Marie Osmond defends decision not to leave eight children inheritance money
Ali Condon
Featured Image Credit: Allstar Picture Library Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo
Singer Marie Osmond has opened up about her decision not to leave her inheritance to any of her eight children.
The 63-year-old found fame at a young age thanks to her showbiz family, landing her first number-one country single, 'Paper Roses', at just 13-years-old, and landing the TV variety show Donny and Marie with her brother at the age of 16.
Although her own family may have been able to give her a leg-up in the entertainment business, Marie - now a mother of eight - doesn't plan on giving her kids any shortcuts.
Advert
In an interview with US Weekly, Marie explained that, by not giving her children any of her hard-earned fortune, she is enabling them to try things and be passionate, rather than take the easy route.
"Honestly, why would you enable your child not to try to be something?" she asked.
"I don't know anybody who becomes anything if they're just handed money."
She went on to state that one of the rules she has for her kids is; 'If you start it, you finish it, you don’t ever have to do it again, but you gotta finish.'
Marie continued: "And, I just think all [an inheritance] does is breed laziness and entitlement. I worked hard and I’m gonna spend it all and have fun with my husband."
This isn't the first time that Marie has spoken about her kids' inheritance - or lack thereof.
During an episode of The Talk in February 2020, Marie said: "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.
"You see it a lot in rich families where the kids, they don’t know what to do and so they get in trouble.
"Let them be proud of what they make. I’m going to give mine to my charity."
Marie shares her eldest son Stephen, 39, with her husband Steve Craig, 71, who she had divorced in 1985 after three years of marriage, and then remarried in 2011.
The singer shares Rachael, 31, Jessica, 35, Brandon, 26, Brianna, 24, Matthew, 23, and Abigail, 18, with her ex-husband Brian Blosil. The former couple also shared their eldest son Michael, who sadly died by suicide aged 18 back in 2010.
Although Marie won't be showering her children with riches, she has certainly been 'spoiling' her grandkids.
"Now I’m a grandma and I get to just spoil my grandkids," she said.
"I don’t have to raise them. Good luck. It’s fun. I feel like I have the best life."