Anna Nicole Smith and the Probate Exception

On Tuesday the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the case of Vickie Lynn Marshall v. E. Pierce Marshall.  This is the so-called Anna Nicole Smith case (Vicki Lynn Marshall is Ms. Smith's real name) which I have mentioned before:

Anna Nicole Smith and the Best.Correction.Ever (8/4/05)

Anna Nicole Smith Goes to the Supreme Court (9/27/05)

More on Anna Nicole Smith's Probate Cast (10/7/05)

As I noted in my October '05 post, once you set aside the joking about the case, there are some very important legal issues involved.  These two recent articles do a good job of explaining the controversy:

"As Date With Playmate Approaches, High Court to Ponder Jurisdiction Issue," by Brenda Sapino Jeffreys, published at law.com

"Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington," published at the website for Foley & Lardner LLP