The disputed Horizons mansion where the late American celebrity Anna Nicole Smith lived. (AP Photo)
Disputed Horizons Mansion Up For Sale
By Quincy Parker
South Carolina real estate mogul G. Ben Thompson has put the $950,000 Eastern Road mansion where the late Anna Nicole Smith lived on the market, and is hoping to get as much as $10 million for the property.
Mr. Thompson’s Bahamian lawyer, Godfrey ‘Pro’ Pinder, disclosed that information on Tuesday, and told the Journal that with all the publicity surrounding the water-front estate known as Horizons, his client thinks the property could possibly be worth $20 million in six months.
However, the ownership of the residence is disputed, and has been the subject of an increasingly complex legal battle for months.
A senior, uninvolved lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous due to the high profile nature of the case, took a dim view of the attempt to sell the house.
"Impossible," the lawyer said. "Anyone who bought it would be buying the lawsuit."
According to that lawyer, it would be "silly" for someone to hand over cash for the residence, since the person wouldn’t be able to take possession of the property unless Mr. Thompson is successful in the court battle over the estate.
Wayne Munroe, lawyer for Ms. Smith’s estate, didn’t think it was impossible, but he said that whoever would seek to purchase the house would do so with full knowledge of the lawsuit.
"[It would] take a brave person to buy it from him," he said. "I’ll put it to you like this: I could sell Government House to somebody if they were willing to purchase it from me. What they would discover is (that) what they have purchased, they don’t have title to.
"So whoever were to purchase Horizons would do so subject to the action, and so as a conveyancor, it would be a brave conveyancor who would suggest that he has good and marketable title. That would be a matter for anyone who is willing to purchase Horizons, because the fact of the lawsuit is well known."
Mr. Munroe reiterated that it is indeed possible for Mr. Thompson to "sell" someone property that is the subject of an action.
"What you will get is just that – property that is subject to an action. And so, what will then happen is that if the party that you bought from loses in the action, you get nothing," he said.
"So you could, as it were, buy a chance."
The element of chance is introduced because any potential buyer of the Horizons residence only gets the house if Mr. Thompson wins the lawsuit. If the other side wins, the house would be a part of Anna Nicole Smith’s estate, and anyone who bought the house from Mr. Thompson would be the owner of nothing.
In a court hearing on Monday, Supreme Court Senior Justice Anita Allen adjourned the matter until March 14, when she has set aside an entire day to hear arguments in this matter, beginning with whether the actions brought by Anna Nicole Smith survive her death.
In the meantime, the two injunctions in place continue – Ms. Smith’s lawyers secured the first injunction while she was alive to prevent Mr. Thompson or his associates from setting foot on the property until further order.
Supreme Court Justice Jeanne Thompson granted the second injunction to lawyers from Ms. Smith’s estate the day after the controversial Bahamas permanent resident died suddenly in a Florida casino hotel room.
The second injunction was secured to reinforce the first one, which was secured in order to preserve the status quo pending completion of the litigation in the dispute of ownership of Horizons.
Lawyers for Ms. Smith’s estate felt it necessary to get the second injunction because Mr. Thompson’s associates – specifically his son-in-law Ford Shelley among others – broke the first injunction by entering the premises after she died to "secure" items from within the residence.