Marie Osmond has defended her decision not to leave her inheritance to any of her children.
The 63-year-old singer explained the value that comes with hard work and why her children won’t receive her money when she passes during a recent interview withUs Weekly.
“Honestly, why would you enable your child to not try to be something? I don’t know anybody who becomes anything if they’re just handed money,” she said. “To me, the greatest gift you can give your child is a passion to search out who they are inside and to work. I mean, I’ve done so many things from designing dolls [and much more]. I love trying [and] I wanna try everything. I’m a finisher.”
She went on to share that the “one rule” that she has with her children and why it’s so important to their work ethic.
“If you start it, you finish it, you don’t ever have to do it again, but you gotta finish,” Osmond 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.”
The “Paper Roses” singer is the mother of eight, as she shares her 39-year-old son with husband Steve Craig, whom she remarried in 2011, following their divorce in 1985. Osmond and her ex-husband, Brian Blosil, also share six children: Rachael, 31, Jessica, 35, Brandon, 26, Brianna, 24, Matthew, 23, and Abigail, 18. The former couple’s eldest son, Michael, died by suicide in 2010 at the age of 18.
Osmond also told Us Weekly that while she plans to leave a lot of her money “to help people”, she still financially helps her children when they need it.
“I don’t not help my children. I mean if they need help with a car or something, I’ll help,” she said. “But I love them to learn. You don’t love something if you don’t earn it. And so, even when they get their first car, you pay for half of it, get a job and learn that self-worth that [it] gives you.”
This isn’t the first time that Osmond has candidly addressed her inheritance plans. During an episode of The Talk, back in 2020, she first revealed that she’s “not leaving any money to [her] children”. She also made her initial point, in this segment, about wanting her kids to work for something they really want.
“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 said, viaToday.
“Let them be proud of what they make, and I’m going to give mine to my charity,” she added.
Elsewhere in her interview with Us Weekly, she opened up about being involved in her grandchildren’s lives and poked fun at how much she “spoils” them.
“Now I’m a grandma and I get to just spoil my grandkids. I don’t have to raise them. Good luck. It’s fun,” she said. “I feel like I have the best life.”
