3/09/2009

Anna Nicole Smith is an Estate Lawyer's Dream

My goodness. Let's go slow.

There's the Estate of Anna Nicole Smith who is in a big fight for money from the Estate of her dead husband (Howard Marshall) with the Estate of the dead husband's dead son (Pierce Marshall).

Three Estates, maybe four.

Three Estates. I guess we could throw in the Estate of Daniel, Anna's son, for good measure, as a beneficiary of Anna's Estate. Okay. Make that four Estates, really.

The latest fight: to lift the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Stay, back to the US Supreme Court.

Now, we're talking about these cases going up to the United States Supreme Court here -- is the fight to lift the stay placed by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upon the $88.5 million dollar award granted to Anna Nicole by a lower federal court.

Attorneys go their whole lives without an argument before a circuit court of appeals, much less the U. S. Supreme Court. How many times has Anna's case been up there?

Anna's Estate Wants to Lift the Stay to Stop Pierce's Estate

That $88.5 million has grown over time to around $125 million. But here's the problem: before his death, Pierce Marshall moved a lot of assets around, and Estate of Anna attorneys are arguing that if that stay isn't vacated, the IRS may end up with all the money left in Estate of Pierce's accounts.

IRS versus all those attorneys' fees. C'mon. We know what those fee statements are like.

You know, I can't help but think -- and this is so NOT a legal analysis -- that old Howard Marshall would kinda like cute little Dannilynn to have that cash. Maybe that's just me.