ABA Journal - Law News Now

Trusts & Estates

Leona Helmsley Left $5-$8 Billion in Trust for Stray Dogs, Other US Canines

Posted Jul 1, 2008, 06:32 pm CDT
By Martha Neil

If it holds up in court, hotel magnate Leona Helmsley has left in trust a staggering sum to help care for the nation's dogs after her death—somewhere between $5 and $8 billion.

"Even if the resulting total is at the low end of the estimate—$5 billion or so—the trust will be worth almost 10 times the combined assets of all 7,381 animal-related nonprofit groups reporting to the Internal Revenue Service in 2005," reports the New York Times.

However legal issues remain to be resolved: Helmsley's instructions are specified in a two-page mission statement for the overall trust (which will apparently be created from the bulk of her estate, after other bequests are paid), rather than in… Continue reading...

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