Anna Nicole Smith was at The Supreme Court today (Monday) and the one-time stripper and Playboy Playmate has been told that she could pursue part of her late husband's oil fortune.


Justices gave new legal impetus to Anna Niclole Smith's bid to collect millions of dollars from the estate of J. Howard Marshall II. Her late husband's estate has been estimated at as much as $1.6 billion.


Anna Nicole Smith has been embroiled in a long running cross-country court fight with Marshall's youngest son, E. Pierce Marshall. The court's decision, which was unanimous, means that it will not end anytime soon.

Anna Nicole Smith fought her way through a throng of photographers and autograph-seekers Tuesday on her way to a Supreme Court showdown in her bid to inherit her late husband's fortune.


Anna Nicole Smith didn't say a word and didn't sign any autographs as she and a lawyer tried to slip into a side door of the court.


With millions of dollars on the line, the legal issue, stemming from a nasty family feud over the fortune of Anna Nicole Smith's late husband, J. Howard Marshall II, turns on whether state or federal courts have jurisdiction in the matter.


Anna Nicole Smith, the spokeswoman for a diet product company, was awarded $474 million by a federal bankruptcy judge. That was later reduced by a federal district judge and then thrown out altogether by a federal appeals court on jurisdictional grounds.


Anna Nicole Smith married the oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II in 1994 when he was 89 and she was a 26-year-old topless dancer in Texas. J Howard Marshall died the following year. His fortune has been estimated at as much as $1.6 billion.



The high court was hearing arguments in the case, and the eventual ruling will determine whether Anna Nicole Smith gets another chance at part of Marshall's estate.

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