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U.S. Census Bureau figures listing Texas as home to four of the nation's 10 fastest-growing cities is welcomed news in many quarters yet this designation also portends that increased numbers of people are likely to be impacted by estate abuse and other probate issues currently threatening Texans' personal and property rights as well as their heirs' rights of inheritance.
On June 25, Marshall v. Marshall, the Texas case which started nearly 15 years ago with Anna Nicole Smith trying to extract money from the estate of her late husband, J. Howard Marshall II, returned to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals as arguments were heard (audio) from attorneys representing the estates of Smith and Pierce Marshall, the primary heir and now-deceased son of J. Howard Marshall II. Fantasy Claim Spawns Nightmare Litigation provides detailed background on this litigation saga.
Smith's challenge is a classic Involuntary Redistribution of Assets (IRA) effort and if her team were to prevail, it could ultimately disrupt American rights of inheritance with regard to a person's ability to designate heirs and plan a final distribution of their assets. With this case having a direct tie to the Texas probate system and with our state's current growth status, the disposition of Marshall v. Marshall could impact numerous Texans (old and new) as well as their intended heirs or beneficiaries.
While Marshall v. Marshall is about a multi-million dollar estate and just one example of estate abuse, families of far more modest means are similarly being targeted. The idea of Texans experiencing their estates being looted should be unacceptable. Equally unacceptable should be a state luring people from other parts of the country by advertising a high "quality of life" experience only to then allow death to spawn a disregard of their final wishes and a legal nightmare for their legitimate heirs or beneficiaries - especially those who dare stand up to the corruption that can surround probate cases.
Traditional media reports on this topic are sparse due in part to news story competition, case complexities and lengthiness along with fears of reprisal for speaking out. And despite the legal industry often minimizing the occurrence of estate looting actions in addition to characterizing victims as "disgruntled family members" or "would-be heirs," anecdotal accounts of probate abuse abound.
Grave robbers, property poachers, asset looters, walker stalkers. Because of these type people – with death or disability or incapacitation – your property is at risk, your assets become “up for grabs.” That's a terrible image, but it's exactly what's happening today as probate venues or probate instruments are being used to loot assets of honest, hard-working people. In the wrong hands – and those hands are out there - wills, trusts, guardianships even powers of attorney are being used against the people or heirs that these very instruments were alleged to protect!
Upcoming installments of this series will highlight media coverage of estate abuse here in Texas as well as the implications of Texas as a retirement "hot spot." Cases involving the looting of estates are quietly playing out in courtrooms and legal offices across this country - and Texas absolutely has its share. Reform measures are needed, but meanwhile, exposure is an important first step.
With the transfer of wealth that is getting ready to occur in the next 20 or so years, the Involuntary Redistribution of Assets will likely skyrocket. People think proper estate planning will protect them – wrong! People think they don’t have enough assets to be a target – wrong!! There is no inoculation from the threat of IRA. Forewarned, however, is forearmed.
Photo: In this Oct. 2, 2000 file photo, Anna Nicole Smith, right, smiles as she walks to the courthouse with her attorney Howard K. Stern in Houston. (AP Photo)
For more info:
Anna Nicole Smith estate still pursuing Marshall fortune (June 30, 2009)
Horace Cooper on Marshall v. Marshall (May 23, 2009)
Keep California out of Texas court cases (April 22, 2009)
A Modern-Day Bleak House (March 2009)
Comments
The Marshall v. Marshall case is not about a deceased person's last wishes not being upheld. It's about an heir's attempts to deprive another heir's rightful inheritance. You can plan your Estate all you want - if your heirs are corrupt you last wishes will not be carried out properly.
Anna Nicole did not contest her husband's will. She won a claim for what her husband's son had done to her after her husband died.
J. Howard Marshall II's will is not the issue before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The judgement against Pierce Marshall is.
Anna did both challenge her husband's estate plan and her stepson's actions in Texas probate court. His plan was found by a jury to be valid and was carried out according to his wishes, free from corruption.
Actually, all of Anna's claims were about what the son did BEFORE her husband died, not after.
The panel made it very clear that the probate case is at issue in the 9th since it clearly covers the issues against son.
Anna's legal actions were due to having been purposefully excluded from her husband's estate plan. He wanted to provide for her during his life, not upon his death. This case seems first and foremost about initiating a challenge to overturn the honoring of a decedent's wishes - and a Houston jury spent six months on a trial only to conclude that Anna's basis for her claim was lame. The California leg of this little trip was initiated upon seeing that defeat in Texas was likely and a friendlier venue would be required for subsequent legal gamesmanship to prevail. The plan is hopefully in its final stages of floundering, but at huge costs to the Marshall family. This case shows that with some degree of motivation and resources, any estate plan can be erroneously challenged much to the detriment of legitimate heirs.
You are so right: people think estate planning will protect them or that they don't have enough wealth to be in danger and that's so very wrong!
No one is safe from an unlawful and abusive guardianship, because victims don't have to be elderly; they just have to be vulnerable. And we will all be vulnerable at some time in our life.
For more information, visit NASGA at StopGuardianAbuse.org and NASGA-StopGuardianAbuse.blogspot.com.
Forewarned is forearmed!
Yours,
Elaine Renoire
NASGA
I disagree, Observer--this case is ALL about a person's last wishes not being upheld. I can only hope that after almost 15 years, the 9th Circuit Court finally gives the Marshall family the justice they deserve.
The real controlling factor in any estate is the presence (or lack of) a shameless and greedy yet unentitled relative. People of that sort can absolutely throw a wrench into an estate distribution no matter how artfully the estate planning documents were drawn up. In Marshall v. Marshall there was Anna Nicole, who was knowingly and specifically omitted from J.Howard Marshall's will thought she was owed something and proceeded to fight for the rest of her life to try and gain a piece of the Marshall fortune, forum shopping and trampling the rules of civil procedure along the way. The ultimate decision in this case (which seems like it will favor the Marshall family and not Anna's estate) will either take a stand against gold-diggers like Anna or will definitively undermine the foundation of probate law. I for one hope the decision follows the former and not the latter.
You know, it's unfortunate that when the media decides to cover the case, it's only covering the "star" angle. This case represents a serious affront to our ability to control what happens to our assets when we're gone/to care for our love ones after we pass. I truly hope (and expect) that the 9th Circuit will see this case for what it is: not a media circus involving a famous gold digger, but a serious threat to the way our current will and estate system operates.
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