Leona Helmsley's Dog Loses $10 Million

Late N.Y. Hotel Queen Bequeathed $12M To Her Pet Pooch, But Judge Says $2M Is Enough

(CBS/ AP)  Leona Helmsley's dog isn't quite as well-heeled as she used to be.

Manhattan Surrogate Judge Renee Roth has reduced the trust fund for the little dog, named "Trouble," from $12 million to $2 million.

The remaining $10 million now goes to Helmsley's charitable foundation.

The 9-year-old Maltese lives in Florida with Carl Lekic, the general manager of the Helmsley Sandcastle Hotel. Helmsley died last August.

The New York Post, which first reported the story, said Lekic put Trouble's annual cost at $190,000. That figure includes Lekic's $60,000 guardian fee, $100,000 for security, $8,000 for grooming, $3,000 for miscellaneous expenses, $1,200 for food and 2,500 to $18,000 for medical care.

The Post also that Judge Roth also gave $6 million to Helmsely's two disinherited grandchildren.

Roth's decision was made April 30, but only became public on Monday.

[turtle0114]

I believe if you leave a will that should be it....This is what you wanted, no judge or anyone else should have the right to change your wishes...it was her money she did with it what she wanted...so be it

[poorbenjamin]

DemocRats love to hate America. Whathappenedtomycountry.US

[jasonmpp]

Most of the $12mil would have gone to humans like caretakers, groomers, security, lawyers, etc. The dog wouldn''t have gotten much materially anyway (what does it materially receive beside food?)

It''s not like the dog had a choice on how to spend money for its own good like owning a yacht or something.

[ubrew12]

erichsh said: "ubrew12, take your Republican class warfare garbage and stuff it....you might find it within you to acknowledge that she donated over 40 times that much, or over 99% of her total estate, to charity. "

Well put. I didn''t know that. Still, you''re defending the rights of a dog to get $12 million, instead of $2 million. If that''s where your God-fearing Republican values have led you, then I''ll stay a heathen for now. Helmsley, in classic fashion, was saying to her own kin: "you mean less to me than a dog" A psychiatrist would say she felt this way out of a profound sense of self-hatred that she classically projected onto her own ''genes'' rather than her person.

And, writ large, this also explains how Republicans over 30 years have used their control of our national budget to gift over $9 trillion in debt to generations of Americans that weren''t even born when those debts were being built. There''s a profound sense of Republican self-hatred here in America, and its projected onto the young, for the crime of being young and the further crime of being alive.

[ubrew12]

rational_1 said: "Well said! "

Yeah! Way to speak up for the canines among us!

[rational_1]

"If there''''''''s a problem with this society today, its all the rights people like you want to give to people who are no longer people. I''''''''m sorry she''''''''s dead, honestly I am. But, being dead, she doesn''''''''t get a vote on how her money should be invested/managed for the future of a society composed of living people."
----------
To all the people that think this way, don''''t bother making a will. We''''ve already decided what we''''re going to do with your house after you are gone. Your kids can''''t have it because we''''ve decided there are better things to do with it. Also, your pension survivor''''s benefits should go toward the national debt and maybe help veterans. Forget the college fund if you die early, we know it is better spent supporting 100 people in Darfur than to send your kids to college after you die.
Posted by payasyougo at 08:53 AM : Jun 17, 2008

Well said!

[payasyougo]

"If there''''s a problem with this society today, its all the rights people like you want to give to people who are no longer people. I''''m sorry she''''s dead, honestly I am. But, being dead, she doesn''''t get a vote on how her money should be invested/managed for the future of a society composed of living people."
----------
To all the people that think this way, don''t bother making a will. We''ve already decided what we''re going to do with your house after you are gone. Your kids can''t have it because we''ve decided there are better things to do with it. Also, your pension survivor''s benefits should go toward the national debt and maybe help veterans. Forget the college fund if you die early, we know it is better spent supporting 100 people in Darfur than to send your kids to college after you die.

[sassalin]

ubrew12,

You forgot a few presidents, CLINTON, in you blame game. You can''t blame a few for what the many created.

[erichsh]

I''ll fix my own math error for usjpn4u''s and ubrew12''s benefit. She actually left 400 times as much money to charity as to her dog, not 40 times.

So for usjpn4u''s benefit, if $10 million can help 200,000 people, then I guess Helmsley''s actual donation will help 80 milllion people.

Those damm, cold-hearted Republicans.

[erichsh]

ubrew12, take your Republican class warfare garbage and stuff it. **** and moan all you want over the .25% of her will that she left to her dog, but you might find it within you to acknowledge that she donated over 40 times that much, or over 99% of her total estate, to charity. That''s $4 billion to help LIVING PEOPLE, in case you can''t do the math. How about those Republican values?

[mhusain1]

never saw a b|tch holding a b|tch

[mhusain1]

never saw a *** holding a *** before

[ubrew12]

I believe future generations will cite this case, among others, as examples of just how completely ethically out of wack American society was from 1980 to 2010.

As for Ms. Helmsleys ''rights'', I hasten to point out she''s been denied the right to LIFE, which precedes all others. Her right to be an idiot with her money is therefore moot. Yet her many defenders seem to be more dead than she is.

It''s classic Republican values, of course, to care more about the dead than the living. After 30 years of the preeminence of such thought, our $10 trillion Reagan/Bush debt, rampant outsourcing, the dollars slide, and the housing recession all point to one inescapable conclusion: the dead don''t seem to be ''giving back'' with the same generosity!

I don''t know at what point one should give up the whole supply-side, money-grubbing emphasis of Republican popular mythology, but when you find yourself giving $12 million to a DOG, its safe to say you passed it some time ago.

[jesterbelle]

Leona Helmsleys'' dog loses 10mil?What in the hell was the silly mutt doing carrying that kind of cash around anyway?It''s like I always tell my cat,never carry more than a hundred on you.

[oneworldusa]

OK, we all kinda know Leona was a bit nutty. However, you have the right to leave your assets to anyone you wish, including your dog, or your parakeet, etc.

One has every legal right to disinherit anyone they wish for any reason they wish. Although the ''guardian fee'' of 60k is a bit much, and security at 100k, she had every right to leave what she wanted to to that dog, even if it does seem outlandish.

Apparently the grandchildren filed claim to the estate, and the only way the court should have overturned her wishes was to PROVE she was insane at the time of her last will. The story is missing this information as to why/how the judge overturned the intent of the will, and notice, it was done in April and only made public recently.

That little dog needs to have an appeal.

[honestabe8]

Lost $10 Million? Must have been a "ruff" day

[usjpn4u]

I agree with ubrew 12 "There are people in Africa or India who will die for lack of the things money can buy.

If we''''re talking about $10 million, I would guess the number is about 200,000 people. In the face of 200,000 people who are going to die, giving your money to a dog is a slap in the faces of humans everywhere. And people like ElaineRenoir who think otherwise should spend a week in the shoes of the poverty-stricken in places like Africa.

I thought Helmsley was a nut-case BEFORE this. But this is just criminal. That''''s the only word that fits this. "

[samthetvcat]

Never let it be said that the court system has ''gone to the dogs'' after this!

[shanev137]

Perfect definition of mixed-emotions....like watching your mother-in-law back off a cliff in your new Mercedes. On one hand I''m glad her and her dog got screwed over. On the other hand, I hope the courts don''t do the same thing to people who aren''t like her. Hopefully it was just some personal vendetta because she was such a bee-yotch and it was a rare event that won''t be repeated by the courts.

[sociald63]

for a half a mil - i''ll sniff her ... arf-arf !!