Estate of Anna Nicole Smith Loses Another Court Battle

Last Friday a Federal Court of Appeals ruled that Anna Nicole Smith’s estate is not entitled to $300 million from the estate of her deceased husband J. Howard Marshall.  

A brief recap of the the Anna Nicole Smith saga is below:

• Anna Nicole Smith married J. Howard Marshall in 1994.
• Marshall died approximately one year after the marriage, and Smith died in 2007.  
• Marshall’s estate is worth as much as $1.6 billion; however, he did not leave anything for Smith in his will or in trust.
• Smith claimed that she was not included in Marshall’s will because of fraud and undue influence by Marshall’s son during Marshall’s final months.
• Smith also claimed that Marshall promised her a share of his assets that he earned while the two were married.
• In the ensuing court battles initiated by Smith and her estate, a Texas probate court denied Smith any money from Marshall’s estate.  A U.S. bankruptcy court initially awarded Smith $474 million from Marshall’s Estate, but a federal appeals court later dismissed the award. 
• In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Federal Appeals Panel in California to reconsider it’s ruling against Smith.

Last week’s court of appeals decision relies on the preclusive effect of the factual findings and legal conclusions of the jury in the Texas probate court trial.  Specifically, the court of appeals relied on the jury’s verdict that there was no gift of money from Marshall to Smith.

See CNN, Anna Nicole Smith’s estate loses $300 million court fight, March 19, 2010.

Special thanks to Peter Parlapiano (candidate for MBA & M.S. Personal Financial Planning, Texas Tech University) and Adam J. Hirsch (William and Catherine VanDercreek Professor of Law, Florida State University College of Law) for bringing this development to my attention.