Ford’s Will Gives No Clue to Estate Size

The will of Henry Ford II, who reportedly shredded personal papers to protect his privacy, doesn’t include a single dollar sign indicating the size of his immense estate, it was reported today.

Few specific details are included in the seven-page will filed Monday in a Palm Beach County probate court, according to the Palm Beach Post and the Detroit News.

The wealth of the 70-year-old auto industrialist who died of pneumonia last week in Detroit was estimated at $250 million last year by Forbes magazine.

In the only mention of personal property in the document, Ford bequeathed to his wife, Kathleen DuRoss Ford, all “clothing, jewelry, club memberships, automobiles and any insurance policies,” the Post said.

Should she die within the next six months, that property would be divided among Ford’s children: Edsel Ford II, Charlotte Ford and Anne Scarborough.

The Ford fortune was discreetly placed in a trust, established May 17, 1984, the day he signed his will, the Post said. The trustees are not disclosed in the will, but Kathleen and Edsel Ford are named as personal representatives of the will.

Included is the power to vote Ford’s special family stock in the Ford Motor Co., which makes up 10.2% of all outstanding shares, according to a recent company proxy report.

There is no mention of who is to receive Ford’s residences in Palm Beach, the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe Farms and England. Also unmentioned are Ford’s yacht and extensive art collection.

No one is predicting that the death of Henry Ford II will trigger any family squabbling, as the death of Benson Ford Sr. did in 1968, the Post said. Benson Ford Jr. fought a court battle to overturn his father’s will and triggered a family feud that focused on Ford Motor Co. stock.