VitalWills - Will Writing Malaysia

This is a recent case of inheritance dispute. It involves actor and model Anna Nicole Smith. Her wealth and the fact that she did not update her Will after the birth of her daughter, led to a long legal wrangle with several party claiming to be the father of her daughter, Dannielynn. In fact because of the dispute it took some time before it was decided who and where she is to be buried.

The parties making a claim as father and thereby likely being the trustee of the vast estate include long time personal attorney Howard K. Stern, her ex-boyfriend, Larry Birkhead as well as Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, Zsa Zsa Gabor’s husband. Smith’s former bodyguard, Alexander Denk, told CNN’s that he, too, could be Dannielynn’s father. Talk about complicated!

Before her death, Anna Nicole has been fighting for over 10 years for her portion of her dead husband’s (J. Howard Marshall) estate, estimated at US$ 1.6 billion. In effect her share can be in the region of US$ 88 million as reported by CNN. That’s the reason many people step forward to claim paternity of her daughter.

Anna Nicole Smith wrote a Will dated 30 July 2001, naming her only son, Daniel to be the sole beneficiary of her estate. Daniel died a few months before Anna died. The Will was not updated and there is no mention of Dannielynn in the Will.

Even though your relationships may not be half as complicated, it is much better to have your Will updated regularly.

Update

The judge in Anna Nicole Smith inheritance dispute, have ruled that Larry Birkhead, Dannielynn’s father and Smith’s executor, Harry K. Stern, will be co-trustees, with Dannielynn Hope named as sole heir to her estate.