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Hayley Mills once had a $17 million Disney fortune tucked away. Then, overnight, it vanished, thanks to a brutal 91% tax rate that left her stunned and scrambling. In her memoir Forever Young, Mills opened up about how her childhood success turned into financial heartbreak.
At just 14, Mills became a household name after playing the mischievous twins Susan and Sharon in The Parent Trap (1961). She also bagged a now-defunct Juvenile Oscar for Pollyanna. Her star only rose from there, lighting up films like Tiger Bay (1959), Whistle Down the Wind (1961), In Search of the Castaways (1962), and That Darn Cat! (1965).
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By the time she turned 21, Mills had built up an impressive trust from years of Disney magic. But when she went to claim it, she received a financial horror story instead. According to her memoir, her lawyer Stanley Passmore broke the news (via Cheat Sheet): “Well, my dear, basically, the Revenue have attacked your trust company. They’re going to tax you at the full rate: 91 percent of the entire trust.”
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Mills recalled feeling the life drain from her face. Passmore offered little comfort, bluntly telling her, “Nothing you can do, really. You could contest it but if I were you, I’d leave the country!” The damage had already been done. Mills later wrote, “The state had plundered my trust like a horde of pirates.”
She explained that she should have “repudiated” the trust before turning 21, but by then, it was far too late. Rather than drag her father or her legal team to court, Mills chose to fight through tax appeals. For a moment, she actually won. In 1972, Lord Denning ruled in her favor, pointing out that she had already paid tax on her earnings.
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“My tax case went up before the Master of the Rolls, Lord Denning,” she shared. “Pointing out that I’d already paid tax on my earnings and shouldn’t have to pay a surtax, he ruled that the money belonged to me.”
It was a short-lived victory. Two years later, the House of Lords overturned the decision. Mills lost everything. Her $17 million fortune? Gone, swallowed by the system she had trusted.
In a 2021 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Mills compared the entire ordeal to an illusion. “I never saw it,” she said. “I knew it was there, and one day I would have it, but it was just sort of a dream, and then one day the dream was gone.”
Despite the loss, Mills kept moving forward. Now, as The Parent Trap continues to charm new generations, Hayley Mills enjoys life surrounded by her five grandchildren. Though the dream of her Disney fortune slipped away, the memories she created remain priceless.
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