Taxation & Estate Planning

Anna Nicole Smith Update - no, we’re not done yet

By Michael D. Bonasera, Esq.

According to this story at Reuters, a judge in LA today “ruled that the baby daughter of deceased model Anna Nicole Smith is the sole heir to her estate, meaning 18-month-old Dannielynn could inherit a multimillion-dollar fortune.”

In case you forgot (and if you’re reading this blog its not likley that you did), “Smith, a former Playboy model and television actress, died in February last year of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, roughly five months after Dannielynn was born. Smith’s son, Daniel, died only three days after Dannielynn’s birth. He was 20.” Daniel (Anna’s son) had been [her sole] heir according to a will that was written well before his death, and the will specifically excluded any after-born children. Stern, who is executor of Smith’s estate, had petitioned the Los Angeles court in October to name Dannielynn as the sole heir.

If the $1.6 billion dollar battle over the estate of Anna’s deceased husband settles, any and all money that results will pass into a trust created for Dannielynn by the court.

The Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog and the Florida Estate Planning Lawyers Blog also have posts up about this most recent chapter in the saga.

Full post as published by The Ohio Trust & Estate Blog on March 05, 2008 (boomark / email).