Off My Mind: Superhero Wills

The secret identity thing kinda makes it difficult.

 
I always thought that the hero's belongings went to either their closest friend (like Cap's things would go to Bucky Barnes) or to their children (such as Dick Grayson even thought he's Bruce's adopted son). I mean it makes sense to me that this is the order in which things happen because it makes the most sense. 
 
It just seems like that's how things work. I mean the only other option is the team they are a member of keep thier belongings in an isolated part of the headquarters (especially seein' as how they wouldn't want villains to get their hands on them).

You know spider-man did die, but Aunt May was taken care by MJ and the New Avengers.....

Their stuff  goes with the person who died, next to their grave or burned.

I reckon it's either passed on to a sidekick/partner or left to gather dust in some cave or warehouse until some new creation can stumble across it and the character can get reinvented.

Does anybody got Superman's Will? Cause I so want that Fortress of Solitude! *evil grin*

Superman's Will: *After  heart felt passage that the earth is safe thanks to the global team of super heroes*
I give my perception filter glasses to Batman
 
Batamn: Aw sweet I can wear my bat costume 24/7 now!

i personally think there needs to be a mandate on an editorial level, specifically at marvel, that if a writer kills of a character it has to last for an established period, say 20 years. because comic writers throw death around like its nothing and it makes for really bad storytelling. i would enjoy and be more affected by comic deaths if i knew the characters were going to be dead for a substantial amount of time before being brought back and i think it would make writers more hesitant to use death as cheaply as they do.

Even in "death" Batman has a plan.

Good question: only if a superhero has dependents( wife, children, siblings , cousins , aunts/uncles) would this be a problem. Be honest- if YOU were related to a superhero/heroine would you want to step forward and in claiming to be his/her legal heir, and attract the vengeful attention of not just supervillains but also all those "ordinary" crooks including mobsters he or she brought to justice?
 
Captain America and Iron Man are both only children with their parents long deceased( true, Tony Stark has a cousin, Morgan, but they are estranged and he is unlikely to want to inherit cousin Tony's millions-which are presumably going to charity anyway). Anyway who legally defines what is death in the Marvel Universe, given that some characters have dropped out of sight for over seven years- ( in the real world, if somebody is missing for more than seven years, then he  or she is legally declared to be dead at the end of it) and up to twenty years such as Seraph ( last seen in Defenders#151) who has the power to declare somebody legally dead?
 
Terry
 
Are some characters(admittedly not heroes) such as Dracula or Frankenstein's Monster legally alive or dead anyway(vampires are known as the "undead" and the pieces of corpses that make up the Frankenstein's Monster are all from people who died)?

Usual Will, involves the rights to be that superhero,gadgets, vehicles, everything. The first sidekick or son usually becomes the next main hero

If I got a Batmobile, when Batman returned, why would he come knocking on my door to get it back?  He has like 50 million of them, and besides, now that he's back, I'm sure he would want to drive a brand spanking new and improved one anyways, not his old busted model.

I assume their will is the same as in the real world, now the question is, if Barrey dies, & Wally takes over as Flash, does the "Flash" count as a seperate persona, like a corporation does, & does everything the Flash owns go to Wally?

How does the IRS & tax agencies handle this?

Spider-Man's will: To Johnny Storm, I leave the burning remains of the Spider-Mobile,  and the Fantastic Bag Man costume to you as well. To MJ, I leave, my actual car, the owner-ship of my mansion that I bought after Spider-Island, and my love and kisses. To Ben Grimm, I give you all my Pecan Sandies, pretty much all of my food hat hasn't been rotten. To Iron Man, I give you a detailed description of why I hated the Iron Spider costume, and to Captain America, I give you a thick alloy of Vibranuim, Carboranium, and True Atadmuaim? (Seriously, how do you spell this?) 
 
And finally, to JJJ, I give you a letter filled with all my pictures of Spider-Man.

What happens when a comic book character dies? 99.9% of the time, they will return. It might not be right away. It could even be a few years or decades, but chances are, they will make a return. For readers, when the death occurs, we might be touched reading the story and seeing the reaction of the character's loved ones but at the same time, we're rolling our eyes. We know they'll be back. It's not a question of if they'll return but one of how or when. 
 
When the death occurs in the comic book world, despite the number of characters that have returned, others are still sad. No one thinks they'll automatically come back to life if they die which leads to one question. What do superheroes put into their will and what happens to their stuff when they die? 
  

Because their jobs are dangerous, the heroes would be silly not to have wills set up. If they were to die during a battle or mission, they would have to have plans as for who gets their possessions. This is highly important for heroes with gadgets. What happens to Spider-Man's web shooters? Who gets Iron Man's armor? Is Wonder Woman concerned with what happens to her Lasso of Truth? Of course there's their normal possessions as well. What happens to the Human Torch's hot rods? Is Lois Lane going to take care of everything in Superman's Fortress of Solitude? 
 
Along with the heroes' high tech items and personal effects, do they have any plans to deal with their secret identities and the possibility that their death could reveal it to the world? What is Spider-Man's plan if he dies in the middle of a battle against Doc Ock? Who will protect Aunt May after his death? 

If a hero does have his act together and creates a proper will before their death, the big question is what happens when they return? Is there some sort of clause that tells those that have been bequeathed something that they will have to return it if and when the hero manages to beat death? 
 
An easy solution might be to put in some sort of time clause. Loved ones receiving items might get them on the condition that they might just be temporarily maintaining possession of them until the hero returns. But what sort of time limit could be placed? Jean Grey, who we all know has died and returned several times, has been dead since 2005 (our time). If you consider Bucky Barnes, he was considered dead for decades before people realized he was alive. It would be difficult to place a realistic time limit since there is no rhyme or reason to a heroes return after dying.
 
I suppose if you managed to be lucky enough to inherit the Batmobile, you could try taking Batman to court if he was considered legally dead. Of course if you were close enough to Batman to get something like the Batmobile, you wouldn't be a jerk about it and refuse to give it back.    What it comes down to is all heroes need to have carefully detailed wills. Hopefully their death won't result in the world discovering their secret identity (if they had one). Loved ones need to be understanding in case the dearly departed does return. We all know the return of someone we care about is much more important than keeping any items, no matter how cool they might be.