Even today, almost 12 years after she died, you only have to say the words "Queen of Mean" to know we're talking about the late billionaire heiress, Leona Helmsley. She was known to the public for her excessive thriftiness and unwillingness to pay contractors, but she is also remembered for having served 19 months in prison for tax evasion. Ironically, while she was a social pariah and much vilified in the press, most people don't recall that she had a soft spot for animals. Indeed, when she died in 2007 at the age of 87, she left a $12 million trust fund to her Maltese dog named Trouble. Little did she know that Trouble's bequest would open her estate up to even more trouble. When people make unusual bequests, such as leaving millions to a pet, it can open the door for an estate to be challenged. Helmsley had four grandchildren, two of whom she intended to disinherit, while the other two each got $10 Million. The two who got nothing, Craig and Meegan Panzirer, sued the estate, claiming that Leona Helmsley was mentally unfit when she wrote her will, as evidenced by leaving $12 Million to her dog. After nearly a year, a Manhattan Surrogate Court judge agreed, ruling that Helmsley was indeed mentally unfit when she wrote her will. The judge ruled that Trouble would have to economize and live on $2 million, instead of $10 million. For the three remaining years of her life, Trouble had to subsist on a $100,000 per year full-time security detail, a $666 per month grooming stipend, and $100 per month for food... https://www.hackardlaw.com/leona-helmsley-the-queen-of-means-multibillion-estate/