Choupette, the pampered blue-cream Birman cat who was the beloved companion of late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, has reportedly been left without a penny from his estate. Despite being named in his will to inherit $1.5 million (£1.13 million), the cat has yet to receive any funds due to a protracted legal dispute with French tax authorities.
Françoise Caçote, Lagerfeld's former housekeeper who now cares for Choupette, told The Atlantic that they have received "nothing" and that she works part-time "just to support her." The cat, once accustomed to travelling by private jet, dining from bone china, and being attended to by two personal maids, now lives a modest life in a Parisian flat with Caçote and her family.
Lagerfeld's estate has been locked in a drawn-out battle with French tax authorities, blocking any distributions to beneficiaries named in his will. Alongside the tax dispute, an anonymous claimant has emerged alleging that Lagerfeld lacked full mental capacity at the time of signing his will. If the will is invalidated under French inheritance law, the estate would be redistributed among surviving nieces and nephews, whom the designer had largely distanced himself from.
Even if the tax dispute is resolved, non-family beneficiaries in France face inheritance tax rates of up to 60 per cent. Since pets are legally regarded as property, they cannot directly inherit money, so the funds were intended to be passed to Caçote to cover Choupette's care. Caçote has hired lawyers at her own expense to pursue the claim, with no definitive timeline for when any funds will be released.
