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Filed under: Money & work, Celeb kids, Life & style, In the newsWhen Leona Helmsley died last August, a lot of people were appalled to learn the details of her will. In it, the so-called Queen of Mean bequeathed a $12 million trust fund to her dog, Trouble, while leaving absolutely nothing to two of her grandchildren. Apparently this didn't sit well with those grandchildren, who claim that Helmsley was not of sound mind or memory when she signed that will back in 2005. A New York judge agrees and has taken it upon himself to alter the will. The Manhattan judge slashed Trouble's inheritance to a mere $2 million and directed the estate to pay the remainder to charity. As for the grand kids, 40-year-old Craig Panzirer and 37-year-old Meegan Panzirer Wesolko will now receive a total of $6 million of their late grandma's money.Now, I am of the opinion that a person should be able to do whatever they wish with their money, even if it is as ridiculous as leaving it to a dog. But the judge probably made the right call in recognizing that a 9-year-old dog would be hard pressed to spend $12 million dollars before going to that big doghouse in the sky. But altering the will to include family members who were deliberately excluded for "reasons known to them" seems wrong to me. While I can certainly see how her family members would all want a slice of that billion dollar pie, I don't see how they are entitled to receive it against her wishes.Gallery: Leona Helmsley Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Posted on Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:02:00 EST at http://www.parentdish.com/2008/06/17/leo...dkids-win/
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