Woman Fighting Dog’s Inheritance to Get Hearing

A woman whose late companion left most of his $5-million estate to his beloved cocker spaniel will get to tell a mediator why she is entitled to a larger share of the money.

Marie Dana, 32, is suing for half of the estate--an amount still being determined, said her attorney, Cary Goldstein. He has previously said she was asking for $2.7 million.

Superior Court Judge Gary Klausner on Tuesday ordered that the dispute be mediated, but he also allowed for discovery in case the dispute ends up in front of a jury. The next court hearing was scheduled for Jan. 12.

Bathroom fixture magnate Sidney Altman, who died in 1996 at age 60, left his Beverly Hills home and $350,000 to his dog Samantha. In the four-page handwritten will, Altman gave Dana an annual tax-free stipend of $60,000, provided she took care of Samantha.

But if Samantha, now 15, dies, “the arrangement with Marie Dana is canceled, and I wish the house to be sold and the money distributed to the charity’s (sic) I have listed in this Will,” according to the document. Those charities are animal rights groups.