OK you gurus of estate planning, please enlighten me.

If Anna Nicole Smith was entitled to her dead husband's estate, who would get it now?

Who should get custody of her daughter?

Since the girl was born the bahamas, does this change anything?

I await your sagacious insights.

Good questions Anderson.

Anna's deceased husband's estate will be tied up in "probate jail" for years while the decedent's heirs fight over the right to assets. Therefore, no one gets Anna's dead husband's estate right now.

Custody of Anna's daughter will go to the daughter's biological father, as long as he is fit to be a parent and acknowledges the child as his own. I imagine he will probably accept custody of his daughter, as his child comes with some inherited assets.

The country of birth for the child will not change the child's right to assets as long as Anna's governing instrument (i.e. her Will) vests rights and title to Anna's property to her daughter.

I'm surprised that all Anna had was a Will. I would expect law firms and attorneys to flock at her to gain her estate planning business. She had a respectable gross estate and some serious estate tax issues. This would have translated into some serious estate planning fees!

Steven