New York real estate mogul Maurice Laboz, who died earlier this year, leaving behind a reported $37 million fortune, has been posthumously dubbed “Daddy Dearest” by the tabloids. “People try to control from the grave,” says divorce lawyer Raoul Felder, who will likely represent Laboz’s daughters in trying to undo their father’s will, “but I’ve never seen it as bad as this.”

What exactly did this monster do?

According to the terms of the will, the daughters can receive three percent of the value of their trust annually if they give birth. But there is one stipulation—said children must be “born in wedlock.”

To be sure the daughters will not exactly be left in the poor house if they don’t abide by their father’s wishes, the 77-year-old tycoon left daughters, Marlena, 21, and Victoria, 17, $10 million each, which they will receive upon turning thirty-five. No strings attached.

But the indignity of having a father moralize from beyond the grave was too much for these two. And it’s been too much for the media as well.

A columnist for the UK-based Independent newspaper employs the word “creepy” to describe stipulation: “Attempting to use money to enforce a ‘no babies till you’re married’ rule is unpleasantly patriarchal,” writer Imogen Harris fumed. “It tips the story from ‘Haha, aren’t rich people weird?’ into something that smacks of fathers believing they have rights over their daughters’ reproductive organs. . . . If the harlot gets herself knocked up without a ring on her finger, that’s just too bad, apparently.”

Not only does dad think that children should be born inside marriage, he also thinks college education is useful. In another cruel attempt at ghostly manipulation, Laboz encouraged Marlena to get a good education. She will receive $750,000 if she graduates “from an accredited university” and can write an essay of “100 words or less describing what she intends to do with the funds” that trustees of the fund approve. The essay sounds a little strange, but if you’ve graduated from an accredited university, it should be a breeze.

Laboz wasn’t through tormenting his older daughter, though. If Marlena marries before turning 35, she gets a hefty check for $500,000—but only if her husband signs a sworn statement that he will not spend any of her money. Poor Marlene. This just the sort of provision can put finished to a promising romance with a charming gigolo.

After ruining their romantic lives, bad dad turned his attention to employment. Starting in five years, Marlena and Victoria will each receive from the trust an annual payout of three times the income reported on their tax forms. This presupposes that the sisters will have to work at least until they are 35. Instead of jobs, either can qualify for the early money by acting as a “caregiver” to their mother.

In an earlier day, if this story had hit the papers, Laboz would have been praised as a sensible millionaire who wanted his daughters to be upstanding citizens. What, after all, did he demand of his daughters? That they get married before having children, get an education, and get jobs. It’s child abuse from beyond the grave.