"Star Trek" Fortune Goes to the Dogs
By ANDREW GREINER
Updated 10:46 AM CST, Thu, Apr 23, 2009
The Star Trek fortune is going to the dogs.
Just before Majel Roddenberry, wife of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, died in December 2008, she put a clause in her trust that provided lavishly for her beloved pups, according to TMZ.
The trust documents, filed in L.A. County Superior Court, stipulate that Roddenberry’s dogs will be able to live in one of the family’s mansions until they cease to live long and prosper.
The dogs also are entitled to a $4 million fund to upkeep their swanky dog house, and their own highly paid attendant. The trust provides $1 million for Reinelda Estupinian, who cared for the dogs for the last few years.
In the paper Roddenberry said Estupinian “did an excellent job of caring for my animals (giving them comparable or better care than that which I gave them during my lifetime).”
This wouldn’t be the first strange demand from the Roddenberrys. Per their posthumous request, the couple’s remains will be sealed into a specialize space capsule---that will include digitized messages from fans of the sci-fi stalwart --- and launched into the cosmos.
Portions of Roddenberry's remains were launched into orbit a decade ago but the rest of his ashes along with his wife’s will rocket into the final frontier in 2010.
The trust documents didn’t exactly dog the Roddenberry’s son. Rod Roddenberry will receive $60 million now and $10 million bonuses when he turns 35, 40 and 45. He’ll also be living the high life in another of the Roddenberry mansions in Bel Air.
Unfortunately for the sci-fi pioneers, leaving a large sum of money to dogs is not original. Queen of Mean Leona Helmsley beat the Roddenberrys to the punch and left $12 million to her pups in 2008. A judge recently reduced their inheritance to just $1 million. Poor pups.
First Published: Apr 22, 2009 6:30 AM CST
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