The girlfriend of the late Elliott Smith has been told she will see none of the singer-songwriter's money after a court refused to recognise her claim to 15% of his million dollar fortune.
Jennifer Chiba claimed that she was Smith's manager and agent at the time of his untimely death, and that he had made a financial commitment to her, and that she was therefore due 15% of his earnings. But a Californian appellate court this week ruled that Chiba was acting as an "unlicensed agent" of Smith, which means she is not eligible for any of his estate, even though she was managing his finances and affairs at the time of his death.
However, one of the judges hearing the case said that while Chiba had no professional claim to Smith's money, she might have a claim under an implied "co-habitative agreement" which existed, under law, between the couple because they lived together prior to the singer's death. But she would need to go back to court anew to claim monies that way.
Smith, of course, died in gruesome and, some argue, suspicious circumstances in 2003 when, while at home with Chiba, he seemingly stabbed himself in the chest. Officially it was suicide, though the coroner's report at the time was inconclusive as to whether the wounds were definitely self-inflicted.