Anna Nicole's Will Should Have Been Updated.

The headlines in the news for the past week focused on the untimely death of Anna Nicole Smith. One major topic of discussion was her Last Will and Testament and how it disinherited after born children.

Without picking apart what is wrong with the Will from a drafting standpoint ... she violated one of the tenets of estate planning -- make sure your estate plan is up-to-date.  Any changes in your family structure as it relates to your estate plan should be incorporated as soon as possible. This includes death, marriage, birth or divorce in your family.

Here, Anna Nicole's son died and her daughter was born -- these are two changes that should have been reflected in a codicil or a new Will. Of course, it may take anyone more than a few months or five months to see an attorney to update a Will after the death of a loved one, but she time to make a change in her Will to include her newborn child before giving birth.

It is also likely that if Anna Nicole had significant assets (no, I am not talking about those) then she may have had a trust. Trusts are private instruments not subject to public scrutiny unless it becomes part of a litigation matter.

If she had a trust, her Will could have been a "pour-over" Will. A pour-over Will is drafted so that any assets not already in her trust will be devised to her trust via a probate proceeding. Anna Nicole's Will is not a pour-over Will.

For a pdf version of Anna Nicole Smith's Will, click here.

Updated 2-27-2007, a pdf version of her Will is now being circulated with the last page indicating witnesses' signatures. Apparently one witness is Howard Stern's former colleague and another witness was an actress that appeared in Wasabi Tuna with Anna Nicole.