Who did shakespeares leave his belongings to why was this strange?

Answer 1

Shakespeare's will is a long and complicated document, drawn up rather hastily toward the end of his life. There are a number of small bequests to friends, but the bulk of the estate goes to his daughter Susanna and her husband, who are also named as executors. There is also a trust set up for his daughter Judith, in order that she should have some benefit of the estate but her ne'er do well husband should not. There is only one small mention of his wife, who gets his "second-best-bed". To modern eyes it might appear strange that he should leave everything to his children without providing for his widow. But the reality is that his widow was entitled to a dower interest in the estate by law which came out before any of the gifts in the will could be paid. That means that she got the bed as well as a third of the gross estate. The reason why he mentioned the bed, scholars think, was that he wanted to except it from the gift of furniture to Susanna, the "second-best bed" being the bed William and Anne customarily slept in.