Treated like members of the family, pets are increasingly included in their owners’ wills – often much to the dismay of human relatives who find themselves snubbed in favour of the deceased’s four-legged best friend. Recently, heiress Gail Posner left a $3 million trust fund and her $8.3 million Miami Beach mansion to her three dogs, Conchita, April Maria and Lucia. She also left $27 million to her maids, bodyguards and personal trainer. While her only son was left a measly $1 million.
Not happy with this unfair will, her son Bret Carr has launched a legal bid to have her last wishes annulled. He says, his mother was drugged with painkillers and ‘brainwashed’ into spending lavish sums on her pets including, Conchita, a Chihuahua who was regularly treated to spas, and showered with diamonds. He further claims his mother was ‘deeply disturbed’ and was persuaded to hire a publicist to promote Conchita as ‘one of the world’s most spoiled dogs’.
While Miss Posner was alive, her excesses towards her animals became the stuff of legend. In an interview in 2007 she said Conchita’s most prized possession was a £10,000 Cartier necklace, however the dog refused to wear it after choking on it. Conchita is the only girl I know who doesn’t consider diamonds her best friend, she said.
The dog would typically accompany Miss Posner on lunch dates and she once considered buying her her own Range Rover to take the animal for its weekly spa appointments for pedicures and manicures. In the end she decided to give the dog her gold Cadillac and bought a new car for herself. Miss Posner, who died in March, was born into wealth – her father was Victor Posner, an American businessman and philanthropist.