Anna Nicole Smith leaving one of the many court hearings
Imagine how much more pleasant the last years of this man’s life would have been if he hadn’t held such a grudge.
Anna Nicole Smith’s Former Stepson Dead at 67
DALLAS — E. Pierce Marshall, who feuded for years with former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith over his father’s oil fortune, has died, his spokesman said Friday. He was 67. Marshall died unexpectedly Tuesday evening in the Dallas area from a brief and extremely aggressive infection…
Smith married Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II in 1994, when she was 26 and he was 89. He died the following year. Since then, E. Pierce Marshall has been locked in a legal battle over her entitlement to the estate.
The Supreme Court last month revived former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith’s pursuit of her late husband’s oil fortune, ruling Monday that the one-time stripper deserves another day in court.
The Marshalls are worth more money than God and Smith gave the old man some happiness. J. Howard Marshall made choices, and she was one of them. Now the fight his son waged against her for 11 years means absolutely nothing. There’s a lesson in there about what really matters. Hopefully the younger Marshall’s family won’t carry on that particular obsessive and controlling legacy of his, and work out a settlement with Smith. Everyone can then get on with their lives, while they still have them.
While I agree with the sentiments, and while I admit I’ve loved Anna Nicole as a guilty pleasure since she first showed up, I must take issue with the idea that “the fight his son waged against her for 11 years means absolutely nothing.” Pierce Marshall may have been a schmuck, but that doesn’t mean he was legally in the wrong: if this case had really been so straightforward, it wouldn’t have dragged out as long. And while an amiable settlement might be nice, his estate now simply steps into his shoes as far as any still ongoing litigation.
Moreover, I think the US Supreme Court’s decision in this case goes far beyond any amusing specifics, and was dead wrong. Like family law, probate has always been a matter for the state courts, EXCLUSIVELY, because the administration of an estate is neither an action at law nor a suit in equity, and it’s only over those such state issues where a federal court can exercise its diversity jurisdiction. Rightly or wrongly, a Texas state court decided the matter: that’s supposed to be final, and with respect to Texas state law, controlling even on the federal courts. But a federal bankruptcy court in California decided essentially to revisit the issue de novo–without regard for either state law as applied or for the facts as already determined by a state court–and the US Supreme Court essentially said that’s perfectly OK. Let’s be as clear as possible about what happened here: a federal court upset a state court’s decision that was grounded on state law, without any of the parties or the federal court alleging there was any violation of federal law. That’s hardly good for federalism, to put it mildly.
Putting all the legal matters of this case aside I think Tammy is pointing out with this story that life is too short to waste so much precious time in something that in the long run is meaningless. Look at the time and energy wasted in this 11 years that were filled with sadness that could have been more joyfull. I hope they can work out settlement and avoid further sorrow.
Tammy, you seem to be under many illusions when it comes to the Marshall case as well as the family.
First, you believe Pierce Marshall’s last years of his life would have been more pleasant if he had not held a grudge. Your heart is in the right place but you do not understand the facts. Pierce Marshall was the object of Anna Nicole’s grudge. She sued first.
Second, you believe that a persons reported net worth must justify extortion and fraud. A person with alot of money has the same right to be left alone as you or I do.
Third, you believe that whatever happiness Anna gave Howard Marshall justifies what she has put the Marshall family through. That idea is sick and wrong. The jury of 12 in Texas (who knows a lot more about the situation than you or me) did not agree with you.
Fourth, you believe that you know exactly the choices Howard Marshall made. It is certainly true the Anna was one of those choices. It is even more true that his son Pierce was even more important to him. How do we know? Ask the jurors.
Fifth, you believe that Pierce Marshall’s fight was for nothing. This argument makes no sense. Pierce Marshall was not attacking Anna Nicole. He was being attacked by her. Defending yourself is never for nothing. Besides, he already had the money. So he did get to enjoy it the last years of his life. Pierce Marshall was neither obsessive nor controlling and you are out of line to say so.
Pierce Marshall stood up for right and wrong. He stood up for his principles and what he believed in and that is ALWAYS WHAT MATTERS.
“Pierce Marshall stood up for right and wrong.”
Pierce Marshall stood up for $437 … give the girl the money!