Anna Nicole Smith's Estate Loses Bid for Millions in 'Final' Court Case

A federal judge has seemingly put to rest the 20-year court case dragged on by the Marshall and Smith estates. Ana Nicole Smith's daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead, has continued to fight for what she believes is her mother's rightful chunk of the late-billionaire's fortune. J. Howard Marshall infamously married Ana Nicole Smith when he was 89 and she was 26. Marshall died 13-months later, leaving Smith out of his will, which was estimated at $1.6 billion according to NBC News. 

Smith alleged that although her name was left out of the will, Marshall had personally told her that she would receive around $300 million. What ensued later was a massive legal struggle with different courts coming to different rulings until the U.S. Supreme Court finally stepped in.

The differing court decisions between California and Texas judges made the legal matter a complex issue. Originally, a bankruptcy court in California had ruled that Smith would receive $425 million, while a Texas court found that Smith's claims were unfounded and were thus thrown out. The Supreme Court settled the dispute by ruling that a bankruptcy court did not have the jurisdiction to make a ruling over the entire matter.

Birkhead was shooting for $40 million due to the unethical tactics used by E. Pierce Marshall and his lawyers. Pierce, the son of the former billionaire, stalled court proceedings in California in order to allow the Texas court to make their ruling first.

Pierce died in 2006, followed by Smith in 2007 from an accidental overdose. The court case is so twisted because the original three parties in the matter are all deceased. The battle for the billion-dollar estate lies in the hands of even more relatives now, though Birkhead is virtually left with no other options or appeals according to Forbes.

To this day Smith remains the example of a bizarre 'hypothetical situation,' where as one person asks another if they would marry someone 60-years-older just to receive money in the will. Smith made her gamble and in the end it didn't pay off. Though there were ethical issues on both sides of the aisle, the point remains that legal documents are more binding then simple hearsay. Smith needed to prove that Marshall had included her in the will, but with Marshall deceased, Smith was a long shot to receive any compensation.