Beloved TV icon Betty White’s whopping $75 million fortune is going to the dogs — and cats — more than one year after the animal-loving Golden Girl died just weeks shy of her 100th birthday! A pal dished that the dimple-cheeked animal activist left the bulk of her estate to “a trust dedicated to helping the animal causes and shelters she gave to so generously during her lifetime.” Now the star’s most cherished possessions — including clothes, costumes, jewelry, Hollywood mementos and seven Emmy Awards — are being sold off at auction to benefit critters, too.
Her stepkids from her 1963 marriage to famed game show host Allen Ludden were not named in White’s will, sources claim, although The Mary Tyler Moore Show funnylady remained close to them until she died. When Password star Allen lost his life to stomach cancer 18 years after marrying White, his three children with late wife Margaret McGloin — David, Martha and Sarah Ludden — were adults and received a limited inheritance. White got most of his retirement savings and their properties. Insiders say there was no bitterness or money squabbles. The Brentwood home the Hot in Cleveland star and Ludden bought in 1968 was listed for sale by her estate for $10.5 million shortly after her death and sold for about $10.7 million a month later.
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White and Ludden paid $170,000 in 1978 for an undeveloped piece of property with stunning views of the Pacific Ocean in Carmel-by-the- Sea, Calif. The couple built a 3,700-square-foot, four-bed- room home, completed just days before Ludden passed at 63 in 1981. White lived in the home for the rest of her life — dividing her time between Brentwood and Carmel. After her death, White’s Carmel property went on the block. The asking price for the house was $8 million — and following a bidding war, the property sold for $10.7 million — proving she retained her golden touch after she died from a stroke on December 31, 2021. “You can be sure she ear-marked a nice chunk of that for her charities,” said the pal. “Betty wanted to continue her good works long after her death!”
