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Lawyer Trusts in Dannielynn for Payment

Mon., Oct. 15, 2007 6:33 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

There's apparently no such thing as being too young when it comes to having legal troubles.

The attorney who was appointed to act in Anna Nicole Smith's daughter's best interests during the custody battle over her mother's remains is asking for nearly $200,000 from the one-year-old child's trust account to cover legal fees.

In documents filed in Florida state court in Broward County, Richard Milstein, who served as guardian ad litem for Dannielynn Hope Marshall Birkhead, nee Stern, for about three weeks earlier this year, requests $198,493.98—a sum that Dannielynn's family is already calling preposterous.

"It's outrageous," said Larry Birkhead's attorney Nancy Hass, who along with a lawyer for Howard K. Stern has filed a complaint in Broward County objecting to the request.

"I'm a guardian ad litem, too, and I always reduce my fees when I deal with children," Hass told the Palm Beach Post Monday. "A lot of work produced [by Milstein] was unnecessary."

Milstein, who won custody of Smith's body and adhered to the late model's unwritten wish to be buried in the Bahamas next to her son Daniel, maintains that his request is more than fair.

"This representation required the guardian ad litem to devote significantly all of his professional and personal time and attention to the interests of Dannielynn for a period in excess of two weeks," he states in his petition.

"The three weeks of work entailed the work of five people, not just myself, in order to handle the multiple details involved in handling the trial and funeral arrangements," Milstein wrote in an email to the Post.

Echoed Robert Zinn, president of Milstein's firm, Akerman Senterfitt: "We believe there is no basis whatsoever for the objections to our invoices, given the complexity of the issues, the large number of interested parties and the extremely short time."

A hearing has been set for Nov. 8, at which time the court will help determine the appropriate payment, Milstein said.

Hass and Stern's attorney, Krista Barth, say that Milstein's bill would drain Dannielynn's trust, which was set up in her name after Smith's sudden death of a prescription drug overdose on Feb. 8 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

"That's $900 an hour," Barth told the Post. "People believe the baby is rich. Couldn't be further from the truth. Mr. Milstein even charged for another lawyer at his firm to go to Anna's funeral."

Although Dannielynn stands to inherit up to $500 million if the decade-long battle between Smith's estate and that estate of her late husband, billionaire tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, is decided in Smith's favor, the reality-TV star was worth only about $710,000 when she died.

In June, Birkhead was appointed guardian of Smith's estate and Stern was named as executor of her will, which was drawn up in 2001, before the death of its main beneficiary, Daniel Smith.

Estate attorney Bruce Ross has stated that the late Playboy Playmate would have wanted to include Dannielynn in her will if she had known she was going to have more children and that the two had discussed the possibility of adding another beneficiary.

In their complaint, Barth and Hass also suggested that Dannielynn's grandmother, Virgie Arthur, should be responsible for a portion of Milstein's bill, considering she was the one who objected to Smith's Bahamian burial.

Stephen Tunstall, an attorney for Arthur, has called that request ridiculous, as well, although he agreed with the idea that Milstein was overdoing it.