The ladies of The Talk are always debating the most interesting topics related to stories of today. Things got really juicy when the cohosts talked about the estate of Kirk Douglas. The actor died at the age of 103 in February 2020. He surprised many by leaving most of his $80 million fortune to his charity, The Douglas Foundation.
During the conversation, host Marie Osmond revealed that she would likely make a similar decision to what Kirk did. She explained how she and husband Steve Craig came to the decision. She revealed that they believed leaving money to the children could negatively impact their work ethic.
More from LittleThings: Stephen Gaghan Opens Up About Call He Received From Heath Ledger's Dad At Scene Of Death
It got the ladies — which included Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood, Eve, and guest host Carnie Wilson — talking about what you owe to your children as a parent, what your work means to you, and more. The topic split the hosts, as they all had different ideas of what was right. Despite good points made, Marie stood firm that she would not leave any money for her kids.
Marie Osmond got candid about money on Friday's episode of The Talk. The ladies were doing a segment in which they discussed Kirk Douglas' estate. The actor left most of his estate to his charity, The Douglas Foundation, rather than his kids.
Marie revealed she plans to do the same when it comes to her children. "I'm not leaving any money to my children," she boldly revealed.
"Congratulations, kids," the mother of eight joked. "My husband and I decided that."
Marie explained how she and her husband, Steve Craig, came to that conclusion. "I think you do a great disservice to your children to just hand them a fortune because you take away the one most important gift you can give your children — and that’s the ability to work," she noted.
Marie also shared her belief that inheriting too much money could adversely impact children.
"You see it a lot in rich families, where the kids, they don’t know what to do and so they get in trouble," she continued. "Let them be proud of what they make and I’m going to give mine to my charity."
Just because she won't leave it all behind to her seven living children doesn't mean that she doesn't still want to help them while she's alive. Marie clarified that she has no problem helping the kids buy a house or a car.
Cohost Sheryl Underwood disagreed with Marie. "I think that when you come from a family of money, you raise your children to value money and understand money and because they were born into the family, they should have a healthy respect for money," Sheryl explained.
"I mean, I would love to have some type of money left for me from somebody else so I can have a leg up."
"I think when wealthy people say ‘I’m not leaving my kids anything!’ Well, they’ve been living this great life," she noted. It's an interesting point to note that the children of wealthy families do grow up with a certain lifestyle they become accustomed to.
Guest host Carnie Wilson took a median stance on the matter. "I’m somewhere in the middle," she declared. "I love the idea of teaching your children to work." She went on to explain that she believes in teaching them to work hard but also doesn't mind leaving them something behind.
Sharon Osbourne was more aligned with Sheryl's standpoint. "Everybody is different, and I just know that my husband’s body of work that he’s written and kept us all in the lifestyle that we love, goes to my children and his name and likeness goes to my children," she explained.
"I don’t want somebody that never met my husband owning his name and likeness and selling T-shirts everywhere. No, it stays in the Osbourne family."
Viewers of the show sounded off on the different viewpoints online. Many people were disappointed in Marie's decision and were very vocal about it.
"I love you but so don’t agree with you on giving your inheritance to your children," tweeted one fan. "First off, most of them are no longer children and have their own careers. If you raised them to be hardworking humans then giving them a leg up when you are gone is a good thing!"
One fan even called Marie's parenting into question. The fan believes that if Marie doesn't trust her children to make good choices with the money, that says more about Marie's parenting than anything else.
"Entitlement is far different from working hard as a parent to provide a good life for your kids," she wrote. "If you think your kids would be reckless with inheritance, then that is your failure, not theirs."
Marie isn't alone in her decision not to leave her money to her children. Bill Gates has vowed to leave "only" $10 million to each of his three children. It sounds like a lot, but it's only 1% of his massive fortune.
"I definitely think leaving kids massive amounts of money is not a favor to them," he shared in a Reddit interview. "Warren Buffett was part of an article in Fortune talking about this in 1986 before I met him and it made me think about it and decide he was right."
Warren Buffet has also vowed to leave almost all of his wealth to charity. His children will be left with a percentage of his lucrative stocks to manage. It will still provide them a pretty penny, but most of it will go to worthy causes.
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan have also vowed not to leave their estate to their two daughters. In a 2015 announcement on Facebook, before their second daughter was even born, the two explained their decision.
"We will do our part to make this happen, not only because we love you, but also because we have a moral responsibility to all children in the next generation," the couple noted.
None of Marie's children have commented on her decision. Judging by the certainty she discussed this with, we have a feeling they were already aware of it. Marie has the right to do what she pleases with her estate, even if many people are outraged by it.
