SCREW THE POOCH
Fight over inheritance
A Manhattan dachshund named Winnie Pooh was left a $100,000 trust fund by her late owner — but the pup’s caretaker says the executor of the woman’s estate is withholding the honey pot.
The 7-year-old pooch’s caretaker, Virginia Hanlon, of Gramercy Park, says in a lawsuit that she was a friend and neighbor of Winnie Pooh’s owner, Patricia Bowers, an economist who died with no heirs in 2010.
Bowers named Hanlon the dog’s guardian and another pal, lawyer Harriet Harkavy, the executor of her estate.
Hanlon, who filed the suit in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court, says she has received only a few $10 checks from Harkavy for the dog’s care, even though Bowers’ will requires Harkavy to pay income from the trust on a quarterly basis.
Hanlon says her late friend would be outraged.
“I don’t think she’d be very happy about it,” she said. “That’s all she had was the dog. She didn’t have any relatives. She didn’t have children.”
Citing ASPCA guidelines, Hanlon says Winnie Pooh, who has a life expectancy of 15 years, requires $6,000 a year for routine care, walkers, feeding and medical procedures.
She had to dig into her own pocket to pay for $5,775 emergency orthopedic surgery for Winnie Pooh last year, her suit says. A reimbursement check from Harkavy bounced, the suit says.
“The unavailability of funds, however brief, causes me great concern,” Hanlon says in court papers.
A second check cleared, and Harkavy blamed the bank for the earlier snafu.
Hanlon also claims in court papers that Harkavy is trying to use the trust fund to boost her own social standing.
In 2013, Harkavy, of East 42nd Street, proposed paying Hanlon a $30,000 lump sum for Winnie Pooh and donating the fund’s remaining $70,000 to the Animal Medical Center on York Avenue.
Bowers’ will says the center should get only funds left over after the dog dies. Hanlon rejected the lump sum.
“What a coup that would have been for Ms. Harkavy. She would have been feted and lauded amongst her Sutton Place friends for advancing the payment for the sake of charity,” Hanlon snipes in court papers.
Hanlon is demanding back pay and financial documents related to the trust fund.
In a 2015 letter filed in court, Harkavy said Hanlon is misinformed.
“My dear friend Pat Bowers . . . would be aghast at your very hostile and certainly unpleasant attitude toward me,” the letter read. “I can only hope you are taking better care of her dog.”
Harkavy said Thursday that Hanlon has “gotten everything she should by law and by the terms of the trust.”