An Austrian woman shredded her 950,000 euro ($1.02 million) fortune in spite because she didn't want her family to have it, AFP reports. 

According to German-language newspaper Kurier, the 85-year-old woman neatly cut the euros and some savings account books before leaving them on a nursing home bed, days before she died.

Authorities theorize she turned her fortune into the world's most expensive confetti to upset her family, though the reason why is unclear.

Prosecutors can be of only limited help to her successors.

"The damage of the money in the woman's property is not a criminal matter, so we have not begun any investigation," Austrian state prosecutor Erich Habitzl told AFP.

Luckily for the heirs, Austria's central bank (OeNB) should be able to replace the cash.

Friedrich Hammerschmidt, deputy head of the OeNB cash division, told Kurier, "If the heirs can only find shreds of money and if the origin of the money is assured, then of course it can all be replaced."

"If we didn't pay out the money then we would be punishing the wrong people," he said.