Lennon last will- This is what John said about Julian in a Playboy interview that took place in September of 1980. He was murdered in December. In short, they were in contact but not close at all. I personally think he should have given the same amount as he gave to Sean even if Julian was “born out of a bottle of whiskey,” but that’s me.
PLAYBOY: "Your son, Julian, from your first marriage must be in his teens. Have you seen him over the years?"
LENNON: "Well, Cyn got possession, or whatever you call it. I got rights to see him on his holidays and all that business, and at least there's an open line still going. It's not the best relationship between father and son, but it is there. but he's obliged to communicate with me, even when he probably doesn't want to."
PLAYBOY: "You're being very honest about your feelings toward him to the point of saying that Sean is your first child. Are you concerned about hurting him?"
LENNON: "I'm not going to lie to Julian. Ninety percent of the people on this planet, especially in the West, were born out of a bottle of whiskey on a Saturday night, and there was no intent to have children. Julian is in the majority, along with me and everybody else. Sean is a planned child, and therein lies the difference. I don't love Julian any less as a child. He's still my son, whether he came from a bottle of whiskey or because they didn't have pills in those days. He's here, he belongs to me and he always will."
I, JOHN WINSTON ONO LENNON, a resident of the County of New York, State of New York, which I declare to be my domicile do hereby make, publish and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all other Wills, Codicils and Testamentary dispositions by me at any time heretofore made.
FIRST: The expenses of my funeral and the administration of my estate, and all inheritance, estate or succession taxes, including interest and penalties, payable by reason of my death shall be paid out of and charged generally against the principal of my residuary estate without apportionment or proration. My Executor shall not seek contribution or reimbursement for any such payments.
SECOND: Should my wife survive me, I give, devise and bequeath to her absolutely, an amount equal to that portion of my residuary estate, the numerator and denominator of which shall be determined as follows:
1. The numerator shall be an amount equal to one-half (1/2) of my adjusted gross estate less the value of all other property included in my gross estate for Federal Estate Tax purposes and which pass or shall have passed to my wife either under any other provision of this Will or in any manner outside of this Will in such manner as to qualify for and be allowed as a marital deduction. The words "pass", "have passed", "marital deduction" and adjusted gross estate" shall have the same meaning as said words have under those provisions of the Untied States Internal Revenue Code applicable to my estate.
Julian was to receive 50,000 pounds when he turned 21 (1984), by a trust John set up as part of his divorce from his ex-wife Cynthia. Julian did receive this, which was a pittance for an estate this size. He was also entitled to a small dividend of some type. Yoko’s company sent Julian a check for a dollar in the 1980s, which was hugely insensitive and terrible.
Julian always said the thing that hurt most was Yoko did not allow him to keep any of his father’s possessions. He has since bought back items from auction houses, including the postcards his father sent him from around the world.
Julian was quoted as saying, ‘The irony isn’t lost on me that I am using his money to buy back his things,’ when he exhibited some of the memorabilia he collected.
2. The denominator shall be an amount representing the value of my residuary estate.
THIRD: I give, devise and bequeath all the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, wheresoever situate, to the Trustees under a Trust Agreement dated November 12, 1979, which I signed with my wife YOKO ONO, and ELI GARBER as Trustees, to be added to the trust property and held and distributed in accordance with the terms of that agreement and any amendments made pursuant to its terms before my death.
FOURTH: In the event that my wife and I die under such circumstances that there is not sufficient evidence to determine which of us has predeceased the other, I hereby declare it to be my will that it shall be deemed that I shall have predeceased her and that this, my Will, and any and all of its provisions shall be construed based upon that assumption.
Mimi herself had only found out after John’s death that she didn’t own her house: ‘I can’t believe he’s left me beholden to Yoko,’ she told her family. After that she was so frightened the house might be taken away from her that she changed all her photos of Julian for photos of Sean, in case Yoko or anyone who knew her should visit. Mimi kept the house, but the second she died it was sold.
FIFTH: I hereby nominate, constitute and appoint my beloved wife, YOKO ONO, to act as the Executor of this my Last Will and Testament. In the event that my beloved wife YOKO ONO shall predecease me or chooses not to act for any reason, I nominate and appoint ELI GARBER, DAVID WARMFLASH and CHARLES PETTIT, in the order named, to act in her place and stead.
SIXTH: I nominate, constitute and appoint my wife YOKO ONO, as the Gurdian of the person and property of any children of the marriage who may survive me. In the event that she predeceases me, or for any reason she chooses not to act in that capacity, I nominate, constitute and appoint SAM GREEN to act in her place and stead.
SEVENTH: No person named herein to serve in any fiduciary capacity shall be required to file or post any bond for the faithful performance of his or her duties, in that capacity in this or in any other jurisdiction, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.
EIGHTH: If any legatee or beneficiary under this will or the trust agreement between myself as Grantor and YOKO ONO LENNON and ELI GARBER as Trustees, dated November 12, 1979 shall interpose objections to the probate of this Will, or institute or prosecute or be in any way interested or instrumental in the institution or prosecution of any action or proceeding for the purpose of setting aside or invalidating this Will, then and in each such case, I direct that such legatee or beneficiary shall receive nothing whatsoever under this Will or the aforementioned Trust.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have subscribed and sealed and do publish and declare these presents as and for my Last Will and Testament, this 12th day of November, 1979./s/John Winston Ono Lennon
THE FOREGOING INSTRUMENT consisting of four (4) typewritten pages, including this page, was on the 12th day of November, 1979, signed, sealed, published and declared by JOHN WINSTON ONO LENNON, the Testator therein named, as and for his Last Will and Testament, in the present of us, who at his request, and in his presence, and in the presence of each other, have hereunto set our names as witnesses.
(The names of the three witnesses are illegible.)
