Anna Nicole Smith — Terms of Will Revealed

According to Movie & TV News, IMDb.com (Feb. 14, 2007), Anna Nichole Smith executed her will in 2001 and contains the following provisions:

• The sole beneficiary was Anna’s son, Daniel.  Because Daniel predeceased Anna apparently without descendants which could trigger the application of an anti-lapse statute, his gift fails.  Assuming the will did not name an alternate beneficiary, Anna’s estate would pass by intestacy.  Because the will was executed prior to Dannielynn’s birth, Dannielynn will qualify as a pretermitted share and may be able to make a claim to Anna’s estate even if the will named an alternate beneficiary.
• Howard K. Stern is named as the executor.  Note that other reports indicate that he is a co-executor with Ron Rale.
• Anna did not revise her will after Dannielynn’s birth.

Special thanks to Megan J. Batchelor (May 2009 J.D. Candidate, Texas Tech University School of Law) for bringing this report to my attention.