posted June 10, 2011 07:14 PM            

A millionaire heiress died at age 12 in December, and the world is just finding out now.

Don't feel too bad, though. Trouble Helmsley, perhaps the world's most pampered pet, was 84 in dog years when she succumbed to illness and died, according to the New York Daily News.

She also, unbeknownst to her, outlasted several vows to bring her to a more violent end. Trouble received multiple death threats from people angry that her doting owner, billionaire real estate tycoon Leona Helmsley, left her a stunning $12 million in her will.

While Trouble hit the jackpot, Helmsley also unceremoniously cut two of her grandchildren out of her will. They sued, arguing that their grandmother wasn't of sound mind when she signed the document in 2005. Disgruntled grown grandchildren Craig Panzirer and Meegan Panzirer Wesolko each received several million in the ensuing deal, and a judge knocked $10 million off Trouble's inheritance, putting the sum back in the $8 billion Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.

Carl Lekic, the general manager of the Helmsley Sandcastle Hotel and the Maltese's caretaker until her death, told lawyers in 2008 that $2 million would be "enough money to pay for Trouble's maintenance and welfare at the highest standards of care for more than 10 years, which is more that twice her reasonably anticipated life expectancy."

Helmsley's other, not-disinherited grandson and brother both passed on guarding the "bitey" pooch, according to the New York Post.

Lekic told the Daily News he spent $8,000 for grooming, $1,200 for food, and about $90,000 more per year on a full-time security guard for Trouble. That unspent money will also go back into the trust.

Helmsley wanted Trouble buried next to her in the family's 12,000-square-foot mauseleum, but a Sleepy Hollow Cemetery board member told the Daily News that no (dead) pets are allowed. Trouble was cremated instead.