So here's a random thought I had earlier today:
Has Luthor made a will? If so, who does he leave his money and assets to, and how does that inform his character? The man is self-serving to the extreme, so would he have any reason to leave money to family/friends? Does Luthor, Mr.-Pursuit-of-Pleasure, care at all what happens to his wealth once he dies? Does he will his money to different charities, so as to always be remembered as a benevolent philanthropist?

Or would his heirs be capable criminal individuals who will continue his endeavors? I feel like this might not be the case -- Luthor strikes me more as a person who is interested in criminal pursuits simply for his own pleasure, power, and wealth. Why would he care about the good/evil balance when he's no longer here to enjoy the show? Unless he's the kind of man who wants an heir to "carry on his greatness"?

In the show, it seemed as though he willed his money to various charities and also his ex-wife. Lois got a bit upset about that and we didn't really hear the rest of it. Also while we later found out about an illegitimate child or two, they never really spoke about whether they received anything, but they definitely all seemed perfectly willing to try to carry on in his ways, though they were not nearly as successful.

I'm sure there are countless fics out there that address such a thing (I have one in the works myself, but I won't comment on it just yet). And I'm absolutely certain that others are far more apt to tell you about these than I am.

Welcome to the boards, by the way!

Julie

Aaaw that's right, I forgot about the will reading at the beginning of season 2.

Thank you for the welcome.

To be fair, Lois was mad that Lex never divulged that he'd been married before, not about the way his estate was being divvied up. Besides, why would Lois assume she was entitled to any money/property/stocks? She was never married to him, nor should she have anticipated that he would have already changed any preexisting wills to include her before any "I Dos" were exchanged.

We also know that he actually DID set aside money Lois could have accessed, if she'd known about it (another secret he kept from her), during the whole amnesia-clone arc when he takes her to the back to withdraw the millions, so he would no longer be flat broke.

As for his sons, we know Jaxon worked for Lex but Lex never acknowledged him as his son, publicly. In fact, Lex told Lois that he had a child but that the boy and his mother were killed in an accident. Chances are very good Jaxon never would have seen an inheritance. And as for the other son, he used Leslie Luckabee to stand in for him as Lex Luthor Jr. Now, he got the Lex name, but because he wasn't born to Lex's wife and because of his disfigurement, my money is, again, on him receiving exactly nothing in a will. (Note: Leslie spins a tale about what it was like having his "rich, famous" father, but as his whole story/identity as Lex Jr is a lie, we can discredit that story as a lie as well.)

?? Do you remember when that was? For some reason I don't recollect it at all. What am I forgetting? I thought that during Luthor's will reading Lois said that Lex had told her she was his first true love. Though I guess that leaves room for a child resulting from a fling with some woman that Lex didn't really love.

In the episode Virtually Destroyed, Jaxon is in the form of Clark trying to get information from Lois. She says that she and Lex had talked of such things. It's only referred to after the fact, not as part of any other episode (that I remember at least).

Aaaaaah! Thank you, Julie!

Jelly is right. Jaxon (as Clark) is trying to get the names of future children Lois and Lex might have had because they are passwords he needs. He reveals that Lex had a son (Jaxon) and Lois says Lex told her but that he and the mother died. Lex having children wasn't mentioned again until the Leslie Luckabee arc, when Lois and Clark figure out that Leslie is Lex Jr (he's actually not, Mr. Smith is). Lois says something about Lex's kids at the end of one of the episodes (I think they're out in their backyard in the scene) and Clark says something like "who knows how many sons Luthor had."

Lex did not have any any children within the confines of marriage (likely why Arianna Carlin didn't last with him).

Don't know if this is the kind of answer you're looking for, but I outlined Lex' will in part three of my (accidentally multi-year epic-length) Road trilogy (parts one, two, and three. The bit about the will is toward the end of part three.

Warning:
If you want to read the feedback to each chapter as it was posted (as well as a fake ending that isn't in the archive), you can search the message board for the posts on the Fanfic TOCS board with my name in the search text, looking only in the header. You'll need to blank out the date limiter, too, so it will pick up everything. (I don't know if that's the intended behavior or not.)

If you do read it, let me know what you thought.

Looks interesting; I'll give it a shot. Thanks!

If you haven't read it, another take on Lex's will is in Nan Smith's wedding series. I think the will is explained towards the end of Wedding Consequences, and its final disposition during the last story, Wedding Accomplished.

The links in the Nan Smith Series guide are outdated and don't redirect to the current URLs. So, I'm posting them here.

In order they're:

Wedding Day

Wedding Aftermath

Wedding Consequences

Wedding Rearrangement

Wedding Accomplished

Lex's last will and testament is a trigger so that Lex's ambitions will be fulfilled in his absence without possibility of reprisal.

I'm seeing the reading of the will on the Grand Balcony of the Lexor looking upon Lex Tower, as specified by Lex. Midway through the reading, codewords in the triggers a series of actions. A vault under Lex Tower is incinerated. After it is opened the contents are never identified. Bombs explode in the East Coast homes of three prominent "businessmen". All are suspected of being Lex's competition for the title of ruling crime lord. Two prisoners in the Metropolis Supermax mysteriously die. In the Emergency ward at Metropolis General a kryptonite trap is primed that is keyed to deploy after hearing Superman's voice a random number of times. A sophisticated AI program begins moving Lex's corporate assets into an offshore account. And, in an underground bunker, a figure stirs....

Shallowford's idea of what Lex's last will and testament might be is perfect. All the actions listed work perfectly with his twisted sense of destiny. Man, I wish I had the ability to write such an epic!

I recall something about that being in the eps with the original wedding. Didn't Luthor have stuff in Lois' name or something? We also know about money in the will given out to that psych (O) ex. The reading looked pretty standard, though.

Lex was a fan of Alexander the Great. The will has a list of potential heirs and "To the strongest".

Yes he had assets hidden under Lois's name but hadn't told her. I imagine he had assets hidden under several identities.