MIAMI -- Anna Nicole Smith never
finished high school, but the strange twists of the model's life --
and now her death -- are helping teach lessons at law schools
around the country.
Even before her death last month, Smith was a case study for
students of estate law. Her lengthy, widely publicized court feud
with the family of her late husband, Texas oil tycoon J. Howard
Marshall II, over his estate landed them in at least one widely
used textbook, "Wills, Trusts and Estates."
Now, because of a poorly drafted will and the courtroom fights over
her burial and custody of her infant daughter, law professors are
finding her troubles can again serve as an example to
students.
Professors say that over the past month they have answered
questions about court proceedings in the case or have used Smith to
illustrate an issue in class. Some have even distributed and
discussed copies of her will.
"The students were asking right away -- 'When are we going to talk
about Anna Nicole Smith?'" said Susan French, a law professor at
the University of California, Los Angeles. She assigned Smith's
will as reading material and discussed it in class.
French and other professors said Smith's case brings up good points
for discussion and touches on issues covered by their
classes.
For example, what happens if children are born after a will is
written, as Smith's infant daughter was? What happens if a
beneficiary dies before the will's creator, as Smith's son
did?
One clause, in which Smith appears to disinherit future spouses and
children, is particularly intriguing for law classes. It's
something a man would write if he might have illegitimate children,
professors said. Why would it be in Smith's will? Was she an egg
donor? Did she give a baby up for adoption? Or, was it just
language carelessly copied from a template?
Smith's will also illustrates one common flaw, that many wills
don't include a contingency plan, said Stephen Urice, a professor
of trusts and estates at the University of Miami.
Urice's students also read Smith's will and discussed its flaws in
class.
"It was enormously helpful," student Lou Mandarini of the classroom
critiquing of Smith's will.
Unlike Smith's case, fresh from the headlines, most classroom
examples seem divorced from daily events, said Sean Carney, a law
student at the University of California, Davis.
"Even though the cases we read about come from the real world they
come bound in a big fat book," Carney said.
Two professors who expect to confront Smith's case again are New
York University's Robert Sitkoff and Northwestern University's
James Lindgren, editors of "Wills, Trusts and Estates," in which
Smith previously served as an example.
Sitkoff is teaching the subject at Harvard this semester, and
received e-mails from students asking questions about Smith even
before he brought her up in class. Lindgren was surprised when a
class of international students also expressed interest.
Smith will likely remain in their book's next edition, both said,
partly because students enjoy cases with recognizable
participants.
"There can be contracts cases with Elvis. It does make it easier to
teach," Lindgren said.