"Queen Of Mean" Leona Helmsley's Fortune To Go To Caring For Dogs

Sure, the hotelier and real estate magnate Leona Helmsley left $12 million in her will to her dog, Trouble. But that, it turns out, is nothing much compared with what other dogs may receive from the charitable trust of Mrs. Helmsley, who died last August.

Her instructions, specified in a two-page "mission statement," are that the entire trust, valued at $5 billion to $8 billion and amounting to virtually all her estate, be used for the care and welfare of dogs, according to two people who have seen the document and who described it on condition of anonymity.

It is by no means clear, however, that all the money will go to dogs. Another provision of the mission statement says Mrs. Helmsley's trustees may use their discretion in distributing the money, and some lawyers say the statement may not mean much anyway, given that its directions were not incorporated into Mrs. Helmsley's will or the trust documents.

"The statement is an expression of her wishes that is not necessarily legally binding," said William Josephson, a lawyer who ran the Charities Bureau in the New York State attorney general's office from 1999 to 2004.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[commonsense2]

You know - as much as I think the woman was a horrendous creature and treated people like dirt, I have to say that this is one thing she has done that doesn't bother me.

Yeah - the money could have gone to help a lot of people. But there are other foundations to help people. And people have been making a wreck of this planet. People have the options to make choices and be accountable for there actions, such as access to birth control. If there are so many needy people out there - maybe we should be thinking about that.

Where as animals have really gotten the short end of the stick. They have no voices and no say. People are the most populous specieson Earth, and we have overrun every corner of this planet.

So while Leona Helmsley was dispicable (has anyone ever seen the 60 minutes interview where she berates her employees on camera?) this is one thing she has done that doesn't bother me as much.

[mulegino]

This makes old Huey Long's expropriatary taxation look better and better all the time.
Hello! A dog is happy with a plastic or ceramic full food dish a couple times a day, a full water dish, a daily walk and a visit to the vet every now and then, and maybe a rubber ball to play with.
How in God's name can anybody, anywhere justify this terrible waste?
Then again, for the sake of consistency, how can spending a half trillion dollars a year on destructive weaponry and war be justified?
"O tempora, o mores!"

[NHIndependent]

This is a good example of why we should have a 90% estate tax for estates of over a billion dollars.

[raker]

What better way to say I Hate People than to give billions to dogs. This woman with no heart and no soul probably had no more affection for dogs than she did her grandchildren. She went out with an act of venomous aggression. What a tragic and pathetic creature. What a silly stupid twit Harry Helmsley must have been.

[adavis08]

This woman was truly crazy. She could have helped so many people it she had left her money any number of charities. It shows what a sick society we live in when a dogs life is of more value than a human beings.

[peacekitten]

it shows what a sick society we have when we think we have the right to place more value on any form of life different from our own.

it shows what a sick society we live in that turns its back on so many helpless animals that they find themselves in need of this kind of help in the first place.

it also shows how stupid we are when we don't do our homework and speak with facts. she gave MILLIONS to human causes during her lifetime. it was hardly heartless of her to provide for her true best friend and others like him, and that is what she did.

[woundedduck]

*sniffle*... and the dogs could never love her back.

[outnow]

I presume that the one on the right is the dog. I wonder if the dog is single? I'm single if you're rich. Just so long as the "death tax" isn't applied. After all, the rich capitalist pigs have billions to throw around while the poor starve. Leona married the money just as Anna Nicole Smith did - and countless others.

This case cries out for taxation. First the money never should have gone to Leona. Secondly, the maoney never should have gone to the dogs.

Leona is the poster child of a greedy old GOP.

[Midnightrain]

Everytime I see this sort of mean spirit, I'm filled with pride and thankfulness to come from the stock that I do. Thanks ancestors, thanks.

[SouthernYankeeBelle]

This women live up to her name of mean. She married money. She came from nothing. If she hated her family that much she should have left it to her grandchildren.

[peacekitten]

you are quite wrong.

she was successful in real estate in her own right before she married her husband.

she did leave some money to her grandchildren, with the stipulation that they visit their father's grave once a year. what was wrong with the grandchildren that she felt she had to do that to them in order to gain their inheritance?

and what on earth is so wrong with her desire to leave it to some of the most helpless, abused and forgotten voices on the planet?

[sa]

capitalism at its best.

.

[sparkandy]

Good for her! If I had her money, there wouldn't be a hungry, scared, homeless dog or cat in Northeastern Oklahoma. And I'd do it while I was still alive to see the results. If we can't rejoice in money being spent on the most innocent among us, we're a selfish bunch.

[peacekitten]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

you are absolutely spot on. it is amazing how something like this brings out the selfishness of people. and that's really sad.

[wmbear]

WHAT ABOUT HUNGRY, SCARED, HOMELESS PEOPLE?...

That kind of money could provide food and shelter for thousands of homeless people....

[peacekitten]

save your ire for the ones who are really the cause of your struggles.

can you imagine how much different this country would be if all the money that has been wasted "off the books" had been spent to help people instead of kill them?

this war so far has cost the taxpayers nearly a trillion dollars that isn't included in the budget boosh submits to congress each year. that is 25% of this country's ENTIRE gross national product. just think where we'd be if that kind of money were used to help the underclass in america, not to take advantage of them even further.

in the grand scheme of things, leona's fortune is pocket change compared to our national treasury, which is SUPPOSED to be used to provide for the benefit of ALL citizens.

i'd be MUCH angrier about the no-bid contracts being given out like candy with YOUR dime than i would be about a wealthy person who gave so much to the most helpless among us.

and do a little homework please. she gave MILLIONS to human causes when she was alive.

[peacekitten]

maybe if our own government, whose JOB it is to take care of the vulnerable humans in our society would quit spending money on KILLING innocent people, it could provide MUCH more food and shelter for them than leona's money ever could.

instead our government spends the sum total of her entire fortune on death and destruction in less than a single month.

save your outrage for them. and be glad someone did something kind for those who are at our mercy.

[BabsfromKS]

THANK YOU!!!

[Tator]

Good for her!!

[TurgidCaterwauling]

Note to Leona after-the-fact:
Build a school
Open a healthcare facility
Fund scholarships
Rebuild a church
Rec center to get kids off the streets
Fund a crisis center
Medical research
Fund alternate energy research

Another shameful reminder of how so many of the super-rich despise those who aren't.

[sparkandy]

It's a reminder that even the very rich may, after all, have souls. Taking care of the most innocent among us is a noble cause. See Peace Kitten's earlier post. She lays it out beautifully.

[peacekitten]

thank you for your kind words. and thank you for your kindness for animals. i wish there were more like you.

[snakesonablog]

She did it to spite her grandchildren, not out of some noble idea.

[BadCompany]

Rebuild a church?
LOL
Leona made a much better choice.

[dora_rice]

I can't blame her for letting her money go to the dogs. They treated her like a human being. I don't remember that she received any kind of kindness from the public when she had problems with the IRS. So why should she reward those leeches. Hopefully she made sure, that her money goes to her dogs, and their dogs and every dog that is man's best friend. Maybe she found some peace now. She was the apple of her husband's eye. He left her all his money, And that's all it counts.

[snakesonablog]

No, it isn't all that counts. What kind of life have you lived when not one human being who encountered you has a good thing to say about you? The woman foreclosed on her son's widow and children. She was mean spirited to her final days.

[Softnsweet]

The government is going to take if from her anyway.

[GeoLee]

Having a most wonderful little "niece" Maltese, I can almost appreicate her desire to leave her assets to her Maltese. They are truly precious loving little dogs that change lives and bring joy.

[Marichu]

It is really a very sad story insomuch that a dog was what she loved most. Maybe this was her way of thumbing her nose at society and people.

[peacekitten]

no, maybe this was her way of rewarding her TRUE best friend.

[Marichu]

That's a lot of rewarding for a dog, true best friend or not!

[GrainOSand]

Here is a perfect instance where one who is not a billionaire can have empathy for one who was. This story speaks to life in the refrigerator as opposed to in the sun. It speaks to devaluation of human life more so than it does to Ms. Hemsley's valuation of dog life. Specifically it speaks of a person who was probably around people all the time but who must have felt very much alone in the world and who did not nurture many relationships of trust in her lifetime. Her relationships seem to be commitments of contract and promised monetary reward and not commitments of love and loyalty based on respect and love. That suggests an empty life. Of course, this analysis may be off base totally, but it seems to me that if one died with that amount of cash and they had enjoyed meaningful relationships in life with other human beings, they would have better causes to which to devote their estate. The care and nurturing of the dog community is a good cause, but there are documented cases of humans around the world living in conditions unworthy of a dog. Ms. Hemsley's statement from beyond the grave is a dog is worth more than any human who may be suffering. That is an empty soul and nothing to aspire to or take as an example of excellence in existence. Rest her soul but ignore her example. Her wealth only magnifies her decrepit approach to living.

[richardgordon]

All you have to do is look at her face. It tells you what type of person she was. There's nothing profound or sad or moving about her. She might have been a success financially but she was a failure as a human being.

[GrainOSand]

Sorry, Ms. Helmsley.

Ms. Hemsley is probably related to Sherman Hemsley of George Jefferson fame.

[sib]

How about helping the rape victims in African countries such as Congo. I mean it's not just rape it's destroying the womb and bladder with guns or hot plastic. And they are kids as young as 4, 5 years old in southeast Asian countries who sell their liitle bodies to disgusting tourists. GOD does not exist.