Smith dropped out of high school at age 14 in 1982, married in 1985, and divorced in 1993. In 1994, her highly publicized second marriage to 89-year-old billionaire J. Howard Marshall resulted in speculation that she married him for his money, which she denied. Following Marshall's death in 1995, Smith began a lengthy legal battle over a share of his estate. Her cases reached the Supreme Court of the United States: "Marshall v. Marshall" on a question of federal jurisdiction and "Stern v. Marshall" on a question of bankruptcy court authority.