Billionaire Deathbed Marriages

Hugh Hefner (85) was set to wed his girlfriend Crystal Harris (25), but Harris called off the wedding. Hefner’s heirs may want to rejoice in Harris’ decision as the court battles surrounding the estate of oil tycoon Howard Marshall and his 14-month marriage to Anna Nicole Smith rage on.

When the Supreme Court agreed to hear Smith’s claim to Marshall’s billions in 2006, many litigators took it as a green light to argue deathbed wedding probate cases. Since most state laws allow marital property rights to trump a decedent’s estate plan, many estates have been forced to settle with surviving spouses of deathbed marriages.

Florida and New York have both made it harder for these surviving spouses to prevail. As I recently blogged here, Florida’s statute now allows a four-year window for interested third parties to challenge a surviving spouse’s inheritance. However, the contesting party still has the burden to prove the surviving spouse pursed the marriage through duress, fraud, or undue influence. Interestingly, the statute does not address the mental competence of the decedent at the time of the marriage. Nineteen other states take the opposite approach, disallowing any third party challenges after the marriage and death certificates are signed.

Until and unless more state laws begin to disfavor deathbed marriages, the best practice for worried heirs is to ensure that an elderly loved one has a durable power of attorney. For even more protection from potential deathbed spouses, a loved one can put his or her assets in a trust.

See Scott Martin, Deathbed Billionaires Continue To Pursue Lustful Marriages While Heirs Wait and Worry, The Advisor Blog, Jun. 5, 2011.