Anna Nicole Smith won $474 million in her fight over her billionaire husband's fortune, but the Supreme Court took it all away; what happened?

Anna Nicole Smith was an American model, actress and television personality. She became famous after appearing in Playboy magazine and was named Playmate of the Year in 1993. In 1994, she married J. Howard Marshall II, a billionaire Texas oil businessman. Smith was 26 at the time, while Marshall was 89. Marshall reportedly had a fortune estimated at around $1.6 billion. The marriage lasted approximately 14 months before Marshall died in August 1995. Smith did not receive the substantial inheritance she claimed her husband had promised her. Marshall's will largely benefited his son, E. Pierce Marshall. Smith argued that her husband had intended to provide for her financially and that his son had improperly interfered with those intentions.

How did the $474 million award come about?

After his death, Smith began a legal battle over his estate in Texas. She challenged the inheritance arrangements and argued that she was entitled to a share of her husband's wealth.

The Texas probate proceedings did not go in her favour. The dispute then moved into federal bankruptcy proceedings in California. Smith's stepson, E. Pierce Marshall, had filed a defamation claim against her in those proceedings.


Smith responded with a counterclaim accusing him of interfering with her expected inheritance.

In 2000, a bankruptcy judge ruled in Smith's favour and awarded her approximately $474 million in damages. This was a damages award against Pierce Marshall, not an inheritance payment directly from the billionaire's estate. The award was subsequently reduced to approximately $88 million by a federal district court.

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Why did the court reject her claim?

The Texas probate court had already examined Smith's allegations against Pierce Marshall. In 2001, a Texas jury found that J. Howard Marshall was mentally competent when he made his estate arrangements.

The jury also rejected allegations that Pierce had used fraud or undue influence to manipulate his father into excluding Smith. The Texas court upheld the arrangements that left the bulk of the fortune to Pierce.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on March 19, 2010, that the earlier Texas probate judgement took precedence over the conflicting California bankruptcy ruling. In effect, the appeals court concluded that Smith's estate could not use the California bankruptcy proceedings to pursue a claim that had already been defeated in Texas. The ruling dealt a major blow to Smith's daughter.

What happened in the end?

On June 23, 2011, the Supreme Court upheld the Ninth Circuit's outcome, ruling that the bankruptcy court lacked constitutional authority to issue a final judgement on Smith's counterclaim.

The 5-4 ruling was primarily about the constitutional limits of bankruptcy courts, rather than a fresh trial of whether Smith deserved her husband's fortune. By then, both Anna Nicole Smith and Pierce Marshall had died. Their respective estates were represented by legal executors.