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A judge has ruled that the multi-billion-dollar fortune that late-real estate baroness Leona Helmsley donated exclusively for the care of dogs can be used for other charitable purpose.
Trustees managing the fortune of the 87-year-old Helmsley's estate since she died in 2007 sought a surrogate court ruling to determine whether she had intended to donate her entire fortune to dog-related charities.
Manhattan Surrogate Judge Troy Webber's ruling found that the legal documents left by Helmsley allowed the trustees to "apply trust funds for such charitable purposes and in such amounts as they may, in their sole discretion, determine".
The hotel queen's will had left US$12 million to her own dog, Trouble, but a judge reduced this to US$2 million.
