Hotelier Leona Helmsley’s dog, to whom she left $12 million, has died.
The estate just announced today that Helmsley’s 12-year-old Maltese, Trouble, had passed, though the passing itself came in December. The pampered pooch had been living out the winter of life in Florida, in line with American tradition, before finally meeting its maker at the ripe old age of 84 dog-years.
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Though Helmsley, who died of heart failure at the age of 87 in 2007, originally left Trouble $12 million, a judge reduced this amount to $2 million, based on the needs of the dog’s caretaker. These included grooming, food, the caretaker’s fee and full-time protection, given that the prosperous pup had received many kidnapping and death threats.
Trouble was cremated, but due to cemetery rules could not be buried with the so-called “Queen of Mean,” a nickname playing on Helmsley’s self-ascribed title of “queen” and backlash from tax-evasion scandal. This was against Helmsley’s wishes, who wanted Trouble to have a space in her family’s 1,300-square-foot Westchester mausoleum—but as they say, nothing is certain, except for death and taxes. (via NY Daily News)
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