The last will of the hotel heiress, Leona Helmsley, who died last summer with an estate worth $5bn-$8bn, was like something out of a screwball comedy from the last century. It bestowed a $12m trust (later reduced to $2m by a Manhattan court) on her dog, a Maltese named Trouble. It excluded two of her grandchildren altogether. Helmsley had been stingy in life. It was alleged in a 1989 court case in which she was convicted of tax evasion that she once said: "We don't pay taxes, only the little people pay taxes."

She was capricious and vindictive in death. The two grandchildren whom her will did honour will get part of their income from $5m (€3m, £2.5m) trusts - but only so long as they visit the grave of Helmsley's son at least once a year. Otherwise, according to the will, "the principal of such trust, together with all accrued and undistributed net income, shall be disposed of as if such beneficiary had then died". What remains of the estate - virtually all of it - will go into one of the largest charitable trusts in the world. On Wednesday, though, the New York Times revealed that Helmsley had cut humanity out of her will, too. If the terms of a 2003 "mission statement" are upheld, her money will go to a charity for dogs.