 Burns ' Heir  is the eighteenth episode of The Simpsons ' fifth season . It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 14 , 1994 . In the episode , Mr. Burns have a near @-@ death experience which prompt him to find an heir to inherit his wealth after he die . Although Bart is initially rejected , Burns soon decide to choose him after seeing him as " a creature of pure malevolence " . Marge convince Bart to go spend some time with Burns , and soon become more disruptive than normal to his own family and decide to go live with Mr. Burns .