Anna Nicole Smith's Will -- An Update
I blogged here about Anna Nicole Smith's Will. I said the Will (drafted by an attorney who doesn't appear to be an estate planner) was "a mess."
The Will has been admitted to probate, as per this article. An important point: the admission of a Will to probate doesn't mean that the Will is valid -- you can still prove that someone made the testator sign it (undue influence), or that the testator didn't know what he or she was doing when the Will was signed (lack of capacity), or that other circumstances make the Will invalid. All the judge is doing in admitting the Will to probate is saying that, on its face, the Will appears to be valid. Probate is somewhat unique in the law in allowing this -- it's like "admit first, ask questions later," and in most cases no notice needs to be given before the initial ruling on a WIll's validity is made.
Note the following passage in the above article, which relates back to the drafting of the Will:
Outside court, [attorney for the estate Bruce] Ross said he would eventually present testimony from the lawyer who drafted Smith's will, saying that Smith did not intend to disinherit Dannielynn."There is no provision in the will that names Dannielynn and purports to disinherit her," said the lawyer.
Ross said the attorney who drafted the will would testify that he and Smith discussed the possibility of her having future children.
"She said, `I probably won't have future children, but if I do I would want them to be the beneficiaries of the trust,'" Ross said.
Asked why Smith made a provision to leave everything to her son and to specifically disinherit future children, Ross said, "Anna was concerned that someone would pop up out of the woodwork."
I don't understand Mr. Ross's argument. The Will clearly states that "I have intentionally omitted to provide for... future spouses and children... hereafter born or adopted...." Ms. Smith couldn't specifically name Dannielynn because -- wait for it -- Dannielynn hadn't been born or even conceived when the Will was drafted! Instead, Ms. Smith clearly disinherited "children... hereafter born or adopted," which Mr. Ross seems to acknowledge. Either (1) Ms. Smith intended to disinherit after-born children or (2) Ms. Smith didn't intend to disinherit after-born children, and the drafting attorney better make sure his malpractice insurance is up to date.
