Joan Rivers left a big part of her $150 million fortune to her dogs.
The 81-year-old comic – who died earlier this month after suffering a cardiac arrest while undergoing throat surgery – wanted her four rescue animals to continue to lead lives of luxury when she passed away and so her will asked for her assets to be given to her daughter Melissa, grandson Cooper and her beloved pets.
A source told the New York Daily News newspaper’s Confidenti@l column: "Those dogs are her family. They meant the world to her and Joan wanted to make sure that if anything happened to her that they would be taken care of."
However, the pampered pooches will no longer live in her $35 million New York apartment but will move in with Joan’s longtime assistant Jocelyn Pickett.
Melissa is planning to sell her mother’s penthouse apartment, as well as another in the same block which Joan bought for her daughter and grandson to live in while in the city, because she finds it too "painful" being in New York.
The source said: "Melissa is based in L.A. and has no need for a place in New York any more. It’s also too painful; Joan loved the city so much.
"Melissa is a West Coast girl and Cooper is in school in L.A., while her mom was East Coast-based. Additionally, Melissa is planning to sell Joan’s amazing home in Connecticut."
Meanwhile, it has been revealed Joan had been working on a new show, ‘Ask Joan’, with Andy Cohen and his Most Talkative production company before she died.
A source said: "Joan loved Andy, she loved his talent. "She thought he was a producing genius and was excited that he was going to produce a new show where Joan would answer questions. Andy has a deep relationship with NBC, which is now run by Ted Harbert, who loved Joan. It was all positive stuff happening."
Joan Rivers leaves fortune to dogs
