In early December 2013, news organizations began publicizing the case of Kathleen Magowan of Simsbury, Connecticut. She had passed away in 2011 at the age of 87, leaving some very large charitable bequests in her will. It took attorneys quite a while, but they determined that between Kathleen and her twin brother Robert, who died in 2010, there was an estate of almost $10 million! Kathleen’s own estate was in excess of $6 million.
Neither twin ever married or had children. They lived together somewhat reclusively for years in Simsbury. Kathleen began her professional life as a nurse, and became a first grade teacher in Simsbury schools. Robert worked for Prudential Insurance.
Kathleen’s will left sizable sums of her wealth to the places that meant the most to her. She left nearly $480,000 to Simsbury public schools, $500,000 to the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford, more than $400,000 to the assisted living home where she died, and nearly $375,000 to her local parish church.
It reportedly took lawyers two years to marshal the assets of the Magowan estates, and determined the source was a series of smart investments made over decades. One of the lawyers commented that the twins had retained a lot of things such as National Geographic magazines dating back to 1929 and record albums from the 1920’s with a working record player.
