We should all be more like Chris Evans’s mother
Three cheers for Minnie Beardsall, who sadly died in May this year, aged 92. In her will, the mother-of-three divided her £133,000 estate equally among her three children; despite the fact her youngest son is the radio host Chris Evans, worth an estimated £55million.
There have been various splutterings of disbelief over this, and barbed comments suggesting
that Evans should hand his share over to his less successful siblings.
But in refusing to means test her offspring, Mrs Beardsall has done the best thing possible by them.
Wills can, and do, tear families apart. Once close relatives can be ripped asunder in the miasma of grief that follows the passing of a
parent and the feeling – rational or not – that they have been snubbed. Children see their parents’ dying wishes as a final reckoning of love, not money. It is rarely about cash, but proof that you were cherished just as much – and the sibling you
considered “the favourite” was no more beloved than you.
Minnie worked two jobs to support her three children, and was clearly devoted to them all. In a statement, Evans wrote: “We’ve been ready for this for some time and, as she has throughout her life, in death she brought us together.”
What more could any parent want? We should all be more Minnie.