Big Picture

Good Morning, Nicki! Plus, Daniel Radcliffe works his magic and Bruce Jenner blasts to the past. Get the latest pics!

MORE PHOTOS +

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.

Fashion Police

Michelle's Major Moment! Plus, Blake Lively and Salma Hayek. Rate the highs and lows!

MORE PHOTOS +

Top Galleries

MORE PHOTOS +

Our Partners

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.

Anna Nicole Estate Still Up In Heir

Tue., Dec. 4, 2007 3:12 PM PST by Gina Serpe

Dannielynn Hope Marshall Birkhead is the sole remaining offspring of Anna Nicole Smith. Whether she's also the model's sole remaining heir has yet to be determined.

A Los Angeles judge has postponed a hearing to rule on executor Howard K. Stern's request to name the 15-month-old girl the lone beneficiary of Smith's estate to give papa Larry Birkhead adequate time to respond to the motion.

However, unlike the last time Stern, Birkhead and Dannielynn's names were on a docket, this time around, everyone appears to be on the same side.

Lawyers for both men told Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff Tuesday that there was no dispute over the rights of Dannielynn, chalking up the delay in the hearing as nothing more than a legal courtesy.

"We're absolutely united in doing what's best for Dannielynn," Stern's lawyer, Bruce S. Ross, said. "It's just a matter of putting all our ducks in a row."

In October, Stern filed a motion seeking to establish the tot as the sole heir to Smith's estate, which could potentially be worth hundreds of millions of dollars if Smith's lawyers manage to collect a disputed sum from her late husband, oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II.

As it stands, Smith's will was drafted in July 2001 and named only her son, Daniel, as her heir. The document was not updated in the five months between Dannielynn's birth on Sept. 7, 2006, Daniel's death three days later, and Smith's own passing on Feb. 8.

In his petition, Stern argued that "as a matter of law, Dannielynn is a pretermitted heir," meaning, although the girl did not even exist at the time the will was last updated, she, as Smith's offspring, is still in line to be an inheritor.

While the estate is currently in probate, should Stern's motion be approved by the court—and remain unchallenged by Birkhead—then Dannielynn would never want for Binkies.

At the time of Smith's death, her personal assets were worth about $710,000. However, she was also awarded $474 million from the Marshall estate in 2001, a judgment that was later reduced to $88 million before being overturned by an appellate court. In May 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that Smith could again pursue her claim in federal court.

Stern appears to be banking on a court reinstating that multimillion-dollar sum. He filed a creditor's claim in Los Angeles Superior Court in October, requesting 6 percent of any money Smith's estate recovers from the Marshall inheritance. Stern cited a contingent fee agreement on file from 2001 stating that he's entitled to a portion of the proceeds as a lawyer on the initial fight against the Marshalls.

Neither Stern nor Birkhead appeared in court Tuesday. The new hearing is scheduled to take place Jan. 7.