LAWFUEL – Law News Worldwide Daily – The Anna Nicole Smith lawsuits that swirled around the former Playboy model in life and accelerated upon her death have lead to Anna Nicole law lessons at law schools around the US, according to reports.
Smith’s court feud with the family of her late elderly husband, oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall the second, landed them in at least one widely used textbook, “Wills, Trusts and Estates.”
Now, one poorly drafted will and a court battle over her body later, law professors are finding Smith’s troubles can again serve as an example to students.
Stephen Urice, a trusts and estates professor at the University of Miami, said Smith’s will also illustrates one common flaw. Many wills don’t include a contingency plan, such as what should happen if the will’s sole beneficiary dies before its creator does.
Smith died Feb. 8 after collapsing at a South Florida hotel. She was 39.
Her will, drafted in 2001, named lawyer and boyfriend Howard K. Stern executor, stipulating that he hold her estate in trust for her adult son, Daniel. But her son died last September. Anna Nicole Smith leaves behind a six-month-old daughter and a paternity fight.
The release of Smith’s autopsy report has been delayed because of new evidence.
