TLDR: Elizabeth Montgomery left an estate estimated at $20 million to her husband Robert Foxworth and her three children with William Asher when she died in 1995.
All three children have built substantial careers in the entertainment industry: William Asher Jr. as a celebrated guitar maker, Robert Asher as a television producer, and Rebecca Asher as a television director whose credits include This Is Us and The Good Place.
When Elizabeth Montgomery died on May 18, 1995, she was 62 years old and had spent the previous eight weeks fighting a losing battle against Stage 4 colorectal cancer.
She left behind a substantial estate, three children who were still in their late twenties and early thirties, and a legacy so firmly tied to a single television role that it took decades for the broader culture to properly assess everything else she had been.
What She Left Behind
Montgomery’s estate was estimated at approximately $20 million, assembled from decades of television work, Bewitched syndication residuals, and strategic real estate investments made throughout her career.
Among her holdings was an 800-acre summer retreat in Patterson, New York, that was subsequently sold to the state and eventually incorporated into Wonder Lake State Park.
Under the terms of her will, her husband Robert Foxworth was named the primary beneficiary, alongside her three children from her marriage to Bewitched producer William Asher: William Asher Jr., Robert Asher, and Rebecca Asher.
In the years following her death, her family auctioned her personal wardrobe in April 1998, donating the proceeds to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation of Los Angeles, a cause she had supported publicly for years and that reflected her long history as an early ally of the LGBTQ community.
William Asher Jr. and the Guitar Shop
William Allen Asher Jr., born July 24, 1964, was just two months old when his mother filmed the pilot episode of Bewitched, and Montgomery returned to production shortly after his birth.
He grew up with both a famous mother and an equally accomplished father running one of the most successful shows on television, and he eventually walked away from the industry entirely to pursue something more hands-on.
He is the founder of Asher Guitars and Lap Steels in Los Angeles, a boutique instrument business he has built into one of the most respected names in the custom guitar world.
He is credited by many in the industry with helping revive popular interest in the lap steel guitar, a Hawaiian-influenced instrument that had fallen out of mainstream use.
His clients include touring professionals such as Ben Harper and Jackson Browne.
In 2021, he was certified as an authorized builder collaborating to produce instruments from the legacy of legendary guitar maker Doug Irwin.
Robert Asher and Television Production
Robert Asher, born October 5, 1965, followed his father’s professional path into television production and editing. He has worked across a range of formats over the course of his career, gravitating toward reality and lifestyle programming.
His most prominent credit is as an executive producer on the Netflix home renovation series Instant Dream Home (2022). Like his siblings, he maintains an extremely private personal life with no significant public presence outside of his professional credits.
Rebecca Asher and the Move to Directing
Rebecca Elizabeth Asher, born June 17, 1969, is the youngest of the three children and the one whose career has most closely mirrored the Hollywood world her parents built their lives around.
She began her career in film production as a script supervisor, working in that capacity on several major studio comedies including Knocked Up (2007) and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004).
She later transitioned to directing for episodic television, where she has built an extensive and impressive credit list. Her directing work includes episodes of This Is Us, The Good Place, Grace and Frankie, A Million Little Things, Atypical, and Raising Hope.
She has also directed episodes of Channel 4’s Big Mood. It is a career that would stand comfortably on its own without any connection to her mother’s name, which is perhaps exactly the point.
The Age Discrepancy That Followed Her Death
One minor but telling footnote to Montgomery’s death was the age discrepancy that emerged almost immediately afterward.
Her family and public relations representatives announced publicly that she was 57 years old, and this figure appeared in several early obituaries.
Public records, Social Security documents, and her official death certificate all confirmed she was born on April 15, 1933, making her 62 at the time of her death.
The five-year discrepancy was a reflection of a common studio-era practice in which actresses’ ages were routinely shaved to preserve their viability for leading roles.
Montgomery had lived with a publicly adjusted birth year for much of her career, and the fiction outlasted her.
It was corrected in historical records relatively quickly, but the episode served as a reminder of how thoroughly Hollywood’s age machinery had shaped even the most basic biographical facts of its stars’ lives.
Who inherited Elizabeth Montgomery’s estate?
Elizabeth Montgomery left her estate, estimated at around $20 million, to her husband Robert Foxworth and her three children with William Asher: William Asher Jr., Robert Asher, and Rebecca Asher.
What are Elizabeth Montgomery’s children doing now?
William Asher Jr. runs Asher Guitars and Lap Steels in Los Angeles, with clients including Ben Harper and Jackson Browne. Robert Asher works in television production, with credits including Netflix’s Instant Dream Home. Rebecca Asher is a television director whose credits include This Is Us and The Good Place.
How old was Elizabeth Montgomery when she died?
Elizabeth Montgomery was 62 years old when she died on May 18, 1995, though her family publicly stated she was 57 at the time of her death. Public records and her official death certificate confirm the correct age.
