A New York
judge agreed to slash $10 million (£5.1m) off the $12 million inheritance given
by real estate billionaire Leona Helmsley to her beloved dog, Trouble. However,
the Malteze still should be able to live a life of luxury.
Trouble’s inheritance was cut from $12 million to $2 million on grounds that
Helmsley was mentally unfit when she made her will. The ruling was made on
April 30 and became public on Monday, BBC News reports.
The settlement awarded Helmsley’s two grandchildren, Craig Panzirer and
Meegan Panzirer Wesolko, $6 million. They had been cut out of her will “for reasons
which are known to them,” the document said, according to Reuters.
Helmsley, who was known as “the Queen of Mean” due to the way she treated
her employees, had a soft spot for the 9-year-old white Maltese. A clause in
her will called for Trouble to eventually be buried next to her in the Helmsley
mausoleum.
Helmsley died in August at age 87. She had amassed a fortune in real estate
and hotels with her husband, Harry Helmsley, who died in 1997. Famed for
observing that “only the little people pay taxes,” Helmsley was jailed for 18
months for evading $1.7 million in taxes in 1989.
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