The Supreme Court decided today that it will consider if dearly departed model and reality star Anna Nicole Smith should get part of her oil tycoon husband's billion-dollar estate. The funny thing about this case is everyone involved is dead.

The Supreme Court first heard this case in 2006 and ruled that Smith could continue to pursue the $300 million she claimed that her late husband, J. Howard Marshall, supposedly promised her. The Court never ruled on who deserved the money, though, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Houston later awarded the entire $1.6 billion estate to Marshall's son, Pierce. Howard died in 1995, so this thing has battle has been going on for nearly 15 years.

Now the Supreme Court will rule just who gets all the cash. Whatever they decide, neither Smith, who died of an overdose in 2007, nor Pierce Marshall, who died in 2006, will ever see a dime. Their awards will go to their respective estates, and if Anna Nicole gets any cash, it will be passed on to her daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead. Goes to show you that while you can't take the money with you, but the legal proceedings will drag on long past your death.

[Image via Getty]