It took the United States Supreme Court to hush the cries of a greedy driven estate of a former strip-club dancer.  After 15 years, the Anna Nicole Smith case in which she fought for her deceased husband's money, has now come to an end.  Anna Nicole's quest has failed. 

After meeting J. Howard Marshall, II at a strip-club, Anna Nicole Smith married the 90-year-old Texas oil billionaire before he passed away a year later.  Anna Nicole was 60 years younger than Mr. Marshall.  Even though she was given over 8 million dollars during the one year marriage, Anna Nicole argued that she was entitled to her late husband's 1.6 billion dollar estate.  Mr. Marshall's son claimed otherwise, and the Supreme Court ruled last week that the billionaire's son was the rightful heir.

The case started in Texas probate court and moved up and down various courts throughout the country before the final Supreme Court ruling.  The case also survived the death of both the people fighting--Anna Nicole Smith is now dead, and so is Mr. Marshall's son.  Anna Nicole claimed that Mr. Marshall's son wrongfully prevented the elderly billionaire from changing his will and trust documents to include Anna Nicole.

There are many lessons we could chose to learn from for this story. Like using a bypass trust to make sure that children aren't disinherited in the event an elderly spouse remarries.   And working with an experienced estate planning attorney when a family fight does start to prevent emotions from causing a mere disagreement to blow up into a protracted court fight. And, of course, warning families to be on the look out for undue influence as a means to exploit seniors.  Your estate may not be worth billions, but the principles here apply to everyone.