Leona Helmsley (1920-2007)

Trouble in Paradise

When Leona met property developer Harry, he was already rich and already married, and she was a real estate agent. Soon she was his wife, helping him create a luxury-hotel empire.

She earned the nickname “Queen of Mean” among Helmsley hotel employees. She also did a stint in prison for mail fraud and income-tax evasion. At her trial, a witness testified that Helmsley said that ‘Only the little people pay taxes.’ Helmsley denied ever saying it, but the phrase is permanently associated with her name.

If Leona had made an ordinary will – gifts to family, to charity, to friends - she might have salvaged some of her reputation. If she had made a generous will, she might have turned the tide in her favour. Instead, she bequeathed her enormous wealth in a manner that cemented her reputation for spitefulness, stubbornness and poor judgement.

She wanted most of her fortune to go to Trouble and his kin. Trouble is a dog. Trouble is what he got.

One son, one dog, many buildings

Harry had no children, either with his first wife of more than 30 years, or with Leona. "My buildings are my children," he often said, but you can't leave property to property. Harry left everything to Leona.

She had one child, a son Jay Panzirer, from her first husband, Leo. Jay died suddenly of a heart attack in 1978, aged 40.

Leona and Panzirer divorced, after which she married Joseph Lubin, divorced him, married him again, and then divorced him again. Leona had no children with Lubin or with his successor, Harry.

Leona radically changed Harry, who led a quiet life out of the public eye for decades with his first wife. Leona was the antithesis of low profile. She starred in their hotel television advertisements, and both made news when they were robbed and beaten in a brutal robbery at their home. In 1988, she was charged with tax evasion, tried, convicted and imprisoned.

Harry faced similar charges, but he was ailing physically and mentally, and was deemed unfit to stand trial. He died in 1997, aged 87.

All’s Well that Ends Well, or Measure for Measure?

Leona’s 14-page will was accompanied by a two-page “Mission Statement” that she had written some years earlier. In its first draft, she declared that she wanted her charitable trust to help people as well as animals. Later, she removed the “people’ part of the mission.

Leona left several million dollars to two of her four grandchildren, with a condition: they had to visit their father’s grave every year.

She left nothing to her other two grandchildren “for reasons which are known to them.”

She also left several million dollars to her brother, and $100,000 to her chauffeur. She also directed that her mausoleum be washed or steam-cleaned annually, and as her mausoleum is predictably oversized, she created a multi-million-dollar trust for that purpose.

The bequest that made headlines was the creation of a $12 million trust for the care of her 8-year-old white Maltese, the presciently-named Trouble. Leona’s pampered pooch quickly discovered that wealth was a mixed blessing. In his past, Trouble had bitten someone. Now that Trouble was a canine of means, she declared, she was tempted to sue. Death threats were also made against the dog, so he had to get special protection. The security arrangements costs tens of thousands of dollars above and beyond the already considerable amounts required to keep Trouble in the manner to which he was accustomed.

The will itself was subject of a major lawsuit. Leona's “mission statement” was not – to the surprise of some lawyers - incorporated into the will or trust documents. Consequently, its power was emasculated. The charity trustees could indeed support organisations devoted to human welfare. (Princess Diana also left a similar statement with, but not incorporated into, her will.)

Trouble’s trust fund was reduced from $12 to $2 million.

The two disinherited grandchildren received $6 million each.

The legal reversals perhaps represent rough justice. Jay Panzirer, Leona’s son, died intestate. Leona was very wealthy at the time, and Mimi, her daughter-in-law, was not. But Leona - with Harry's help - sued her son's estate. In fact, they brought at least six separate suits.

They won some, lost others but Leona was in a much better financial position to absorb the cost of litigation, and she ultimately achieved her goal. They inherited most of the modest estate, impoverishing Panzirer’s widow and leaving a pittance for their grandchildren. Mimi knew that Leona despised her, but never knew why.

UPDATE - APRIL 2009 The first distributions of the Helmsley estate - 53 charitable grants totalling $136 million - have gone to hospitals and medical research. Ten animal charities will share $1 million, including the ASPCA and groups training guide dogs for the blind.

UPDATE - AUGUST 2009 Three animal charities sued to get more Helmsley money spent on dogs.