Mar 4, 2008 4:46 pm US/Eastern
Judge Rules Dannielynn Is Sole Heir To Anna Nicole
LOS ANGELES (CBS4) ―
The subject of a highly publicized custody battle after her mother's sudden death, Dannielynn, the daughter of the late Anna Nicole Smith, will be the sole heir of her mother's estate.
Tuesday not only did a Los Angeles judge make the 18-month-old the sole heir, but he also set up a trust in the girl's name. Larry Birkhead, Dannielynn's biological father, and Smith's executor, Howard K. Stern, were named co-trustees.
In 2001, five years before Dannielynn was born, Smith drafted a will that left her estate to her then only child, Daniel. However, it said the assets in Daniel's trust should be shared equally if she had future children. In 2006, 20-year old Daniel died in his mother's hospital room in the Bahamas while visiting her and his newborn sister.
"We and Mr. Stern always believed that Anna Nicole never intended to disinherit her daughter," Stern's lawyer, Bruce S. Ross, said after the hearing. "I'm pleased to say this chapter in the saga is closed."
Dannielynn stands to inherit millions of dollars if lawyer's for Smith's estate win a court fight over the will of her second husband, J. Howard Marshall, that left much of his fortune to the model. His relatives have been fighting the will for years.
Smith died February 8th in a room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood. The Broward County medical examiner ruled Smith died of an accidental drug overdose of the sedative chloral hydrate that became increasingly lethal when combined with other prescription drugs in her system
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