OHMIDOG! : Bequest besmirched: Leona and dogs snubbed

I don’t begin to understand the intricacies of estate law, or the intricacies of Leona Helmsley — but I do believe this: a person, even if they are certifiably insane, deserves to have their last request honored.
With the distribution of the first $136 million from*Helmsley’s*multibillion-dollar estate, its trustees have shown — like judges before them — they don’t give a squat*about Helmsley’s wishes, or the nation’s dogs.
The bulk of the money went to medical centers; only $1*million of the estate was donated to the care of dogs, which*Helmsley had designated as*primary beneficiary of her $5 billion.
“This is a trifling and embarrassingly small amount,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States. “Mrs. Helmsley’s wishes are clearly being subverted.”
Pacelle added, “We are extremely disappointed that less than 1 percent of the allocation announced is going to animal-related organizations, and only one-tenth of 1 percent is going to animal welfare organizations …*We are in touch with the interested parties and are hoping to have a satisfactory resolution — a much larger percentage than 1 percent.”
After*Helmsley’s 2007 death, it was revealed that she had drafted a*statement four years earlier listing poor people and*dogs as the causes to which she wanted her money donated. She crossed out the poor a year later. In February, though, a Manhattan judge ruled that the trustees had sole discretion in disbursing her assets and that the entire estate did not have to go to the dogs.
Helmsley also left $12 million to her*Maltese, Trouble, but a*judge reduced Trouble’s trust fund to $2 million; and the dog’s security costs the estate $100,000 a year, while negotiating a $6 million settlement with two of Mrs. Helmsley’s grandchildren who were*left out of her will.
Tuesday’s grants went to a*digestive diseases center at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, ($40 million) and Mount Sinai Medical Center ($35 million). The Mount Sinai money is to be used*to create a*center to study the electrical properties of cells and tissues and to establish a Helmsley Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center, according to the New York Times.*The $1 million for animal*welfare was divided among 10 charities, including the ASPCA and Guide Dogs for the Blind.
I’m not sure even the honor of having a “bowel disease center” named after her will make up for the total ignoring of her wishes. The trustees have shown that they are not to be trusted — at least when it comes to doling out the dough in a manner that comes anywhere close to what she wanted.
A person’s last wishes — if they’re not harming anyone — should be carried out, doggone it, even if they’re stark raving mad.


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