Yes, "Anna Nicole Smith" and "Supreme Court" were just mentioned in the same irony-free sentence.
Smith had sued the estate of her late husband, who died in 1995 at 90 after the two had been married for only a year, maintaining she had been promised $400 million. Smith, born Vickie Lynn Hogan, was 26 when she married the elder Marshall, then 89. Primary heir Pierce Marshall had disagreed with her claim, because his dad's will hadn't mentioned the former Playboy model, stripper and soft-core actress who in February 2008 would die of an overdose.
Smith sued in Texas probate court, where she lost, and California bankruptcy court, where she won. The dispute over which court had the right to actually make such a decision then worked its way through appelate courts, finally landing with the Supremes.
Word from Washington? The bankruptcy court blew it — which means Smith's complaint can finally rest in peace.
Smith, whose son Daniel Smith died of an overdose at age 20 in September 2006, is survived by daughter Dannielynn, whose father was not Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband nor Smith attorney and partner Howard K. Stern but rather one Larry Birkhead, who is raising the toddler as a single dad.
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