Tommaso the cat inherits from owner

It is not often that one hears about people dying and leaving all or part of their fortunes to animals. Usually when such stories come to light, we hear that it has happened in the western countries. Less so in the eastern countries, but not that it doesn’t happen, of course. Over here, unless the person is destitutely poor, there is usually someone in the family to look after him, grudgingly or otherwise. It’s part of our culture to look after our elders in their old age. But not so in the West where children are very likely to move elsewhere and leave their old folks behind. It’s their concept of “freedom.” That’s when loneliness sets in, especially when a partner passes away eventually.

Maria Assunta was the wife of an Italian property tycoon and she had inherited her fortune from her husband after he died. Her wealth included stock investments and a large portfolio of land and properties in Rome, Milan and Calabria. But for all her millions – which her lawyers finally valued at USD13 million – she was lonely in her old age. Being childless, she lived alone, looked after by only her nurse, Stefania.

Less than four years ago, Assunta picked up a black stray cat from the streets of Rome and started caring for it. Here, at last, was an opportunity for her to fill up her loneliness. Assunta really doted on the cat.

But she knew that she was already old and frail. When her health began to fail two years ago, Assunta began to seek out a way for her beloved Tommaso (that’s the cat’s name) to be properly cared for after her death.

According to one of her lawyers, Anna Orecchioni, Assunta who died two weeks ago had become very fond towards the nurse who assisted her. “We are convinced that Stefania is the right person to carry out the old lady’s wishes. Stefania loves animals just like the woman she devoted herself to right up until the end.”

The lawyers said that Assunta left the fortune to Tommaso in a will she wrote and deposited with them in their Rome office in October 2009. They explained that under Italian law the cat was not entitled to inherit the money directly and as such, the will asked for the money to be given to a “worthy animal association, if one could be found”.

She added: “We had requests from several organizations but we didn’t find any that we thought suitable.” As they were unable to find a satisfactory association to look after Tommaso, Assunta then decided to leave all her money to the cat through her nurse, Stefania, who had cared for the old lady until her dying day.

Stefania told the newspapers that she had no idea of the woman’s incredible wealth. “The old lady suffered from loneliness,” the nurse said. “She looked after that cat more than you’d look after a son. I promised her that I would look after the cat when she was no longer around. She wanted to be sure that Tommaso would be loved and cuddled. But I never imagined that she had this sort of wealth. She was very discreet and quiet. I knew very little of her private life. She only told me that she had suffered a lot from loneliness.”

The nurse now lives with Tommaso and another cat in an undisclosed address to avoid con artists and potential kidnappers.

Tommaso is placed third on a list of wealthy pets behind Kalu the chimp, whose owner left him USD80 million dollars, and Gunther IV, a German shepherd dog who inherited $372 million dollars from his father,  Gunther III,  the beloved companion of an eccentric German countess. Real estate magnate Leona Helmsley famously left USD12 million to her little dog Trouble, although her human descendents contested, and Trouble’s pot was cut to USD2 million.

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