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Sunday, March 11, 2007
Law - Anna Nicole Smith bankruptcy and estate issues become law school case studies
The legal aspects of Anna Nicole Smith's sad life have been incorporated into law school studies, according to the AP story by Jessica Gresko. A few quotes:
Even before her death last month, Smith was a case study for students of estate law. Her lengthy, widely publicized court feud with the family of her late husband, Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, over his estate landed them in at least one widely used textbook, "Wills, Trusts and Estates."Now, because of a poorly drafted will and the courtroom fights over her burial and custody of her infant daughter, law professors are finding her troubles can again serve as an example to students. * * *
Susan French, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles * * * assigned Smith's will as reading material and discussed it in class.
French and other professors said Smith's case brings up good points for discussion and touches on issues covered by their classes.
For example, what happens if children are born after a will is written, as Smith's infant daughter was? What happens if a beneficiary dies before the will's creator, as Smith's son did?
One clause, in which Smith appears to disinherit future spouses and children, is particularly intriguing for law classes. It's something a man would write if he might have illegitimate children, professors said. Why would it be in Smith's will? Was she an egg donor? Did she give a baby up for adoption? Or, was it just language carelessly copied from a template?
Smith's will also illustrates one common flaw, that many wills don't include a contingency plan, said Stephen Urice, a professor of trusts and estates at the University of Miami.
Urice's students also read Smith's will and discussed its flaws in class.
"It was enormously helpful," student Lou Mandarini of the classroom critiquing of Smith's will.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 11, 2007 01:11 PM
Posted to General Law Related