How can we be Los Angeles' area based estate attorneys and not comment on the fact that the Anna Nicole Smith case is back in the news? Well, we could leave it to 24-hour cable news but there is one interesting estate law twist here that is not covered by the media.
The California Attorney General has charged one of the co-trustee's of Anna Nicole Smith's estate -- attorney Howard Kevin Stern -- with conspiring to "commit the crimes of prescribing, administering and dispensing controlled substances to an addict" and "unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance." Two doctors, Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevich, have also been charged in this criminal complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Given that the co-trustee of the estate has been charged, this may be grounds for his removal or other action by the other co-trustee who is the father of the sole heir to the estate (the young daughter of Anna Nicole Smith).
What happens when a co-trustee is charged with a crime relating to illegal activities relating to the deceased? We can certainly foresee activity on the estate side of this case flowing from these criminal charges.
The Los Angeles Times has a link to Anna Nicole Smith's will:
http://latimes.image2.trb.com/lanews/media/acrobat/2007-02/27956411.pdf
For the Los Angeles Times article on these charges:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-anna-nicole-smith13-2009mar13,0,6818108.story
Any questions or comments should be directed to: hm@moravecslaw.com or (626) 793-3210.
Henry (Hank) Moravec is a partner at Moravecs, A Professional Law Corporation. He focuses his practice on Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Administration, Beneficiary and Trustee Representation, Tax Law, and Nonprofit Law. The firm website is: http://www.moravecslaw.com/
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