Anna Nichole: Lawsuit Hell

[3113]

Yikes! Not the best legacy to leave a five month old daugher.

Smith left tangled legal web
LOS ANGELES - With major legal issues undecided, Anna Nicole Smith's legacy could take years to untangle and could leave her baby daughter with millions of dollars or nothing at all.

Smith's battle over her late husband J. Howard Marshall II's oil fortune with the family of his son grinds on in Texas. And there is a pending class action suit seeking unspecified damages against Smith and TrimSpa Inc., alleging the company's marketing of a weight-loss pill with Smith as spokeswoman was false and misleading.

Meanwhile, two men are contesting the paternity of Smith's 5-month-old daughter Dannielynn, with an emergency hearing in the case planned for Friday in Los Angeles.

Experts say the custody decision could determine the child's inheritance.

Attorney Howard K. Stern, Smith's most recent companion, is listed on Dannielynn's birth certificate as her father. If it is determined he is the biological father and if he was legally married to Smith — which has yet to be established — Stern, not Dannielynn, would likely inherit Smith's estate, experts say.

Smith's former boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, says he is the girl's father.

If Smith and the biological father were not married and Smith left no will, then the father and child likely would split her assets, according to Christopher Cline, an estate planning lawyer with the firm of Holland and Knight.

"It's a really large legal quagmire," said Cline, who enumerated some of the many questions hanging in the balance. "I've never seen a case with more moving parts," he said, comparing the legal morass in its complexity with unraveling the estate of billionaire Howard Hughes — albeit with less money involved.

Cline outlined a series of crucial questions that range from the paternity of the child to Smith's country of residency and, most importantly, whether she had a will. If there was a will, Cline said, questions would arise about where it was drafted and signed. If she did not have a will, the laws of her country of residence would apply.

She had been living in the Bahamas recently and gave birth to her daughter there in September. The baby was being cared for in the Bahamas by the mother of Shane Gibson, the Bahamian immigration minister who is a close friend of Smith's, People magazine reported on its Web site, citing unidentified sources.

A visibly shaken Gibson declined comment as he was leaving his office Thursday night, and he has not responded to several message left by The Associated Press seeking comment.

Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, said she had no plans to press for custody.

"I want her to be with her father whichever that one is, but I want to be involved in her life," Arthur said Friday on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Other questions that will need to be answered are whether she was married at the time of her death, and how her death affects the lawsuit still pending against her late husband's estate.

Experts in Texas, where Smith fought for millions of dollars in inheritance, said the court battles will go on. "The claims will survive to her estate," said Charles W. "Rocky" Rhodes, a South Texas College of Law professor who has followed the complicated series of lawsuits involving Smith and the family of her dead husband.

"In criminal cases like we had with Ken Lay, where the defendant died, it was over," he said. "But in civil cases where the claim is for money, your estate and the heirs you have from the estate are able to continue the litigation in the name of the representatives of the estate."

E. Pierce Marshall, her late husband's son who had been fighting her over his father's estate, died in June. But the Marshall family vowed to continue the fight.

Family lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan of Los Angeles, who has handled many celebrity paternity cases, said he believes Stern initially will receive custody of the child because he is listed on the birth certificate. "The paternity test should be expedited," he said, "because if he is not the bio dad he has no rights to custody. But I predict there will be a will saying that Howard K. Stern is the father."

He added that another complication could arise if Stern was the lawyer who drew up the will and may be listed as the executor.

"By law, he can't be both the executor and the beneficiary," Kaplan said.

The Smith saga has been filled with so many deaths, Kaplan said, that lawyers are beginning to talk about a curse on the litigation. Just five months ago, Smith's 20-year-old son Daniel died suddenly in the Bahamas in what was believed to be a drug-related death.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

I saw this coming... That poor little girl... *sigh*

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

I saw this coming... That poor little girl... *sigh*

I'm not sure "poor" is quite the right word, Selena

 

[drksideofthemoon]

I saw this coming... That poor little girl... *sigh*

It's all so sad. The greed shown by the Marshall family is just sickening.

The saddest thing is that a little girl will grow up without knowing her mother...

 

[drksideofthemoon]

I'm not sure "poor" is quite the right word, Selena

Depends on what your definition of poor is. My mother died when I was young...there is no amount of money that can replace her.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

The saddest thing is that a little girl will grow up without knowing her mother...

Yes. That's what I meant by poor. I imagine if someone asked her later if she would give up millions just to have her mother back, she would say yes. And now she has nothing but greed surrounding her... who's going to be there to love her, just because, all the money and drama aside?

I hope there's someone.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Depends on what your definition of poor is. My mother died when I was young...there is no amount of money that can replace her.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

Yes. That's what I meant by poor. I imagine if someone asked her later if she would give up millions just to have her mother back, she would say yes. And now she has nothing but greed surrounding her... who's going to be there to love her, just because, all the money and drama aside?

I hope there's someone.

Me too...I hate to think of this baby just being used as a pawn for someone to line their pockets....

 

[3113]

I'm wondering if either of the so-called dads give a shit about her.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

I'm wondering if either of the so-called dads give a shit about her.

I know...I've been wondering the same thing...

 

[Selena_Kitt]

I know...I've been wondering the same thing...

*nodding*

sigh

 

[Boxlicker101]

I'm wondering if either of the so-called dads give a shit about her.

I don't know about Birkhead, but the second I saw a pic of Stern, I pegged him as a slimeball. The fact that he is a lawyer doesn't help any. It wouldn't come as any surprise to me if it were to be learned that he poisoned first her son and then Anna, in hopes of getting rich.

By no means am I saying he did anything of the sort, but I would not be surprised if he did.

 

[Carnevil9]

She screwed a guy named Howard Stern. 'Nuff said?

 

[S-Des]

Best line so far....

They were talking on a radio show about how Zsa Zsa's husband was claiming to be the father (and who knows how many other potential dads are out there), and one of the hosts said that he hoped the term Million Man March was copyrighted.

 

[3113]

I don't know about Birkhead, but the second I saw a pic of Stern, I pegged him as a slimeball. The fact that he is a lawyer doesn't help any. It wouldn't come as any surprise to me if it were to be learned that he poisoned first her son and then Anna, in hopes of getting rich.

By no means am I saying he did anything of the sort, but I would not be surprised if he did.

I'm psychic do you know that? I predict...this will be fictionalized and appear as the storyline on at least three t.v. shows--one featuring lawyers, the other probably a CIS type show, and the last a serialized soap/drama.

Sad but probably true if not inevitable

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I'm psychic do you know that? I predict...this will be fictionalized and appear as the storyline on at least three t.v. shows--one featuring lawyers, the other probably a CIS type show, and the last a serialized soap/drama.

Sad but probably true if not inevitable

I wonder who they would find to play her? Would they "Hollywood-ize" her, or would they find someone of similar size? I would think finding someone so big (she wasn't just overweight at times, she was tall) would be difficult.

 

[3113]

I wonder who they would find to play her? Would they "Hollywood-ize" her, or would they find someone of similar size? I would think finding someone so big (she wasn't just overweight at times, she was tall) would be difficult.

The CSI type show will try to get a plus-size woman, the Lawyer show will get a slender, glamorous blond, and the soap-drama show will go inbetween. Curvy but not plus-size.

 

[impressive]

Me too...I hate to think of this baby just being used as a pawn for someone to line their pockets....

There is even speculation that she was conceived as a pawn (using dead rich husband's frozen sperm).

Of one thing I am sure: that baby girl is the only innocent victim in all of this.

*sigh*

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

I've been following this closely. This is what I glean from the reports -

Birkhead - Jerk off who only wants to get his hands on the money. This guy is ruthless as we see from his law suit for "emergency DNA testing."

Howard K Stern - Wealthy in his own right and doesn't need the cash. (Anna discribed him as the only person who didn't want money from her.) He is most likely the father of the baby. The confusion here concerns was he or was he not married to Anna? The "committment ceramony" held in the Bahamas may actually count as a marriage under Bahaman law.

Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband. Zsa Zsa called him the "biggest liar in the world." Two years ago he sued Viagra because it made him "impotant." Now that's no conducive to fathering a child.

The police found "legal" perscription drugs in her hotel room. That doesn't mean anything.

She was found either by her personal nurse (some accounts) or by her pesonal bodyguard (other accounts). Then one of them disappeared. It turns out the nurse and bodyguard are the same person. No mystery there.

The emergency crew on the scene administered anti-narcotic drugs to reverse the affects of Heroine or Morphine. Again, no mystery. This is standard procedure. The drugs that were administered are "diagnostic" for drug overdose and otherwise have no affect or side-affects.

The court in Miami held they had no idea who should have temp custody of the child and whether DNA could legally be taken for the paternaty suit since there are juridictional problems. All this would have to be decided in the Bahamas, not Miami. (good call, actually)

Anna left a will that was written before her son died and before the daughter was born. Neither are mentioned in the will. Again the question of Stern's "marriage" pops up in who shares in her estate. This will most likely end up in probate court in the Bahamas.

As far as the paternaty suit goes, it will continue but will take on more of a custody battle costume. He who gets the kid will control the millions from the Marshell family.

The court battle with the Marshell family will continue. The US Supreme Court held the marriage between Anna and the old fart entitled her to "another shot" at gaining a piece of his estate. It did not guarantee her anything except another day in court. Note that she has already lost in both California and Texas.

Currently, DannieLynn is living with "friends" in the Bahamas. It's unclear who they are or what their relationship is.

Anna's mother is now trying to make news by shooting her mouth off on CNN claiming that Anna was a drug fiend and finally killed herself with them. This is patently untrue according to the Seminole County Coroner.

The coroner now says Anna died from either -
a) Natural Causes
b) Overdose of Perscription Drugs
c) A combination of a and b

Like I said before, this is the stuff that tabloids are made of. It's very sad that over 36 hours this has ballooned the way it has. I'm sitting back watching and shaking my head.