The 1975 contract Jackie Kennedy signed to give her step-daughter total possession of her husband Aristotle Onassis’ $500m (£400m) fortune is up for sale.
The 23-page multi-million dollar settlement was signed by the Greek shipping magnate’s only surviving child Christina and his second wife Jackie on May 7, 1975.
The document reveals how Christina made a one-off payment of $20.5m (£16.1m) to her step-mother, who her father married in 1968.
It is up for sale at auction on March 26 by a private collector with International Autograph Auctions Europe, of Malaga, Spain, where it is expected to fetch £18,000 ($22,000).
The document signed by Jackie Kennedy (pictured with her husband Aristotle Onassis in 1970) and her step-daughter Christina on May 7, 1975, will be sold at auction on March 26
Onassis died aged 69 in March 1975, two years after his son Alexander was killed in a plane crash. His first wife Tina died of a suspected drugs overdose in 1974.
Jackie and Christina, referred to as ‘wife’ and ‘daughter’ respectively in the settlement, had been at loggerheads before an agreement was finally reached.
The settlement, which has a red seal affixed to the front page, was drafted by English notary Public James Malcolm Waugh in London, England.
Under consecutive sections titled ‘payment to wife’ and ‘obligations of wife’, it reads: ‘By way of compromise and settlement and on a lump sum basis, the daughter, as the personal representative of the father’s estate, has paid out of the wife the sum of $20,500,000.
The document reveals how Christina (pictured in 1976) made a one-off payment of $20.5m (£16.1m) to her step-mother, who her father married in 1968
The settlement, which has a red seal affixed to the front page, was drafted by English notary Public James Malcolm Waugh in London, England
Auctioneer Francisco Pinero described the document as ‘of exceptional interest’ and revealed it probably came to light after the solicitor died, or the lawyer’s office closed
‘The wife… renounces in favor of the daughter all claim, right, title and interest to receive, succeed or inherit any part of the father’s estate.’
A ‘mutual waiver and release’ section of the document reveals Onassis had paid Kennedy, the widow of US president John F Kennedy, $2m (£1.6m) in bonds before he died.
It also states: ‘Although she (Kennedy) understands that her husband is a man of substantial wealth, she is satisfied with the provision made for her by him and wishes to make no claim to participate in his estate in the event of his death.’
A ‘mutual waiver and release’ section of the document reveals Onassis had paid Kennedy (pictured in 1969) $2m (£1.6m) in bonds before he died
It is up for sale at auction on March 26 by a private collector with International Autograph Auctions Europe, of Malaga, Spain, where it is expected to fetch £18,000 ($22,000)
The document reveals how a sum of $20,500,000 was agreed. The money was sent by banker’s draft issued outside of the US and was payable in London
Jackie is pictured with her two children from her marriage to president John F. Kennedy, John Jr and Caroline, the day before her wedding to Aristotle Onassis in Greece
Aristotle and Jackie were pictures in 1971, three years before the Greek magnate’s death
The auctioneer said the document was full of ‘extremely interesting legal content’
Aristotle’s daughter Christina lost her entire immediate family within a 29-month period from her brother’s death aged 24 in 1973 to her father’s death in March 1975. Her mother left her a $77 million (£65 million) estate when she died in 1974.
She was brought up in the UK, Greece and France and went to Headington School in Oxford and Queen’s College, London from 1968 to 1969.
Auctioneer Francisco Pinero described the document as ‘of exceptional interest’ and revealed it probably came to light after the solicitor died, or the lawyer’s office closed.
Christina died in 1988, with her father’s fortune, which equates to £3billion in today’s money, being inherited by her only child Athina (pictured together)
He added: ‘It is a document of exceptional interest which was kept secret for long for obvious reasons, reporting that Jackie Kennedy will receive many millions.
‘We think that this was one of the documents which remained in the solicitor’s hands, and that either the office closed or the lawyer may have died.
‘We are not aware of why it has ended up in private hands. There is extremely interesting legal content.’
Christina died in 1988, with her father’s fortune, which equates to £3billion in today’s money, being inherited by her only child Athina. Jackie died six years later aged 64.