When Osama Bin Laden was killed, only probate nerds thought about his estate plan. The media had questioned the truth of his vast wealth a while back, but it was hard to imagine he wouldn't leave anything behind. Sure enough, shortly after his death, a Kuwaiti newspaper published what they said was his last will and testament. While some wondered about the validity of the 10-year-old document, for the most part the media detailed his requests that his wives not remarry and that his children not join al Qaeda.

These requests are fairly typical "last will and testament" stuff. Alongside these wishes, though, were the ravings of a man who had devoted his life to jihad. As the author of our source article says, the will reads like the "demented last words of dark and disturbed high school."

The description brings back floods of memories -- news reports and images of events that reach beyond Columbine, that include Oklahoma City and Nairobi and London and Madrid, circling around to planes flying into the towers and the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. Not all can be laid at Bin Laden's door, but there is a through line of skewed logic and inhumanity in the name of humanity.

The will is Bin Laden's confessional. From the reports, it's surprising he didn't start out with "Dear Diary." He talks about his martyrdom and his service to God. He admits that watching the attacks of 9/11 was highly entertaining. He refers to the dangerous path he followed, "filled with treason, hardships and drawbacks," as he fought the global front of Jews and Christians.

It's important to remember that we have not read the will ourselves. We are relying on reports, one in particular. And most reports point out that the will is 10 years old. It's likely that family members and colleagues of the man are searching for a more recent document.

And that brings us back to probate. We wonder if we'll hear about challenges to the will or if the press is done with this story and ready to move on to something else.

Source: Huliq.com, "Bin Laden's will requests wives not remarry and his children avoid Al-Qaeda," Anissa Ford, 05/03/2011