Ex-Playmate fights for husband’s fortune in top court
Several justices said they were concerned that the one-time Playboy Playmate was kept from pursuing a piece of her late husband’s fortune.
“It’s quite a story,” said Justice Stephen Breyer.
Smith married oil tycoon J Howard Marshall II in 1994 when he was 89 and she was a 26-year-old topless dancer in Texas. Marshall died the following year. His fortune has been estimated at as much as $1.6 billion (€1.3bn).
One of his two sons claims he is the only heir.
Breyer said there was evidence that the son hired private detectives to keep Smith away from her elderly husband’s bedside.
Smith’s claim is simple, said Justice David Souter, “just give me the money I would have had”.
Justices criticised arguments that only a Texas court had jurisdiction to settle the nasty family feud.
“That’s just not the way our system works,” said Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the only woman justice.
Photographers swarmed Smith and her attorney as they left through a side door of the court after the hearing. Earlier, when she arrived, several photographers were knocked to the ground in their zeal to get a picture of Smith, dressed in a knee-length dress, high heels and black sunglasses.
Smith was awarded €400 million by a federal bankruptcy judge. That was later reduced by a federal district judge and then thrown out altogether by a federal appeals court on jurisdictional grounds.
The high court’s eventual ruling will determine whether Smith gets another chance at part of Marshall’s estate.
The justices are dealing with a technical question: When may federal courts hear claims that involve state probate proceedings? Smith lost in Texas state courts, which found that E Pierce Marshall was the sole heir to his father’s estate.
Marshall showered Smith with €5.5m in gifts that included two homes and €2.3m in jewellery and she contends he also promised her half his estate.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
