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Cary Raleigh Wake Forest 155 Parkway Office Ct., Ste. 200 Cary, NC 27518 919-726-0896 • www.caryestateplanning.com
Inside This Issue
Cary Estate Planning’s 5-Year Journey
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All Aboard the Green Energy Revolution
Future-Proofing Your Assets With Trusts
One-Bowl Pumpkin Muffins
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Pet Hair Takeover? Not Anymore! Top Solutions for Hair-Free Living
Lessons From Anna Nicole Smith’s Billion-Dollar Drama
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THE ANNA NICOLE SMITH STORY Costly Consequences of Neglected Estate Planning:
Whenever a prominent celebrity, entrepreneur, or athlete passes away, there’s usually quite a bit of money left on the table. Most of these individuals put careful consideration into their estate plans to ensure their assets are distributed appropriately, but that’s not always the case. In 1995, Anna Nicole Smith found herself in the middle of a probate case that would haunt her for the rest of her life. In 1991, a 23-year-old Smith met 86-year-old petroleum tycoon J. Howard Marshall. Marshall was worth over $1 billion at the time and quickly became smitten with Smith. In the following years, Smith appeared in TV shows, movies, and advertisements, and her popularity exploded. In June 1994, Smith and Marshall married in Houston, but their wedded bliss was short-lived. Marshall passed away 13 months after the wedding at the age of 90. Before passing away, Marshall promised Smith half of his estate. Unfortunately, he
didn’t make this change in his will or any other estate planning document. Instead, his $1.6 billion estate went to his son, Pierce Marshall. The matter went to probate, where it was determined that Smith would inherit nothing. The following year, she filed for bankruptcy in California, and the California court disagreed with the probate results, stating that Smith was entitled to $449 million. The case then proceeded to the federal level and was eventually presented to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled in Smith’s favor, but when all was said and done, there were no winners. Pierce passed away in 2006, and Smith passed away the following year. Smith’s son also passed away in 2006 and was the only beneficiary on her estate plan, as Smith had failed to add her 5-month-old daughter to it before she passed. There were several more legal battles between Smith’s and Pierce’s estates — one of which made it in front of the Supreme Court again — before finally, the last of Smith’s
cases was closed on Oct. 24, 2022, over two decades from when the disputes began. There are many lessons we can learn from this situation, but the most important one is to update your estate plan whenever you experience a life change. It’s also wise for celebrity couples to have a prenuptial agreement. It would have saved everyone years of struggle if Smith or Marshall had done either.
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