(
)
They’re poor little rich kids.
The teenage twin heirs of late Manhattan philanthropist Doris Duke — who will be worth an estimated $500 million each when they turn 21 — are being nickel-and-dimed so badly by the estate’s trustees that they were suspended from school for not paying tuition, court records reveal.
The pitiful plight of 15-year-old Georgia and Walker Inman, heirs to the late tobacco billionaire’s massive fortune, came to light after Utah-based private school and online tutoring company Educational Advantage suspended the twins when the company got stiffed on a $24,524 bill for online course work, according to a court filing.
The company sent a letter to a trustee for JPMorgan, which administers the Duke estate, saying that the payment for Georgia and Walker was almost a month late.
“My children are upset, anxious and embarrassed about being expelled from school due to the trustees not paying their monthly tuition,” the twins’ mom, Daisha Inman, wrote in a Jan. 27 e-mail to an independent guardian for the kids appointed by the court.
The guardian, attorney Lawrence Murphy, told The Post the Inmans were recently re-enrolled.
“My belief is the checks were delivered to the school and they’re back in,” Murphy said.
The financial problems are connected to a Manhattan Surrogate Court tug-of-war between the angry mother and the cautious JPMorgan trustees.
The bank says it tightened the purse strings after Daisha, 52, made requests to lavish her children with a $5,000 haunted-house Halloween party and $50,000 worth of Christmas gifts.
The bank gave Daisha half the haunted-house money, but “only” $5,000 for Christmas, finding the $45,000 she wanted for a horse, a trip around the world and a snowmobile a bit much.
“If the trustees simply funded all requests it received, the children’s trusts could be drained of assets long before the children ever reach the age of 21 years,” the bank said in court filings.
The twins’ father, Walker Inman Jr., was the nephew of tobacco heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke, who died nearly 20 years ago.
Daisha, Walker’s fourth wife, divorced him and gained custody of the children after he died from a methadone overdose in 2010.
Walker Inman Jr., known as Skipper, was the grandson of ames “Buck” Duke, the president and founder of the American Tobacco Co., maker of Lucky Strike cigarettes.
Duke was one of the richest tycoons of his time, and Duke University, Duke Power and the multimillion-dollar Duke Endowment bear the family’s name.
A spokesman for JPMorgan declined to comment.
Daisha Inman, who lives in South Carolina with the twins, did not immediately return calls and e-mails.