LAST WILL MADE DOG A MILLIONAIRE

Leona Helmsley, known to many as "Queen of Mean" is a Hotel owner and a Real Estate Investor with holdings that includes Empire State building. She and her husband owned more than two-dozen hotels in 10 states, which includes the Helmsley hotel, the Park Lane, and the Palace.She was best known for her sharp tongue and impatience with humanity. But even though she is tough and mean in nature, she also has a soft spot in her heart, described by her close friends as one of the most generous women in the world, quietly giving away close to $100 million to the needy over the years.

It was stated in various newspaper articles that she was convicted of tax evasion in 1989. It was a well-publicized tax scandal. She was declared unfit to stand trial because of illness, but was found guilty of evading $1.2 million in federal income taxes. During her trial, an employee testified that Mrs. Helmsley had once told her that "Only the little people pay taxes." In 1989, she was sentenced to four years in prison and fined $7.1 million for tax fraud. In the last years of her life, Mrs. Helmsley, still immensely wealthy, worked on rebuilding her reputation. She contributed $5 million to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and $5 million to help the families of firefighters after 9/11, among many other causes.

She died of Heart failure on August 20, 2007 at the age of 87. Her death was a headliner due to her unusual Last Will of Testament.

The 14-page document leaves the bulk of her $4 billion fortune to the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. She had donated $35 million to charities in recent years.

Mrs. Helmsley left $12 million to a trust for the care of her beloved 8-year-old white Maltese, Trouble. The dog was left to her brother, Alvin Rosenthal.

A larger amount of money from the charitable trust of Mrs. Helmsley will go to the care and welfare of other dogs. According to two people who have seen the document, a two-page “mission statement" revealed an instruction of 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.

Trusts of $10 million was left to benefit her brother and trusts $5 million each to benefit her grandsons David and Walter Panzire who must visit their father’s grave (Jay Panzirer, her only child, who died on March 31, 1982) each year to get the fortune. Failure to visit the grave during any calendar year shall terminate the benefit at the end of such calendar year,”.

She also left $5 million to each of them outright, and $100,000 to her chauffeur, Nicholas Celea.

Mrs. Helmsley specifically excluded two grandchildren. The will states, “I have not made any provisions in this Will for my grandson CRAIG PANZIRER or my granddaughter MEEGAN PANZIRER for reasons which are known to them.”

Mrs. Helmsley, who was buried in her family’s mausoleum at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, specified that the mausoleum be “acid washed or steam cleaned at least once a year.”

The will states, “I also direct that anything bearing the HELMSLEY name must be maintained in ‘mint’ condition and in the manner that it has been accustomed to, maintaining the outstanding Helmsley reputation.”