Vitals on MSNBC:  “Some do it with malice. Others, through a misguided notion that money or family heirlooms don't really matter to the person. Whatever the reason, the plight of the disinherited — or those who may be cut out of the family wealth in the future –has been highlighted by a bitter legal battle between Australia’s “richest mom,” Gina Rinehart, and her three children.

The billionaire says it would be in the “best interests of the beneficiaries to force them to go to work” rather than let them inherit her mining empire.

Then there's Mary Beth Caschetta, whose father cut her out of his will in dramatic movie star style.

“There was a line in my father's will similar to what Joan Crawford used when she disinherited her daughter,” says the 45-year-old medical writer and author from Massachusetts. “‘I leave no bequest to my daughter for reasons known to her.'”