Should Anna Nicole Smith get $474 million from her dead husband's estate?

[LoZoccolo]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1801105,00.html

Just out of curiousity I am going to divide the responses by gender of the respondent.

[laureloak]

1. She should get it IF she made him happy.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[CatWoman]

36. good answer.

agreed.

[LoKnLoD]

2. she made that old crow happy

give her something at least.

[cynatnite]

3. Do you think the gender of the respondit makes them biased?

Is that why you are curious?

[LoZoccolo]

6. "Curious" can mean I don't know what I'll find. n/t

[cynatnite]

10. Upon seeing it divided up in such a way, that was my first thought...

Looking at how it was divided up it appeared to me that you are curious if a respondit's gender would play a factor in how they voted.

[LoZoccolo]

16. I do think a pattern will emerge, yes.

But I am prepared to be surprised by it.

[blondeatlast]

70. Not much of a pttern there so far. nt

[mongo]

81. Why do you think a pattern will emerge?

I seem to detect an underlying bias...

[Faygo Kid]

4. None of the above. I should get it. I will share with DUers who agree.

Absolutely no conceivable reason that I should get it, except I will split it in equal shares with every DUer who agrees with me on this one point.

[Lochloosa]

7. I agree

[Faygo Kid]

14. You absolutely get your cut. Others?

If faygokid gets it - and I never shtupped Anna, or have any other link to this case, except I will split it evenly with every DUer who agrees with me - Lochloosa, you get your cut. If it's just you and me, you get well over $200 million. Par-tay!

[DS1]

26. I am in full agreement with the individual responsible for the statements

made by an online entity which goes by the name 'faygokid'.

[jus_the_facts]

29. I believe I'll sign that document too....

:hi:

[bigwillq]

5. She should get it.

That was still her hubby no matter how weird it seemed.

[spindoctor]

8. I am sure everybody was aware of the arrangements before the marriage

...and for 500 million dollars I would sleep with grandpa for a few years as well. OR he can borrow my wife. Either way I'll get over it.

[elehhhhna]

11. lol "or he can.."

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

24. spindoctor and grandpa, sitting in a tree....

[elehhhhna]

9. He left it to her, and his bunchy 70-something sourpuss son is

already a mega millionaire.


Remember: If you marry for money it's guaranteed you'll earn it.


She really was a beautiful woman, and I also think she had a lot of affection for Howard. He sure LOOKED happy.

[LoZoccolo]

15. Mmmmmwellll...

...I haven't read much detail about this case in a while, but I think from what I've heard it said that he did not put her in his will, but made some verbal (took me a while to think of another word for that) agreement with her, so there would be some muddying of this case due to all that. I totally defend her right to gold-dig and his right to buy himself a trophy wife, but I also realize that contract law might get in the way of that in this specific case.

[elehhhhna]

41. State law automatically gives a certian % to the surviving spouse

unless s/he is specifically cut out in writing, iirc.

He knew he married her, and being a self-made buzillionaire probably had SOME familiarity with the law.

[LoZoccolo]

47. Ah, OK.

Yeah then, she should get it!

[Matariki]

34. Look at her hand on his shoulder

it looks like a damned CLAW. ghoulish.

ever see that episode of southpark where Chef falls in love with a sucubus?

[elehhhhna]

42. Yeah she's probably a brilliant scheming demon and he's a simpleton

self-made milioinaire, riiiiiiiight.

Women wore red nail polish a LOT ten years ago, kin. So? I find his hands on HER far, far more repellant, personally.

[petronius]

71. I think it's the hand position (sort of clenched) that looks clawlike

not the color of the nails (at least, that's how I read the post). Still, if neither of them was repelled, why should we care who touched who and where? As much as I'm amused by the Anna Nicole saga, there is something really unseemly in all the interest and all the assumptions and snide comments being made...(and I'm not referring specifically to you or the post you replied to).

[justiceischeap]

12. 5th Option -- Who cares?

Not me! ;)

[BiggJawn]

13. Sure, then she'll pack it all up her nose and we'll be free of her.

One Less Celebrity....

[TallahasseeGrannie]

17. She should get it and give some to me. n/t

[petronius]

18. I don't see why she shouldn't get it, but it's not really that simple

If she's not in the will, it's tougher to ascertain what he really wanted, and he did give her millions of dollars worth of gifts. She claims he promised and the son committed fraud to hide evidence of the promise - I can't have an opinion either way without being in the courtroom to hear the arguments.

However, if she's given 500 million, I know she'll behave in a far more entertaining way than the son, so I do hope she wins!

[LostinVA]

65. In most states, legally a spouse automatically gets a certain

percentage of the estate, unless she is specifically written out of the will... and even then, she gets something. It is very difficult and rare to have one spouse screw over the other in a will, even with a pre-nup.

[petronius]

72. Fair enough - it's really just a garden-variety he said/she said

except that one is old and one is (was?) hot. We can all have fun speculating and snarking, but ultimately I'd bet the court will get it right...

Fortunately, I've never had any experience with probate issues, so I can't make any informed comments about what she is entitled to (although obviously I still comment!)

[PatrioticLeftie]

19. She only

Married him for the money

[LostinVA]

66. Who cares? Did he marry her for her intellectual conversation?

She was legally his spouse, and his "kid" is a rich senior citizen who needs to get over it.

[KG]

20. who is Anna Nicole Smith?

is she an Oasis fan?

[blondeatlast]

63. She runs the fansite, I'm told. nt

[Beelzebud]

21. I don't give a shit.

[MrSlayer]

22. He wanted her to have it, she should have it.

Hell I'd say she earned it.

[Booster]

25. If prostitution were legal, she would have gotten it already. I do

think she deserves either a third or even half, but let's face it, she did it for the money.

[Obamarama]

27. Who the fuck cares? Anna Nicole is an anacephalic bimbo.

Total waste of carbon. Could anyone/anything be less significant than this whiny, insispid blob of estrogen?

[Pithlet]

28. Estrogen?

[pitohui]

37. are yr marital rights significant? a lot of ppl do care

a lot of ppl do feel that marital rights are important & worth fighting for, that's why we have the whole gay marriage thing coming to the fore -- gay couples KNOW that the protections offered by marriage are valuable and worth fighting for

jealous in-laws should not be able to make a grab for what i have legally inherited from my own damn husband

it shouldn't be abt personalities

[Obamarama]

58. Actually, I'm gay so you can save the lecture on marriage rights.

My partner and I are well aware of the legal implications of being declared null and void by the legal system.

If this had a remote possibility of being portrayed in the media as a legal issue, I'd keep my mouth shut. But you know and I know it's going to turn into a fucking ridiculous Anna Nicole media merry-go-round, and that's something I think we can ALL do without. She's a brainless bimbo and it's regrettable she's about to be catapulted to evening news status.

[Catherine Vincent]

30. She should get something for being intimate with that old coot.

[alarcojon]

61. WAS she intimate with him?

In court, Pierce Marshall argued that her claims were absurd, not least because the marriage was never consummated. He also claimed that his father was senile when he married her.

Next paragraph - she referred to him as "Paw-Paw."

:puke:

[fujiyama]

31. Was the man coherent when he married her?

or wrote his will?

If so, the will is his will...and if he said she should get a big cut, then that's that.

[Matariki]

32. just like *my* evil step-mother got all my inheritance?

nah. not that much anyway.

[WA98296]

It was his to give, he gave it to her.

[spacelady]

43. Yes, let's put to rest the "I am related , I am entitled" mentality--

anyone who has something to bestow when they die should be entitled to make their bequest. (even though it may make someone unhappy)

[Generator]

33. Yes and I don't have a good reason why

She's extremely annoying and has done nothing for the world. Well, maybe something but does anybody deserve that amount of money? No.So why not her?

[pitohui]

35. she was his damn WIFE

she should get every penny

there is no law i'm aware of that a wife should not inherit her spouse's estate if her tits are too big to suit the jealous in-laws

the wife's right to inherit from her spouse should be absolute

[LostinVA]

38. The money is legally hers, and the "children" squawking about it

Aren't exactly destitute. I think it's icky, but the old guy had a right to disperse his money how he wanted.

[elehhhhna]

49. Yeah! The 70-something child should grow up.

If not now, when?

[LostinVA]

68. And he acts like the money should be his because he's a scion

So frigging WHAT? He's not legally entitled to a cent.... Wealthy, spoiled, whiny SOB. Leave Anna Nicole alone... I find her very pathetic, but I also feel very sorry for her. It's just rank classism.

[bridgit]

39. sure, why not, he was of consenting age to say the very least...

[Blue_Tires]

40. the truth is the matter is that

the lawyers are gonna end up getting it before its all over---fwiw, i voted no

[bamacrat]

44. Is that enough for having sex with a 100 year old man.

[Proud2BAmurkin]

45. she can't help it if she's luckier than larry king's wife

and didn't have to do him that long

[elehhhhna]

56. make that 'wives" multiplural. several escaped.

[PowerToThePeople]

46. None of the above.

She should get a small percentage, the rest should be used for the common good through the inheritance tax.

[philosophie_en_rose]

48. Her deceased husband had a right to give his money away...

to burn it all up...
to throw it away...
to give it to me... {alas! :P}

If he wanted to give it to her, she should have it. The bottom line is that his children aren't entitled to money that their father wanted someone else to have.

It doesn't matter if they were married for one day or fifty years. I don't think it would even matter if they didn't know each other at all. People have the right to give their money to whom they want.

Am I disappointed that Anna Nicole Smith might profit, when there are so many better uses for the money? Sure. But that's not my call, as it wasn't my money in the first place.

[Neshanic]

50. Yes, and her and her two "dependents" should get geezer's cash.

[mitchum]

51. She worked A LOT harder for the $$$ than any of his heirs

[Neshanic]

52. I'll say. Can you imagine the physics alone involved to make it work?

She did that gig, he was happy. Case closed.

[ozarkvet]

75. Those who marry for money

Earn every penny.

[incapsulated]

53. Anna Nicole Smith is the Patron Saint of Gold-diggers

Show her the money. She earned it, right and proper.

[targetpractice]

54. Texas... letter of the law...

She doesn't deserve it, but that's the letter of the law in Texas.

It'll be interesting to see how the conservative strict constructionists of the Supreme Court decide this one.

[Hello_Kitty]

55. By law, she is due that inheritence.

She was an adult. He was an adult. She married him, therefore she is as entitled to the part of his estate as any spouse would be. His kids are greedy assholes. I'd much prefer Anna Nicole get that money then them.

[Bassic]

57. She married him for the money

But then he knew that and married her anyway, so now she should get the money.

[radwriter0555]

59. Exactly, and she wouldn't have married him if he HADN'T promised her to

take care of her financially for the rest of her life.

She's no dummy.

[Bridget Burke]

60. Pierce Marshall also fought his brother for the estate...

The younger brother won an earlier case against his elder brother & stepmother. (J Howard Marshall II left half his money to charity.)

www.houstonpress.com/issues/1998-12-03/news/feature3.html

Both the sons are already wealthy. The older one went into business on his own while the younger stayed closer to home. Some of J Howard Marshall III's maneuvering had given his father good reason to cut him out of the will.

The old guy fought for his fortune but his sons wanted for nothing--nothing monetary, at least. Did he sometimes consider them spoiled? Did he chuckle, imagining those dignified pillars of society squabbling over his money in a public court? The presence of his flashy widow guaranteed plenty of press coverage.

J Howard Marshall II was married twice before meeting Ms Smith. Lady Walker, also a topless dancer, was his girlfriend before the third marriage; she died while having plastic surgery.

[all.of.me]

62. only if she builds affordable housing with it......

;)

[ProdigalJunkMail]

64. if it is in the will of a man assumed to be sane at the time of writing

then Yes...

subjectProdigal

[ozarkvet]

73. Will

I understand the written will to state that he gave her zippo.

She claims "oral" contract or some B.S.

She had a jury trial; they poured her golddigin butt out.

[mondo joe]

67. Forgotten categories: "Ys, she should, and I am an 86 yr old billionaire."

"No, she shouldn't, and I am a 60+ yr old sourpuss."

[Qibing Zero]

69. Where's my 'Yes, but this doesn't deserve to go to the SCOTUS' option?

In all actuality, I don't care one way or another about the woman, and this case getting to the supreme court while others that are more deserving don't shows exactly what our country is based on these days.

[dooner]

74. Give it to her, she made him happy and

the trickle down will be good for Hollywood economy.. it looks like it takes a whole lot of crap to hold her trashy act together, so she'll be spreading that dough around.

[onenote]

76. after all these years of litigation, haven't the lawyers gotten it all?

[paineinthearse]

77. Who the hell is Anna Nicole Smith?

Sorry, is she an entertainer? I'm out of that loop.

[onenote]

78. try google

but if you're sensitive, make sure you've got your porn filter on...

onenote

[paineinthearse]

79. thanks for the warning

but no thanks, I don't go into pop culture. If the person is not elected or appointed to the executive, or is on CSPAN, I tend to ignore them.

[McCamy Taylor]

80. He squandered his son's inheritence on big tits. Good for him.

Too bad the son is such a greedy rat bastard.