Helmsley's will confirms bitch from hell status

The BBQ Pit
41

I’m wondering if she set up trusts for her other grandkids while alive. Otherwise they’re certain to sue.

Most really rich people who wish to piss off a relative use a clause (I can’t find the right spelling, but something like in terrerrum) which disinherits anybody who challenges the will. The trick to this is that you have to leave them jjjjuuuusssstttt enough (like the Louie DePalma figuring out the amount to put on a blank check scene from Taxi) that they’ll think “all that and this is all I got?” but at the same time “hmm… better this than nothing…”, so for example from a multibillion dollar estate if you’re willed $500,000- that’s nothing compared to what you could have gotten, but at the same point contesting the will would take that away, and the suit could go on for years and years, and the estate’s got plenty of money to pay lawyers, and it could ultimately go against you and you’d be out the $500k as well as a fortune in legal bills. However, if you’re disinherited already, you don’t have anything to lose (as long as you get a lawyer on contingency) by suing the estate. I’m surprised she didn’t do that.

Jackie Onassis left nothing of her immense estate to her sister with a claim that she’d “provided for her in life” (which she had- not that a sister really has a claim on an estate when there are children of the deceased). I’m wondering if Leona is the same.

Natalie Schafer, bka Mrs. Howell from Gilligan’s Island, left her considerable estate (from real estate investments in her pre GI days) mostly to her poodles. I think Dawn Wells (Mary Ann), to whom she was very close long after the show, inherited a chunk upon the dog’s deaths.

One of the heiresses to the Quaker State fortune left tens of millions of dollars to her dogs with the stipulation that upon the death of her last canine heir the money go to the Auburn University school of veterinary medicine. One of the first acts of the estate’s executors was to make sure that all of the dogs (most of whom were rescues) were spayed or neutered to make sure they didn’t have heirs as it actually could conceivably have caused problems if one of the dog’s produced “heirs” (probably not, but why take chances). By the time the last dog died (they lived in their own private kennel that’s now part of the university’s vet program) the university received about $50 million (though sadly in recent years they’ve really slipped- they used to be one of the best vet programs in the nation [main rival was actually Tuskegee less than 20 miles away] but even with the vast cash infustion they were in danger of losing their accreditation during the 90s for some reason).

42

[QUOTE=LouisB]
What in the hell does this mean? Who should have control over these vast sums?
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A shadowy cabal of socialists, of course. Arguably an improvement over Leona.

43

[QUOTE=Liberal]
Yeah. It would be better if wealth were seized by Marxist windbags to finance their Cultural Revolutions. Then we wouldn’t have to listen to dissenting opinions all the time.
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If only you were capable of listening.

44

[QUOTE=Shayna]
She was supposedly quite well-to-do, and I can pretty much guarantee that both of her children (my father and his sister), and all her other grandchildren were included in her will somehow. I never even inquired about it, as I had no interest in one thing that bitch had, and no desire to profit from her death.
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I don’t think that it works that way. You can certainly refuse a bequest but the executer of the estate, or the State if there isn’t one, has to inform the heirs. If you were left something, you would have known about it.

45

[QUOTE=Evil Captor]
If only you were capable of listening.
[/QUOTE]

If only you were capable of expressing a rational thought.

46

[QUOTE=hajario]
I don’t think that it works that way. You can certainly refuse a bequest but the executer of the estate, or the State if there isn’t one, has to inform the heirs. If you were left something, you would have known about it.
[/QUOTE]
I have no idea what you mean by “I don’t think it works that way.” I’m quite sure, like the 2 Helmsley grandchildren in question, that I was NOT left anything. And I didn’t care! I didn’t want anything from that hateful bitch, so the obvious exclusion was meaningless to me.

Perhaps the Helmsley grandchildren feel likewise about their exclusion, as well, is the point I was trying to make. Not everyone wants an inheritance, in spite of the potential value of it (and I’m told the value of my father’s mother’s estate was substantial, though obviously nowhere near Helmsley’s).

47

[QUOTE=friedo]
If only you were capable of expressing a rational thought.
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I only you were capable of a non non sequiter.

48

[QUOTE=Shayna]
I have no idea what you mean by “I don’t think it works that way.” I’m quite sure, like the 2 Helmsley grandchildren in question, that I was NOT left anything. And I didn’t care! I didn’t want anything from that hateful bitch, so the obvious exclusion was meaningless to me.
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My apologies. I misread your post. I thought that you had said that you were probably left something. Obviously they won’t inform you if you were excluded.

49

To answer the questions posed with more seriousness than they deserve, I don’t have to have a specific progam in my back pocket to observe the absurdity of Leona Helmsley’s dog inheriting $12 million. It is up to you who think that a system that regularly produces crap like this is the best of all possible systems to defend it. Good luck with that.

50

[QUOTE=Evil Captor]
It is up to you who think that a system that regularly produces crap like this is the best of all possible systems to defend it. Good luck with that.
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Regularly? What percentage of all wills in capitalist society contain crap like that? One in five million maybe?

51

[QUOTE=hajario]
Regularly? What percentage of all wills in capitalist society contain crap like that? One in five million maybe?
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Something fully as absurd as a dog inheriting 12 million? Very few, I imagine. But giving kids hundreds of millions of dollars just because they got the right DNA is just as absurd when you think about it.

52

[QUOTE=BiblioCat]
I thought putting conditions on an inheritance wasn’t allowed. You either give someone the money or not - none of this, “You can have $5 million but only if you…”
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…spend the night in a haunted house.

Surely that’s legit, right? TV can’t possibly have misled me all these years!

53

[QUOTE=Evil Captor]
Something fully as absurd as a dog inheriting 12 million? Very few, I imagine. But giving kids hundreds of millions of dollars just because they got the right DNA is just as absurd when you think about it.
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Maybe but that’s not what Leona did. Most of hers went to charity. Gates and Buffet apparently have similar provisions. What percentage of wills in Capitalist societies involve offspring getting hundreds of millions of dollars? One in two million?

54

Count me as being in the “it’s her money” camp. The vast majority went to charity. That’s commendable. A couple of grandkids scored very nicely. If 5 million bucks is a “slap in the face,” than feel free to bitchslap me all day long (I think I’d manage to make that drive out to the cemetary once a year too).

A couple of grandkids got cut out, but it’s not like being someone’s grandkid automatically entitles you to any of their money, and for all we know, those kids are total asswipes who are getting their just desserts. Even if (as in Hajario’s scenario) they just got cut out because of their angelic moral standards (yeah, I’m sure that was it :rolleyes: ), that still doesn’t mean they’ve been victimized in any way. Nothing was taken away from them. They just didn’t get awarded a gift which they had never done anything to earn. Who cares? If there’s a lesson to be had, it’s this: If you have a rich relative and you want to stay in their will, don’t piss them off. Whether you’re right or wrong is neither here nor there. If your grandfather is billionaire frozen dinner tycoon who also happens to be the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, then you are free to excoriate his racist asholery all you want, or to cut off all contact with him or to trash him in the papers, and there’s nothing wrong with any of that and you’d perfectly morally justified. Just don’t be surprised when you get skunked in the will.

I think the chauffer did just fine too. If my boss left me a 100 grand, I’d be ecstatic.

The 12 million dollars to the dog – eh – big deal. It made her feel good, and it’s still a pittance compared to what she gave to charity.

If she had left those billions all to her grandkids instead of to charity, would she NOT be a bitch? I’m not understanding why choosing charity over (probably undeserving, asshole) grandkids is considered to be a bitch move.

55

And lets be honest: of the pet owners here- if you won the PowerBall, who doesn’t have relatives that they’d leave a distant behind their dog in the lottery? I’d leave my siblings each a pack of Wrigley’s Spearmint just so they’d have to come hear the will read, but the other $850 million will be to hire day laborers to throw balls all day long and replace the carpet every 3 days.

56

[QUOTE=Shayna]
I have no idea what you mean by “I don’t think it works that way.” I’m quite sure, like the 2 Helmsley grandchildren in question, that I was NOT left anything.
[/QUOTE]
I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Cheesesteak seems to think you’re getting a cigarette lighter. I’m not sure why he’d be in position to know, but maybe he’s the executor.

57

You would think a multi-billion dollar charitable trust fund would have a website. Nope, apprently not Leona’s.

I must admit to a lot of curiosity about what they do. All I can figure is that it’s a case of “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

58

[QUOTE=Evil Captor]
To answer the questions posed with more seriousness than they deserve, I don’t have to have a specific progam in my back pocket to observe the absurdity of Leona Helmsley’s dog inheriting $12 million. It is up to you who think that a system that regularly produces crap like this is the best of all possible systems to defend it. Good luck with that.
[/QUOTE]
If you’re that jealous of the dog, just line up to get your share. Present yourself as a high-brow groomer or something. Open a pet store. Build dog palaces. Use your head for something besides fuming over the good fortune of others.

59

[QUOTE=Sampiro]
And lets be honest: of the pet owners here- if you won the PowerBall, who doesn’t have relatives that they’d leave a distant behind their dog in the lottery?
[/QUOTE]

Tho we are dealing with fantasy, I can more imagine a clause along the lines of “I am leaving $x to relative y, if they agree to care for my dog until she dies.”

At least LH didn’t leave her “Fortune” to some bus driver!

60

[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
Count me as being in the “it’s her money” camp. The vast majority went to charity. That’s commendable. A couple of grandkids scored very nicely. If 5 million bucks is a “slap in the face,” than feel free to bitchslap me all day long (I think I’d manage to make that drive out to the cemetary once a year too).

A couple of grandkids got cut out, but it’s not like being someone’s grandkid automatically entitles you to any of their money, and for all we know, those kids are total asswipes who are getting their just desserts. Even if (as in Hajario’s scenario) they just got cut out because of their angelic moral standards (yeah, I’m sure that was it :rolleyes: ), that still doesn’t mean they’ve been victimized in any way. Nothing was taken away from them. They just didn’t get awarded a gift which they had never done anything to earn. Who cares? If there’s a lesson to be had, it’s this: If you have a rich relative and you want to stay in their will, don’t piss them off. Whether you’re right or wrong is neither here nor there. If your grandfather is billionaire frozen dinner tycoon who also happens to be the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, then you are free to excoriate his racist asholery all you want, or to cut off all contact with him or to trash him in the papers, and there’s nothing wrong with any of that and you’d perfectly morally justified. Just don’t be surprised when you get skunked in the will.

I think the chauffer did just fine too. If my boss left me a 100 grand, I’d be ecstatic.

The 12 million dollars to the dog – eh – big deal. It made her feel good, and it’s still a pittance compared to what she gave to charity.

If she had left those billions all to her grandkids instead of to charity, would she NOT be a bitch? I’m not understanding why choosing charity over (probably undeserving, asshole) grandkids is considered to be a bitch move.
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I guess I’m just old-fashioned. I have the notion in my mind that generally people ought to provide for their families to the extent that they can, whether they are good or bad, deserving or not, before providing for pets (let alone furnishing their own tomb); and even before giving to charity - though obviously the latter is far better than the former.

Now, this does not imply that the grandkids have some moral right to get money; I agree that they haven’t been “victimized”. Nor does it imply by any means that one should give all one’s money to one’s family. But to prefer a dog and your tomb over your own family strikes me as quite wrong. Such a judgment is a commentary on the choices made by the testatrix, not on the entitlements of those familiy members.

It is the same in any essentially gift-giving occasion. If I give a million-dollar gift to my dog at Christmas, spent a million on gifts for myself and gave ten million to charity, and gave a $5 gift to my grandson, the grandson has no legitimate rights to complain, as he’s not entitled to anything at all; but nonetheless it is a hurtful gesture, and it is this intentional infliction of hurt, this pettiness, which I would think was pretty bitchy. It is bad enough at Christmas or a birthday, but truly bad from, as it were, beyond the grave, as on the latter occasion it is the last word - there is no possiblity of foregiveness or repair.

I realize many if not most here will not agree.