Dog gets $12 million trust fund. Nothing to grandkids

[KCChiefsMan]

Helmsley's Dog Gets $12 Million in Will
Wednesday August 29, 12:45 pm ET
Helmsley Dog Gets $12 Million, but Real Estate Billionaire Leaves Nothing to 2 Grandchildren

NEW YORK (AP) -- Leona Helmsley's dog will continue to live an opulent life, and then be buried alongside her in a mausoleum. But two of Helmsley's grandchildren got nothing from the late luxury hotelier and real estate billionaire's estate.
Helmsley left her beloved white Maltese, named Trouble, a $12 million trust fund, according to her will, which was made public Tuesday in surrogate court.

She also left millions for her brother, Alvin Rosenthal, who was named to care for Trouble in her absence, as well as two of four grandchildren from her late son Jay Panzirer -- so long as they visit their father's grave site once each calendar year.

Otherwise, she wrote, neither will get a penny of the $5 million she left for each.

Helmsley left nothing to two of Jay Panzirer's other children -- Craig and Meegan Panzirer -- for "reasons that are known to them," she wrote.

But no one made out better than Trouble, who once appeared in ads for the Helmsley Hotels, and lived up to her name by biting a housekeeper.

"I direct that when my dog, Trouble, dies, her remains shall be buried next to my remains in the Helmsley mausoleum," Helmsley wrote in her will.

The mausoleum, she ordered, must be "washed or steam-cleaned at least once a year." She left behind $3 million for the upkeep of her final resting place in Westchester County, where she is buried with her husband, Harry Helmsley.

She also left her chauffeur, Nicholas Celea, $100,000.

She ordered that cash from sales of the Helmsley's residences and belongings, reported to be worth billions, be sold and that the money be given to the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.

Her longtime spokesman, Howard Rubenstein, had no comment.

Helmsley died earlier this month at her Connecticut home. She became known as a symbol of 1980s greed and earned the nickname "the Queen of Mean" after her 1988 indictment and subsequent conviction for tax evasion. One employee had quoted her as snarling, "Only the little people pay taxes."

[ChiefsfaninPA]

Rich people (or weird people) you never can understand what goes on in their minds.

[Skip Towne]

The "Queen of Mean" is mean to the bitter end.

[crazycoffey]

I wonder who get's to take care of the dog now.

"I had to buy it a big house for us to live in....."
and
"you don't expect a dog of his status to ride around in my accord, do you?"

[kepp]

Originally Posted by KCChiefsMan

Helmsley left nothing to two of Jay Panzirer's other children -- Craig and Meegan Panzirer -- for "reasons that are known to them," she wrote.

I have a feeling that dog will make it to the family mausoleum very soon.

[noa]

Helmsley left nothing to two of Jay Panzirer's other children -- Craig and Meegan Panzirer -- for "reasons that are known to them," she wrote.

I read in another article that they were left out of the will because they didn't name any of their children after her deceased husband.

[Saulbadguy]

"reasons that are known to them,"

NO..WIRE..HANGERS.....EVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!!

[Mr Luzcious]

So what happens to the money when the dog dies?

[Eleazar]

I thought she didn't like a couple of those grandkids because they were of mixed race or something. Seems like I read that somewhere.

[Frazod]

She should have made provisions for somebody to chuck a fire extinguisher or two in the coffin with her. I think she'll have immediate need of them.

[Chief Chief]

If that brother of hers has any speck of human decency, he'll give those 2 neglected grandkids $5 million apiece and justify it by saying that the dog told him to do it.

But if he doesn't, I hope the housekeeper that Trouble bit files a multi-million dollar lawsuit against that bitch (hoping the statute of limitations hasn't expired on that incident).

[Amnorix]

First, you have no idea if the grandkids were "good" grandkids or not. No child/grandchild "deserves" a massive inheritance, IMHO. If Paris Hilton was my daughter/granddaughter, she'd have been disinherited long ago.

Second, in answer to a question -- the dog's money was put into a trust. When a trust is established, it is for the "benefit" of someone (in this case the dog), who is called the "beneficiary". When all of the beneficiaries have died, if there is money left over, then the money goes to one or more entities called "remaindermen" (because they get the "remainder" of the trust funds). Usually, with wealthy people, the remaindermen are one or more charities. Here, it's probably the big charity that is mentioned as getting most of the cash when the businesses/properties are sold.

Third, in answer to another statement, because the money is in a trust, suing the dog won't get the bitten housekeeper much or anything, because money in a trust is unreachable if the trust is done right.

So in answer to another suggestion -- killing the dog won't get anybody any richer.

Sorry to put a damper on the discussion.

[CoMoChief]

Wow, what a great family member.

[HonestChieffan]

My cat wont get a dime.

[kepp]

Because everyone was on the edge of their seats...

UPDATE

NEW YORK (AP) -- It seems trouble is following Trouble, Leona Helmsley's beloved pooch.

The late hotelier left the eight-year-old Maltese $12 million and asked her brother to see to it that her pampered canine live out her life in the lap of luxury.

But apparently that brother, Alvin Rosenthal, to whom Helmsley left $15 million and a percentage of her charitable trust, is not interested.

The New York Post, citing an unidentified source, reported Tuesday that Rosenthal, 80, expressed no interest in caring for Trouble. Whether her grandson David Panzirer, Helmsley's second choice, would step in was not known.

A message left Tuesday for an A. Rosenthal in Manhattan was not immediately returned. Someone answering the phone at Panzirer's home in Westchester said he was not home.

The dog is currently living at the Helmsley's Connecticut estate, being cared for by staffers at the 28-room mansion.

It was also Helmsley's wish that Trouble someday be interred with her at the Helmsley mausoleum at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

But that isn't to be either. The cemetery says state law forbids animal remains to be buried in human graveyards. Helmsley died last month at age 87.

An even bigger legal headache could turn out to be Trouble's huge $12 million inheritance.

Helmsley's former housekeeper claims the dog bit her numerous times during her three-month job with the hotel queen, and now she wants a bite of that money.

The housekeeper, Zamfira Sfara, 48, had sued her employer in 2004 over one of those bites, but lost the case when a judge ruled Helmsley was protected from liability under the Workers Compensation Law.

Sfara's son, Remus Pop, told The New York Times this week that his mother was asking lawyers to look at going after Trouble's inheritance.

"That is the next step," Pop told the Times. "That dog got money. That money is going to be taken away from that dog."