A $12 million fortune awaits an Australian heiress if she can complete a simple task of getting a job.
Clare Brown, on the other hand, believes her father’s final request is unrealistic.
After her trust denied her access to the funds because she did not match the requirements, the broke former private school girl is now contesting her father’s will in court.
‘Give me what is rightfully mine. I am suffering,’ she pleaded with her family on A Current Affair on Tuesday.
‘Can you please stop with the whole ”me getting a job”. It’s not happening.
‘I am broke constantly and can’t do anything about it.’
Clare lives in Mount Druitt, Sydney’s western suburbs, on welfare benefits with her wife Lauren and their one-year-old baby.
Her background in the city’s east with her successful stock trader father Chris, who sent her to one of Sydney’s most exclusive schools, is a long cry from her current life.
She received a $500 weekly allowance from him while getting government benefits for the previous few years, but she claims she was obliged to go to Centrelink because her father ‘kept cutting her off’ and she was being ‘financially abused’.
When Chris died in January, Clare was left the millions he won on the stock market so long as she meet two clauses: get a job and contribute something to society.
But the mother-of-one says she is unable to work because she has Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
‘I understand why these people want me to be a functioning member of society, however, you have to look at my diagnosis and realise that is not going to happen,’ she said.
‘I am not going to learn how to drive because I have ADHD. I have the attention span of a gnat.’
Lauren explained that Clare, who has also been diagnosed with high-functioning autism, has difficulty completing daily tasks, and that in order to get things done, the family uses a daily check list, which includes food reminders for Ms Brown.
‘She doesn’t have an executive function in the head,’ Lauren said.
‘Our cats would not get fed, they would starve – because she would not remember that they need to eat.’
But Clare’s family allege the conditions are an excuse.
‘We’d like her to get a job and contribute to society. Instead of her agreeing to her dead dad’s wishes, she turned around and sued her trust.’
Clare and Lauren had previously resided in her father’s townhouse in the eastern suburbs before relocating to Mount Druitt with her family.
Jimmy’s twin brother then moved into the property for four years rent free as part of an agreement he made with Chris in exchange for him doing renovations.
‘We are at our wits end.
‘We have done nothing but love Clare.’
Clare’s resume just has one entry: past part-time work for Autism Australia. She also worked briefly as a barista for less than an hour.
Clare responded ‘yes and no’ when asked if she wants to work, considering the ramifications of her illnesses.
Clare, a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) carer, said recent changes to the sector have made it more difficult to find work because companies are less inclined to ‘give people a chance.’
She did, however, say that if her NDIS funding improves, she might be able to get a job one day.
‘I just want what is rightfully mine. And I want these people to get out of their heads that I am ever going to get a job,’ she said.