Dirty Whorelebrity News

Somewhere right now Howard K. Stern just wiped his brows and said “whew, thank God I didn’t get the kid afterall!”

Anna Nicole Smith’s estate is not entitled to $300 million the deceased actress had claimed was intended as a gift from her oil tycoon husband, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

Smith fought for more than a decade with a son of J. Howard Marshall over a fortune estimated as much as $1.6 billion.

The judges’ newest decision pointed to a Texas jury’s verdict that the money was not a gift as the chief reason for denying Smith’s claim.

“The district court should have afforded preclusive effect to the Texas probate court’s factual findings and relevant legal conclusions,” Friday’s ruling said.

Smith’s attorneys claim that apart from the will and trust, Howard Marshall promised her a share of assets earned while they were married.

Smith claimed that Marshall’s son (E. Pierce Marshall) “used fraud and undue influence” in his father’s last months to have him leave Smith out of his will.

“The lies that were told about E. Pierce Marshall have finally been put to rest,” Marshall’s family said in a written 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.”

(source)