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Leona Helmsley sure loves Trouble. Trouble, her dog, that is. How much did Helmsley, the hotelier who was known by some as the "Queen of Mean" and passed away last week, love her pooch? Enough to leave the white Maltese $12 million in her will, more than she left four of her grandchildren. In addition to the $12 million trust, when Trouble dies, she'll be buried next to her former owner in the family mausoleum. The dog appeared in ads for the Helmsley Hotels and was usually seen by Helmsley's side in her later years.
Some of the other recipients of monies from the estate include: $10 million for her brother Alvin Rosenthal (who is also caring for the dog); $100,000 for her chauffeur; $5 million for two of her grandchildren provided they visit her late son's grave once a year; $0 for her other two grandchildren "for reasons which are known to them." Clearly, Trouble made out pretty well. She also left $3 million for the upkeep of the family mausoleum where she and her late husband Harry are buried. The rest of Helmsley's assets, including residences and belongings, are to be sold with proceeds given to the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. That figure is reportedly in the billions of dollars.
The Daily News has a nice sidebar of other people like tobacco heiress Dorris Duke, Dusty Springfield, Mrs. Howell on "Gilligan's Island," and supposedly Oprah Winfrey, who have left money for their pets.
What now for Trouble? Will she get a dog posse and blow the millions on dog treats and doggie gigolos? And who will Trouble leave the rest of her money to when she's gone? Surely she doesn't have any children to pass along her assets to.
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If I had $12 million to give, I'd give it to my dogs too.
Maybe that's a sad statement on society today, but my family doesn't deserve a dime.
My goodness, she has a face only a cute little doggie can love unconditionally...
A real shame. If she were my grammy, she would be the bestest, most beautifulest nana in the whole wide world...!
BTW before the pedants come along, that should be "nanna"..
I don't care about pendants, I'm only concerned that the dog doesn't end up as the grand prize at some Chinese food festival.
The dog should be euthanized for chomping on human flesh. Either that or put the little bitch in Leona's casket, seal it, and let them both live together for eternity.
Hey Leona, have you ever heard of a charitable organization? If there is a hell, I hope you're there.
$12 Million dollars would send a lot of inner city kids to college.
It would also fund the creation of a children's library or after-school center in East New York or Newark, or somewhere that needs it.
It would buy a lot of books for children that have none at home.
It would buy a lot of school supplies for kids in NYC that don't have backpacks.
It would be enough to support a lot of foster kids as they transition out of foster care at age 18 with no family or support.
Just a thought!
#6: hate to burst your elitist bubble, but FTA:
"The will orders that Helmsley's jewelry, art, cars and other valuable property be sold off, with the proceeds - totaling billions - going to unnamed causes through the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust."
$0 for her other two grandchildren "for reasons which are known to them."
hahaha!
Wills leaving proceeds to an animal should be declared null and void.
#8 - So what? A single dog that's well cared for doesn't need $12,000,000 - however, an animal shelter somewhere could help a lot of animals that have been mistreated or dumped. And forget about animals, it could have gone to help a lot of people.
Sure, she's giving a lot - billions, and that's amazing, but there's $12,000,000 that's going NOWHERE except out some dogs ass.
I hope the dog chokes and dies from eating anti-freeze ladened hot dogs.
then sold to a chinese restaurant.
or, given to a bored ADD diagnosed suburban kid on the fourth of July so he can shove a firecracker up it's butt.
The lady left billions to charity and almost all the coverage on this is about what she left to her dog - WTF? I think it is great that she left relatively little to her human heirs and almost all of her money to charity. The last thing this world needs is a another Kennedy clan.
Of course leaving a dog 12M USD is excessive, but I'm willing to bet all the money in my pockets that it's what Leona would have spent on the dog for the rest of its life had she lived. So while it's excessive, hey, at least it's honest.
I know you are able to stipulate in a will that an animal be cared for, but can you actually leave a dog $12,000,000?
Is a dog a legal entity? Will the dog have to pay taxes on that money? Will they give it a temporary taxpayer ID?
I hope this dog desides to buy some property or a small company, it would be pretty sweet to have a dog as a boss or a landlord.
God damn rich cunt!
I wonder if the chauffeur feels screwed. Sure, it's $100,000 he didn't have before (before the IRS takes their pick), but I wonder how long he had that gig and just how closely he worked with Helmsley.
for some reason i don't think she left the billions of dollars to charity out of the kindness of her heart. she did it more out of contempt for her family and for legal/business reasons. also, why leave the driver $100,000 and a dog $12,000,000? a dog deserves 12 mil and a person gets a fraction of that? does the dog have a family to take care of, kids to put through college, possible health problems to deal with later on in life? can you imagine how the driver feels? after taxes he has like $60,000 while a stupid little dog still has millions.
Oprah reported left big bucks to her dog. Wait--Oprah's died?
That is not a dog, it is some sort of mop.
She also left her Fortune to her kindly bus driver.
I'm not a lawyer but I assume the dog doesn't need a tax ID number. The money is surely in a trust and trusts get their own tax ID numbers with which the trustee will file a tax return. the trust will pay any taxes on its earnings out of its own money.
The question is what happens to the trust when the dog dies. Presumably there is a provision in the will for any remaining money to revert back to the Helmley estate which means it will likely end up in the charitable trust.
#17, I don't think the IRS taxes inheritances. They tax estates. There is a huge difference. The IRS only comes after the heirs if the estate fails to pay its taxes and all of the money had been disbursed to the heirs.
Stupid in life, stupid in death.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. She left the bulk of her estate to charity. Regardless of her reasons (spite or philanthropy), it's a good deed.
WHAT
Goddamn Rich Vos.
If you guys want to help people but don't have $12 million dollars to give to your dog, I highly recommend orphan.org - help some foster kids!
JRod, she left the bulk of her estate to a charitable trust. That may or may not be a good deed depending on which organizations the trust directs money to.
How does an animal have money, exactly? Surely it is in some sort of fund until the dog dies and then it will go to a human. It doesn't mean that the dog will be at Tiffany's buying diamond collars. It's just a sort of statement, like my dog is worth more than my family.
This only continues to prove my theory that New Yorkers who own dogs are just plain batsh*t crazy.
I see my post was deleted, listen I have nothing against dogs or animals. It's the crazy dog owners.
I've never met a dog or cat who didn't like me. NEVER.
Humans, however are another story. I've met some offsprings who had an aversion to me.
Its shit like this that makes me feel Pro Choice is the way to go.
I am glad that her doggy is going to be taken care of. I worry about the same thing when I die one day. Who will take care of my pups? I don't have her billions.... It really sucks.
Some of us feel that our pets are our extended family... and they are!!
Haha! So Leona gets the last laugh. Good for her! It's her cash, she can leave it to anyone or anything she wants. You Go, Leona!
BTW, that's the best headline in the history of front pages.
CANINE'S QUEEN
Rail on, you mangy cynics,
Imagining you're above her;
She was right to reward her poochie,
Her only friend--and lover.
It's her money. She can do whatever she wants with it. That's the beauty of America.
$0 for her other two grandchildren "for reasons which are known to them."
Actually that phrase is a legal ploy to make a will incontestable. If you disinherit someone and give the reason they can legitimately go to court and try to prove that the reason given was not true. The phrase "reasons which are known to them" is vague and can't really be contested.
Hey, see what would happen if you won the Mega Millions - you'd be paranoid and cynical too , what with all the sycophants and sleazebags suddenly appearing out of the woodwork. As twisted as it may seem initially, it is only just in the grand scheme of things to reward those who provided the most joy and unconditional heart, especially in your waning years...
OMG a post regarding animal "defamation" was actually censored..?
Her dog just married my dog this morning!!!!!
Wow ! That's all I can really say . Posted by; "Still Not Amused"