Estate Litigation - Anna Nicole Smith
February 8, 2007 saw the death of former reality t.v. star, Anna Nicole Smith. Anna Nicole first came to the public's attention when she was Playboy Magazine's Playmate of the Year in 1993.
She also gained notoriety from her marriage to J. Howard Marshall, the Texas oil billionaire. The two met in 1991 when she worked as a dancer in a strip club that he frequented. They were married in June 1994 at a drive-in wedding chapel in Houston. She was 26 and he was 89. Sadly, their marriage was not long lasting. Howard died of heart failure just 14 months after the wedding.
After Howard's death, Anna Nicole was distressed to learn that she had been excluded from his Will, which he had updated shortly after their marriage. She claimed that he orally promised to give her half of his estate if she married him. Not surprisingly, his son Pierce, who was left the bulk of the estate, disputed this. Anna Nicole then accused Pierce of interfering with the gifts she was supposed to receive, improperly influencing his father, fraudulently altering trust documents, and a host of other things. For his part, Pierce took the position that she was a greedy gold digger who wasn't entitled to anything. Needless to say, litigation ensued and, more than a decade later, is still continuing.
The legal reasons associated with the length of the litigation are somewhat complicated: there has been significant wrangling over whether the matter properly belongs in federal or state court. In 2006, the United States Supreme Court said it should be pursued in federal court, where the dispute continues to this day.
The strained relationship between Anna Nicole and her late-husband's son also seems to have played a role in the length of the dispute. Pierce made it clear from the outset that, to him, it wasn't just about the money; it was about ensuring that she was left with nothing.
Although Anna Nicole's lawyers reportedly tried to settle the case on numerous occasions, Pierce was more than happy to spend as much money as it took to keep his father's estate out of her hands.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the proceeding next.
Pierce died in 2006 and now, with the death of Anna Nicole, it will be up to their estates to carry on the litigation.
Thanks for reading!
Megan Connolly
