
Marshall died in 1995 and by a will left his entire estate to his son Pierce and nothing for his wife Nicole Smith. Smith sued in response, but a Texas probate court granted the entire estate to Pierce Marshall despite claims by Smith that he had conspired to withhold funds promised to her by his father. Smith then made a similar claim against Pierce Marshall when she filed for bankruptcy in a California court. This time Smith won, and the bankruptcy court awarded her over $400 million. This decision sparked years of litigation over whether the determination by the Texas probate court or the California bankruptcy court prevailed. Smith died in 2007 from what was determined to be an accidental overdose, but her estate continued the legal fight to keep her portion of the estate. "We conclude that, although the [California] Bankruptcy Court had the statutory authority to enter judgment on [Smith's] counterclaim, it lacked the constitutional authority to do so," Chief justice John Roberts wrote. Roberts began his opinion with a paragraph-long quotation and alluded from Charles Dickens' "Bleak House" to highlight the fact that none of the original parties to the lawsuit lived to see its result.
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