Anna hit by court ruling

2004-12-31 11:13

Los Angeles - A US appeals court on Thursday tossed out a ruling that awarded former Playboy pin-up Anna Nicole Smith $88.5m from the estate of her late oil-tycoon husband.

Smith, a now 37-year-old former stripper, married Texas billionaire Howard Marshall just 14 months before he died at the age of 90 in 1995, leaving an estate valued at around $1.6bn.

Amid a squabble over the inheritance, a Texas probate court ruled that Marshall's son was his sole heir.

But Smith contested that decision in a California court and won an $88.5m award in 2002.

The judge held that Marshall's son, Pierce Marshall, had blocked a "gift" of money that the old man had intended to bestow on Smith, who was 26 when she married the tycoon in 1994.

But the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday that US District Judge David Carter had no right to overturn the Texas court's decision and make the huge award to the model and reality television star.

The three judges wrote that "it is undisputed that Texas law governs the 1982 trust and the last will and testament of J Howard Marshall" and that the California judge had no jurisdiction over the case.

Smith's attorney, Philip Boesch, said that an appeal to the full bench of the Ninth Circuit was likely.

But Pierce Marshall issued a statement saying that after almost nine years of litigation, he was "very pleased by the judgment... upholding my late father's wishes regarding the disposition of his assets."

- AFP