NO MONEY FOR ANNA NICOLE SMITH ESTATE

Anna Nicole Smith

A federal appeals court has ruled on Friday that the estate of the late model Anna Nicole Smith was not entitled to one cent of the more than $300 million she sought from the estate of her billionaire oil baron husband. The 15-year battle over the estimated $1.6 billion fortune left by Texan J. Howard Marshall, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with his late son, Pierce. The court ruling means that Smith's only surviving heir, her 3-year-old daughter Danielyn, will get nothing, lawyers for Marshall said. "It is an instruction that the case is over, and that E. Pierce Marshall's estate wins. Hopefully, this will be the end of it," Eric Brunstad, who represented the Marshall estate, said in a statement to media outlets. Anna Nicole Smith married J. Howard Marshall in 1994 when she was a 26-year-old topless dancer in Houston. Marshall was 89 years old then. Marshall died about a year later, that sparked a mean battle over his fortune between the former Playboy model and his son, Pierce, who died in 2006. Wrangling over the inheritance played out in Texas and California and also reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 2006. Anna Nicole Smith died of a drug overdose in 2007 and was survived by Danielyn, who was fathered by photographer Larry Birkhead. Smith's son Daniel from her first marriage died at age 20 in 2006 of a drug overdose. Before her death, Smith in hearings had argued that her husband promised her more than $300 million after his death, and that Pierce Marshall had interfered with her husband's wishes. But the son said the $7 million in gifts Smith received during the marriage was all his father wanted her to have. Friday's ruling said that federal courts must honor a 2001 decision by a probate court in Texas that found that Marshall did not intend to leave Smith any money after his death. Brunstad said Smith's estate could appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, but he hoped the case was now closed. "The family's position all along is that they have just been trying to vindicate J. Howard Marshall's wishes and to clear Pierce's name. Our position has always been that Pierce ... was just trying to follow his father's intentions," Brunstad said. Pierce Marshall's widow, Elaine, continued defending Howard Marshall's will on behalf of her late husband's estate, and the Marshall family said Friday's ruling vindicated their efforts. "The lies that were told about E. Pierce Marshall have finally been put to rest," the family said in a statement. "Pierce Marshall was never intimidated by Anna Nicole and her bevy of contingency fee lawyers, use of her celebrity and the legal system to try to loot J. Howard's estate."


Editors Note: It is very nice to see everyone is starting to walk away with nothing. This is what Howard K. Stern, Larry Birkhead and everyone else deserved, NOTHING! It amazes me how so many people have filed endless lawsuits against so many people to try to get money they never deserved. We can also only hope that the television shows and tabloids will also stop allegedly paying Larry Birkhead for photos of Danielyn. It is disgusting and makes us sick. We also hope that justice prevails in the California case against Howard K. Stern. It has been years now, with all these people, and it is about time justice is served!

Photos By: Sara De Boer/RD/Kabik/Retna