But a defence lawyer said in court papers filed on Monday that Peter Madoff would be left penniless, and a "jobless pariah", adding that his client was remorseful after he learned of his brother's crimes in December 2008.

BBC: Peter Madoff sentenced to 10 years in prison

In Africa and South Asia, discriminatory inheritance customs mean that when a husband dies, his family may grab the property, leaving his widow, who may be infected, penniless as well.

ECONOMIST: Women and HIV

You'll still be well short of 50 and not exactly penniless.

FORBES: Dow Jones Interactive

And since there were one-family houses selling in Union for a Depression low of a few thousand dollars, he would be able to realize an ambition he had nurtured growing up penniless in a Newark tenement flat: to become an American homeowner.

NPR: Roth Rewrites History with a 'Plot Against America'

From my immigrant grandparents who came to this country penniless and without a word of English, I learned what a privilege it is to be an American.

FORBES: Passing It On