Anna Nicole Smith's young daughter is set for a bumper payday after a judge ruled that the six-year-old is entitled to sanctions from the estate of the late model's billionaire former husband, J Howard Marshall.
The oil tycoon was married to Smith for a year when he died in 1995 and the blonde fought his son and other family members for a large cut of his fortune up until her passing from an accidental drug overdose in 2007, reported E! online.
Lawyers for her estate kept up the legal fight, but they were dealt a bitter blow in 2011 when a Supreme Court Chief Justice in Washington, DC overturned a prior ruling to give the tragic beauty's family USD 475 million.
The case returned to court on May 27 and there was good news for Smith's relatives as US District Judge David O Carter found that Marshall's estate representatives had used unsavoury tactics to hide crucial documents from Smith's lawyers during the lengthy legal battle, and ordered the executors to pay sanctions to the model's daughter, Dannielynn.
Phil Boesch, lawyer of Smith's estate, said, "This is a complete vindication of Anna Nicole's rights, and a total condemnation of what was done to her. We are confident that the amount Anna's estate and daughter Dannielynn will finally be awarded will be fair and substantial."
Smith's daughter with her lover Larry Birkhead, could reportedly receive as much as USD 49 million.
Ironically, Smith's romance with the oil tycoon will be detailed in a new TV movie, Anna Nicole, which will air in the US this month.
