consumption of an illegal substance, examinations indicate no such use for 12 months and, in all cases, when the Trustees in their discretion determine that the beneficiary is able to care for himself or herself and is able to manage his or her financial affairs."

Hugh Hefner and Cooper Hefner. Photo / Getty Images
Hugh Hefner and Cooper Hefner. Photo / Getty Images

Hefner established the trust in May 1991 and was initial trustee until his death.

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He also disinherited and excluded from the trust "any person who claims to be a child of mine, including any child of mine conceived after my death, unless such child lived with me in my household and was acknowledged by me in writing to be my child".

Hefner originally listed for his longtime secretary, Mary O'Connor, to be the trustee to his fortune, but she died aged 84 in 2013.

When she died, he opted to make his current wife and four children trustees.

His youngest sons, Marston, 27, and Cooper, 26, cannot become co-trustees until they reach the age of 30.

Hefner died from heart failure after contracting an aggressive strain of E-coli which was resistant to drugs, it was revealed shortly after his death.

The 91-year-old's causes of death are listed as cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, septicaemia and E-coli.

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Playboy founder Hugh Hefner (C) poses with his sons Cooper and Marston Hefner. Photo / Getty Images
Playboy founder Hugh Hefner (C) poses with his sons Cooper and Marston Hefner. Photo / Getty Images

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health could not determine how Hefner contracted the deadly bacteria.

He died on September 27 at the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills surrounded by family.

The Playboy founder was buried next to Marilyn Monroe at Los Angeles' Westwood Village Park.

Monroe was on the cover of the very first edition of Playboy which Hefner published in 1953. He bought the crypt next to hers in the cemetery before he died for US$75,000 (NZ$107,000).

It was previously reported that an infection crippled Hefner, making him bed-ridden for the two years before his death.

It is not known whether that infection was the E-coli that medical examiners identified in his death certificate.

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