Washington Times:  “The American bankruptcy system exists for the “honest but unfortunate” debtor, not for those who would use bankruptcy strategically to rewrite obligations just to get a better deal than they could outside bankruptcy. . . . The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is primed to rule any day on one of the biggest potential loopholes – the ongoing Bleak House-style efforts of the late Anna Nicole Smith to obtain the fortune of deceased Texas oilman J. Howard Marshall.”

See Law Professor Todd Zywicki's take on the Anna Nicole Smith appeal in his post today on The Volokh Conspiracy in which he says, “The op ed is based on my article with Marcus Cole on “Anna Nicole Smith Goes Shopping: The New Forum Shopping Problem in Bankruptcy.”

Los Angeles Times:  “The McCourts, who own the Los Angeles Dodgers (so she says; he says he's the owner and she's not), jointly pocketed income totaling $108 million from 2004 through 2009, according to documents Jamie McCourt recently filed in the couple's divorce case in Los Angeles County Superior Court.  On that sum, they paid zero federal and state income tax.”

The Probate Lawyer Blog by Andrew Mayoras:  “Dennis Hopper was already fighting against advanced prostrate cancer.  Now the 73-year-old actor is turning up the heat in his battle against his wife, 41-year-old Victoria.   He filed for divorce in January, and according to published reports, the key factor is his will.  Victoria is a 25% beneficiary under Hopper's will. But, in the case of divorce, the couple's prenuptial agreement says that she gets nothing.”

Wall St. Journal:  “Seven months before Melvin Simon died, the ailing shopping-mall magnate altered his $1 billion will during a three-hour meeting in Asherwood, his palatial home near Indianapolis. A financial adviser had to hold and guide his hand as he signed the revised document, according to court filings.  Now that scene has become the center of a bitter estate struggle pitting Mr. Simon's second wife, Bren Simon, whose inheritance was greatly increased by the new will, against his children from his first marriage.”

This reminds me of a case years ago involving a client of mine who was the sole heir of an Arizona woman who died.  She had a multi-million dollar estate that was left to a woman who was essentially a stranger.  The elderly woman had a stoke on Friday night while hospitalized.  The next morning the medical staff examined her and wrote in her chart that she was comatose, deaf and blind.  Shortly thereafter the prospective heir to the estate arrived in the hospital with a lawyer, notary public and a trust officer from the Valley National Bank.  VNB was the trustee of the woman's trust.  The group left the woman's hospital room with amendments to the woman's will and trust that left everything to the stranger and cut out the blood heir completely.

As you might guess, the blood heir sued the stranger.  In his deposition, the VNB trust officer testified that somebody in the room (I cannot remember who) put a pen in the woman's hand and moved her hand to make […]

New York Times:  “FOR all of the on-screen drama that led ‘Crazy Heart; to three Academy Award nominations this week, an equally poignant tale is unfolding behind the scenes of the film in a battle over the estate of the songwriter Stephen Bruton, who co-produced the ‘Crazy Heart' soundtrack and tutored Jeff Bridges on guitar for his Oscar-nominated role as an aging country singer seeking love and redemption.   The estate battle involves Mr. Bruton’s wife of 13 years, Mary Keating Bruton, a photographer and former model, and T Bone Burnett, the award-winning music producer . . . . “

Wall St. Journal:  “HONG KONG—Police on Wednesday arrested Tony Chan, the feng-shui adviser who lost his claim on the multibillion-dollar estate of heiress Nina Wang, in relation to possible forgery.  Mr. Chan, a former lover of Ms. Wang, produced a will purporting to hand over her real-estate fortune to himself. A Hong Kong judge ruled Tuesday that the will was likely a forgery.  A spokeswoman for the Hong Kong police confirmed the arrest and said Mr. Chan hadn't been charged with any crimes.”

Indy Star:  “In filing, daughter asks that bank take control of billionaire's assets.  A Hamilton County judge has been asked to oust Bren Simon as sole trustee of her late husband's $1 billion-plus estate.  Deborah Simon filed the request Monday to put a bank in charge of overseeing the trust controlling Melvin Simon's massive holdings.  Deborah Simon's seven-page petition says keeping Bren Simon as trustee “would be detrimental to all beneficiaries” of the estate because of the ‘distrust and animosity' between them.”