Born: November 28, 1967 Died: February 8, 2007 Article II Article I Article VI

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1 Anna Nicole Smith Born: November 28, 1967 Died: February 8, 2007 Anna Nicole Smith s fourteen page Will is what most people would call a Simple Will. It contains a little bit of family information, a very brief description of what to do wither her property after she dies, names an Executor (called a Personal Representative in Colorado) and contains several pages of boilerplate. Probably didn t cost much, nor did it take any real thought or effort. However, as you ll see, there are a couple of very important items that are not included. Whenever I review an estate planning document, the first thing I look for is the date of the instrument. The date is important because, among other things, it gives me a good frame of reference for the age of my client at the time and the estate and gift tax laws in effect when it was signed. Smith s Will is dated June 30, She was a widow embroiled in the middle of a twelve year old, nasty legal battle over her deceased husband s estate and she had a seventeen year old son, a minor. And this was the best she and her attorneys could come up with? Article II is the main dispositive provision of the Will. It s pretty thin from a legal and instructive point of view but in essence it gives all of her property to her boyfriend, lawyer Howard Stern, as trustee of a trust for the benefit of my child, Daniel at the time the Will was created. The trust provides for distributions for health, education, and support until age 25. At age 25 Daniel is to receive 1/3 of the trust estate, one-half at age 30, and the balance at age 35. These are mandatory distributions with no controls or protections built in to shield the trust property from Daniel s creditors, lawsuits, or divorcing spouse. Article I is one of the most interesting provisions of the Will. It states the fact that she is not married and has one son. So far, so good. What follows is what makes it interesting. She says, I have intentionally omitted to provide for my spouse and other heirs, including future spouses and children and other descendants now living and those hereafter born or adopted, as well as existing and future stepchildren and foster children. (Italics added). Article VI provides similar disinheritance language. It is a standard no contest clause stating that anyone who contests the Will is treated as if that person predeceased Anna. The Article goes further though and states that other than specifically listed in the Will, she has intentionally omitted to provide for any of my heirs, or persons claiming to be my heirs, whether or not known to me. Because Dannielynn was not born (and Anna was not pregnant with her) at the time this Will was made, Dannielynn was specifically disinherited by the terms of the Will! So everything goes to Daniel, what s bad about that? Nothing really, except he died a year before Anna! And the Will doesn t actually say who receives Anna s estate if Daniel is deceased. It now depends on the intestate laws of California to determine who gets the estate, and under what circumstances and conditions. That means the law that determines the

2 ultimate distribution of the estate is the same law that would control IF SHE DID NOT CREATE A WILL IN THE FIRST PLACE! That might be her daughter and might be her mom. Article VII of her Will names a guardian for Anna s son, Daniel. Interestingly, no mention is made of Daniel s father. In Colorado, a surviving natural parent has the first right to be the guardian of a minor child unless that parent had previously given up his or her parental rights and irrespective of what the Will says. Because Dannielynn wasn t born at the time the Will was created, she wasn t listed in the Will. But it didn t matter. Larry Birkhead, Dannielynn s father was, after a well-publicized legal battle, appointed as her legal guardian. Article IV of the Will presents another interesting issue that arose upon Anna s death. Section 4.4 states that California law controls the validity, interpretation, and administration of the Will. While that seems pretty simple, she actually died in Florida and left no instructions regarding the disposition of her body. When baseball great Ted Williams died, the national spotlight focused on the Florida probate courts, where a soap opera unfolded regarding the disposition of his body ultimately cryogenically frozen in Arizona. Other than having the misfortune of dying in a Hollywood, Florida casino, Anna appeared to have no ties to Florida at all. But just like that, Florida probate courts and Florida law regarding burial disputes again grabbed national attention. The fight was between her boyfriend/executor and her mom regarding what should happen to her body. Ultimately, the issue was decided by the Judge, probably not at all what she wanted to happen. SUMMARY: Just another celebrity mess 1. Her Will was not updated to reflect her current personal, family or financial situation. Not only did she not include afterborn children, but she also specifically disinherits afterborn children. Everything was left to her son, who predeceased her. And there were no provisions for distribution in the event of his death or for a remote contingent beneficiary. She had no real instructions for who, what, when, where, how, or why. 2. She hired the wrong attorney. What kind of attorney recommends that you don t provide for future children? What attorney doesn t recommend that a client contemplate and decide who they want to inherit in the event of the death of a beneficiary, especially a single client who has one child who is not married and no grandchildren? By the way, the attorney that drafted the Will is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning according to the California State Bar website. 3. Bottom line, Anna Nicole Smith s Will is a great example of why having a poorly drafted document may actually be worse than having nothing at all. I continue to be amazed that these so-called celebrities, more often than not, either do nothing or do something that doesn t work at a basic level in the estate planning arena. More interesting is that most of us non-celebrity types actually take action, follow through and end up with plans that actually work. I hope you enjoyed today s Celebrity Will Analysis!

3 Anna Nicole Smith had a life of success, scandal and sadness. She was born Vicky Lynn Hogan on November 28, 1967 outside of Houston, Texas. Vicky watched her parents separate and divorce before she was two years old. Her mother, a law enforcement officer in Houston, subsequently remarried and divorced three more times before marrying her current and fifth husband in Vicky Lynn was sent to live with her Aunt in Mexia, Texas when she was a freshman in high school. She failed the grade and dropped out of school the following year. She started working as a waitress at Jim s Crispy Fried Chicken. A young cook caught her eye and the two started dating. They soon decided to get married. Vicky was 17 years old and her new husband, Billy Wayne Smith, was 16 years old at the time of their marriage. The marriage was short-lived and only two years later, Vicky moved herself and her one-yearold son, Daniel, back to Houston. She had big dreams and a small town in Texas was not where she believed they were going to come true. In Houston, Vicky worked at the local Wal-Mart, as a waitress at Red Lobster, and a later as an exotic dancer at a strip club in Houston named Gigi s. A client of Gigi s was an elderly billionaire named J. Howard Marshall. He became infatuated with Vicky. He would frequent the club and lavish Vicky with gifts. He was so taken with the beautiful blonde that he asked her to marry him several times, but to his dismay, young Vicky wouldn t say yes. Vicky wanted more out of life. She started taking acting and singing lessons in 1991, the same year she met Marshall. In October of that year, she was reading the newspaper, saw an ad for an audition for Playboy magazine and decided to try out. Not only was Vicky chosen to be in the magazine, but she was chosen to be on the cover of the March 1992 issue. The following year, she was chosen as the 1993 Playmate of the Year as Anna Nicole Smith. In February of 1993, Anna and Billy were officially divorced. Anna had finally achieved the success that she had dreamed about. She replaced Claudia Schiffer as the face of Guess Jeans, and she modeled for Swedish clothing company Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) making her an international sensation.

4 In 1994, Anna finally succumbed to J. Howard Marshall s repeated requests and agreed to marry him. J. Howard, 89, and Anna, 26, were married in June. The public openly speculated as to Anna s true motivations for marrying J. Howard and labeled her a gold digger. Though the two never lived together, Anna adamantly maintained that she loved her husband and that the age difference was of no significance to her. For the next few years Anna tried her hand at acting. She made appearances in The Hudsucker Proxy, along side of Paul Newman and Tim Robbins, as well as The Naked Gun 33 ½: the Final Insult starring Leslie Nielsen. Instead of a flourishing acting career, however, Anna s future instead had a plot marked with scandal. Thirteen months after their marriage, J. Howard Marshall died. A few weeks after his death, Anna was in court to claim her portion of his $1.6 billion estate. Despite being left out of his will, Anna said J. Howard promised her half of his estate if she married him. J. Howard s son, E. Pierce Marshall, fiercely contested Anna s right to any of his father s estate. The ensuing battle was the fascination of the American public and the subject of media fodder. Anna filed for bankruptcy in 1996 after she was sued by a former employee who was awarded $850,000. Because her inheritance may have been part of her assets for the bankruptcy estate, the federal Bankruptcy Court in California heard Anna s case and awarded her $450 million from J. Howard s estate. The Houston Probate Court, on the other hand, awarded Anna nothing and ordered her to pay E. Pierce s attorney s fees totaling over a million dollars. The conflict between the bankruptcy court and the probate court forced the case to go to federal court for resolution. In the meantime, Anna starred in a reality television show, called The Anna Nicole Show, featured on E! Network. At times, the show was difficult to watch because Anna seemed confused and under the influence, but she was often accompanied and supported by her attorney, Howard K. Stern. The show went off the air in 2004 but Anna had reinvented herself with the American public.

5 The 9 th Circuit District Court vacated the Bankruptcy Court s ruling and reduced Anna s award to a mere $88 million. On appeal, the 9 th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the District Court s decision stating that the Federal Court lacked jurisdiction to overrule the Texas Probate Court. It therefore affirmed the Houston Probate Court s ruling which awarded Anna nothing from J. Howard s estate. Anna appealed the case and the United States Supreme Court, which hears fewer than one hundred cases each term, (out of several thousand requests), agreed to hear the case. In 2006, the Court held in Anna s favor and ruled that she could pursue a part of her late husband s estate in federal court. Shortly after the Court s ruling, Anna announced she was pregnant. Though she was silent as to whom the father was, Howard K. Stern claimed the role. Anna s ex-boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, steadfastly claimed that he was the father. Surprisingly, a third man, Frederick Prinz von Anhalt, Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband, also claimed to be the father. Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern was born on September 7, Anna was elated and wanted to share her joy with her son Daniel. But just three days after Dannielynn s birth, as Daniel was visiting Anna and his new baby sister he went to sleep in the chair in Anna s hospital room and never awoke. Anna was devastated. A few weeks after Daniel s death, Anna and Howard exchanged vows in a commitment ceremony and were open with their desire to be a loving family to Dannielynn. Despite this desire, Anna fell into a deep malaise, perhaps magnified by her ongoing drug abuse. Sadness marked the final scene of Anna s life. Five months after her son s death, Anna was found dead in her hotel room in Florida. Her death was the result of an accidental drug overdose. In the weeks to follow, Howard tried to care for Dannielynn as best as he could notwithstanding attempts by Larry and Anna s mother to obtain custody. Despite Anna s and Howard s apparent desire, paternity testing revealed that Larry Birkhead was indeed Dannielynn s father and he was awarded full custody of the child. Though the battle to determine Dannielynn s father was over, the battle for J. Howard s estate is still unsettled. Anna s interest in J. Howard s estate will likely be pursued on Dannielynn s behalf over the years to come.