LARRY BIRKHEAD AND VIRGIE ARTHUR TRYING TO COME TO A AGREEMENT

'Rich' Larry Birkhead !

A hearing in a Bahamas court on Friday failed to end a prolonged battle over custody of late Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith's daughter, 7-month-old Dannielynn. Larry Birkhead a Los Angeles photographer and former boyfriend of the billionaire's widow, was identified on Tuesday as the father of the baby, who could one day be worth a fortune if Smith's estate wins a decade-long battle to inherit from her former oil tycoon husband J. Howard Marshall. Friday's hearing over custody of Dannielynn, at which Birkhead had been widely expected to be awarded guardianship based on court-ordered DNA tests, adjourned soon after it got under way. Damien Gomez, an attorney for Smith's long-time companion Howard K. Stern, said the hearing was suspended at the request of lawyers for both Birkhead and Smith's mother Virgie Arthur. Gomez did not elaborate. But John O'Quinn, Arthur's lawyer, told reporters Birkhead and his client had agreed to meet privately on Saturday in an apparent bid to reach an agreement over custody of the child. Without any lawyers present, O'Quinn said the father and grandmother of Dannielynn would try "to figure out what they believe is in the best interest of this child and try to get it done." Whatever plan they come up with would then be submitted for court approval, O'Quinn said.

Link

WICKED HOWARD K STERN TO SUE VIRGIE ARTHUR'S LAWYER FOR SLANDER

Anna Nicole Smith and Ruthless Howard K. Stern

Howard K. Stern, Anna Nicole Smith's attorney and partner, filed a defamation lawsuit Friday against the lawyer for Smith's mother. The suit, filed in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, alleges John O'Quinn, attorney for Virgie Arthur, defamed Stern in statements made on television after the actress' death in February. "The lawsuit focuses on Mr. O'Quinn's recent appearances on a number of national television shows in which he has made public accusations of murder and other misconduct against Mr. Stern in connection with the Anna Nicole Smith case," according to a statement released by Stern attorney L. Lin Wood of Atlanta, Georgia. Wood specifically cited a February 21, 2007, interview from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for the Fox News show "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren." "As stated in the complaint filed today, Mr. O'Quinn's accusations against Mr. Stern are false and Mr. Stern seeks to hold him accountable through the civil justice system." O'Quinn could not be reached for comment Friday. In the Bahamas on Friday, attorneys in the custody case surrounding Smith's 7-month-old daughter said the judge wants Larry Birkhead -- declared Tuesday to be the child's father -- and Arthur to come up with a plan regarding access to the child. The two were supposed to meet Thursday but did not. The judge told the parties to get together and appear in court next Friday. O'Quinn told CNN's "Larry King Live" earlier this week that Arthur would not seek any sort of guardianship for baby Dannielynn after Birkhead's paternity was revealed. After the custody hearing, Stern said Birkhead has been visiting Dannielynn at Stern's home, where she has been staying since Smith's death. "At least informally, the transition period has already begun," Stern said. "Larry spent the majority of the last days over at the house getting to know Dannielynn. He's been changing diapers, he's been feeding her, he's been playing with her, and if you ask me, he's been doing a great job." Stern, who is listed as the girl's father on her birth certificate, initially was battling Birkhead in court over paternity until DNA results proved the child was fathered by Birkhead. A hearing regarding the formal transfer of custody is scheduled for next Friday. "If it were up to me, the formal order in terms of giving Larry full custody would have occurred today, but unfortunately it didn't," Stern said.

Link

LARRY BIRKHEAD GETS READY FOR FIGHT WITH WILD AND FUN VIRGIE ARTHUR

Dannielynn Birkhead

While photographer Larry Birkhead was officially pronounced the biological father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby Dannielynn, he might face subsequent legal battles over her custody. However, Anna's late partner Howard K. Stern has made clear he will not challenge Birkhead and he's "going to do whatever [he] can to make sure that he (Larry) gets sole custody." TMZ reported that Birkhead took Stern up on his offer to "spend as much time with [Dannielynn] as he wants to right now," logging several quality father-daughter hours at Stern's Bahamian home on Tuesday night.This leaves only Anna's estranged mother Virgie Arthur as the only possible challenger of Birkhead's rightful custody. However, he's not willing to compromise, and she stands slim chances of winning.Virgie Arthur, Smith’s estranged mother, who wanted to bury her in Texas, after Smith suddenly passed away on February 8, filed paperwork last week asking to be named the child's guardian."All I care about and all I ever cared about is the safety and well-being of my little granddaughter, Dannielynn," Arthur said. "I look forward to working with Larry raising my granddaughter and doing what is very best for her.""I'm happy that Dannielynn will know who her real father is," she said."Essentially, he's the biological father," the court’s DNA expert, Dr. Michael Baird, confirmed."I hate to be the one who told you this, but: I told you so. I'm the father," People magazine quoted Birkhead as saying as he emerged from the courthouse, adding that "My baby is finally coming home. The test was 99.99999…positive.""I think Anna Nicole would have been proud that I fought it," he continued. "Thank you for your support. Thank you for the people who got me this far," he said. "Thank you very much. My baby's gonna be coming home pretty soon," he added.Legal custody was not yet set as it was not the hearing's focus, but another hearing on the baby's custody is already set for Friday."We might go from one fight to another, but I'm hoping that's not the case because, you know, there's only one dad, and I have no problem with anyone that has good intentions being allowed to visit the baby and see the baby and be a part of the baby's life," he told the Today show Wednesday."[Sharing custody] would imply that I'm unfit as a parent, which I'm not," Birkhead said. "I'm looking forward to giving Dannielynn everything that she needs and all the love and support."He has already set up his boast-worthy nursery in his Burbank townhouse. "She's got lots of toys and a nursery ready for her and she's got everything that she's gonna need," he said on the morning show. "All I have to do is just give her the love and that's just what I'm ready and prepared to do."Now we'll have to wait Friday's hearing, hoping this will be settled once and for all and the media can finally move on to dissecting other people's lives.

The Anna Nicole Smith drama has only begun !

Link

ANNA NICOLE SMITH'S MOM CONTINUES WAR

For Virgie Arthur The War Has Only Started

A Bahamian court considered a request to exhume the body of Daniel Smith, son of the late Anna Nicole Smith, for reburial in Texas, where Smith was born. The request was filed by Smith's estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, who reportedly has a letter from the son's father authorizing her to ask the Bahamian courts to order the body be exhumed and buried in Texas, the Bahama Journal said Monday. Arthur tried unsuccessfully to gain custody of Smith's body in a Florida court, then tried to block the funeral in a Bahamian court. She said she wants to bury Smith's body in Texas and has said she wanted to move the body of Smith's son, who died in September, to Texas as well. She filed the exhumation request Friday, the day Smith was buried. Smith died Feb. 8 of unknown causes in a Florida hospital where she was taken after being found unresponsive in her hotel room.

Link

ANNA NICOLE SMITH LAID TO REST BUT THE BATTLE FOR DANNIELYNN WILL CONTINUE

Anna Nicole Smith's Final Resting Place

Former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith was laid to rest Friday with all the pomp and circumstance of a royal funeral, but litigation surrounding a multi-million-dollar inheritance and the paternity of her baby daughter remain very much alive. The principals waging a three-way custody battle over 5-month-old Dannielynn -- Smith's companion Howard K. Stern, her mother Virgie Arthur and former boyfriend Larry Birkhead -- walked into the white-columned church, and for at least a moment their bickering was put aside for the lavish closed-casket service. Smith was then taken to her final resting place in a mahogany coffin draped in a rhinestone-studded pink blanket as police, smartly dressed in white belted tunics and pith helmets, maintained order. Onlookers, mostly Bahamians, spontaneously broke out into the hymn "When Peace Like a River" as the white hearse carrying the 39-year-old blonde bombshell and the rest of the funeral cortege arrived at Lakeview Memorial Gardens. In a last-minute bid to halt the burial, Arthur sought to have Supreme Court Justice Anita Adams grant her client custody of Smith's body, but the Bahamian judge denied it, according to Lilliemae MacDonald, the justice's secretary. That cleared the way for Smith to be buried next to her 20-year-old son Daniel, who died of apparent drug use in September. When the onlookers saw Arthur arrive at the cemetery, they booed. They cheered when Birkhead stepped out of his limo. The guests disappeared under a green tent that covered the gravesite amid tight security. Smith was being buried in a tiara and custom-made, beaded gown, said organizer Patrik Simpson of Beverly Hills, Calif. "Her soul is at rest now. I am satisfied," said Tanisha Grant, a local restaurant owner who was friends with Smith. For the funeral, Grant wore a short black cocktail dress that Smith had given her a few months ago, telling Grant it no longer fit her. Some tourists were amazed at all the security and media. "She's got a presidential kind of media frenzy going on," said Christie Rathgaber, a 59-year-old nurse from Columbus, Ohio who happened by the Mount Horeb Baptist Church, where services were held. "I'm just incredulous at all the fuss," she added. "She was not a world figure. She was not a queen. She was not a president. She was not anything ... It's just way over the top." Hundreds of islanders and tourists crowded behind steel barricades outside the church. Rock guitarist Slash, formerly of Guns N' Roses, was spotted going inside. "Today we share our grief with all of you," said Richard Milstein, the court-appointed advocate for Dannielynn. "Today we come to you to carry out the final, most sacred, solemn act provided to any individual." There appeared to be fewer than 100 guests overall at the church service, which was closed to all media but Entertainment Tonight. An organizer said about 300 had been invited to the private ceremony.

Now Lets Concentrate How Much Money Howard K. Stern Has Made Off This Death. He Should Be Taken To Court And The Money Should Be For Dannielynn.

Link

ANNA NICOLE SMITH'S MOM FIGHTS ORDER

Virgie Arthur Fighting Burial

Probably inspired from the James Brown saga, the Anna Nicole Smith soap opera continues to get more and more sickening. Her body, wanted and used by many men, didn't seem too well even when she was alive, but prospects are much worse now after a much-delayed embalming and, now, burial. Medical examiner Joshua Perper said Smith's body was decomposing faster than expected and should be visible for viewing no later than today, the Miami Herald reported Wednesday. Anna Nicole Smith's estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, filed an emergency request Friday to block her burial in the Bahamas. Her body was previously awarded by Broward County Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin, aka "The Sobbing Judge," to 5-month-old Dannielynn, who is represented by a court-appointed professional guardian.The guardian, attorney Richard Milstein, said that Smith would be buried next to her son, who died in Bahamas last year. However, Milstein gave no time frame."The Broward County medical examiner is ordered to release those remains to Milstein in accordance with Milstein's direction," Judge Seidlin said. "Milstein is directed to consult with Virgie Arthur, Larry Birkhead and Howard K. Stern with respect to disposition of Anna Nicole Smith's remains. But he has final discretion."Seidlin's judicial assistant said the request to block the burial was under review, but the assistant did not know when a ruling would be made, says AP. Attorneys for Virgie Arthur, who instead want Smith buried in Texas, where Arthur lives, are seeking a reversal of Seidlin's decision from the Fourth District Court of Appeal, The Miami Herald reported. The appeals court in West Palm Beach closed at 5 p.m., and Glen Rubin, the Marshal for the court, said no appeal had been filed."We have not received anything," Rubin said to The Miami Herald. Judge Larry Seidlin, a former New York cab driver, was criticized for his apparent unprofessional demeanor during the trial. His wife, Belinda, told ABC that's how Seidlin is -- his emotional outbursts show how much the Smith case affected him. Others say he was just playing along with the Anna Nicole story. "He’s like Judge Judy’s wacky little brother," legal analyst Jefrey Toobin quipped on CNN . The New York Post yesterday called him a "Weepy Wacko," while the Daily News asked, "How Low Can This Judge Go?" and referred to him as "Blubbering Seidlin."Howard K. Stern's attorney, Krista Barth, expressed frustration Friday that Smith's mother waited until the end of the day to file her request. "We could have done this right away. Now it's just delay, delay, delay," she said. What is strange is that Virgie Arthur, Anna Nicole Smith's estranged mother, waited until her daughter's death to "care" for her. However, it doesn't seem a real care, more like an obsession, because it only appears to hamper efforts to finally put Anna to rest. Maybe Arthur feels quilty for not looking after her daughter, maybe before she started off on the wrong tracks which led to her early demise.

Anna Nicole Smith Won't Rest Yet !

Link

FLA. JUDGE SEIDLIN ORDERS ANNA NICOLE SMITH'S BODY TO BE BURIED IN THE BAHAMAS

REST IN PEACE ANNA NICOLE SMITH

Daniel Smith And Mother Anna Nicole Smith

Shock In The Courtroom

The judge (left) presiding over the Anna Nicole Smith burial hearing ruled Thursday that Smith's remains should be given to the guardian ad litem representing her infant daughter, Dannielynn. But the judge said he wants Smith buried with her late son Daniel in the Bahamas. "I have suffered for this, I have struggled with this, I have shed tears for your little girl," Broward County Circuit Court Judge (The Nut) Larry Seidlin said to Smith's mother about 15 minutes before he ruled. He said Smith wanted to be buried next to her son Daniel, and that the flame of her beauty was quickly going out. He also urged all the possible fathers of Smith's newborn daughter to get a paternity test. A series of final witnesses were called on Thursday, including the former Playboy Playmate's first husband Billy Smith, the father of Smith's son Daniel, who testified by telephone. Billy Smith, whom Smith married when she was 17, said he wished his son Daniel were buried in Texas, but he didn't have the money to exhume him. Billy Smith added that he wanted Daniel buried next to his mother. Smith's ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead took the witness stand for the second straight day Thursday in the Florida hearing about who should get custody of Smith's body, testifying more about how he pleaded with Smith to stop her excessive use of prescription medication while she was pregnant.

CLICK HERE TO GIVE US YOUR COMMENTS

The hearing recessed Thursday after one attorney almost fainted because of a diabetic reaction to low blood sugar. Birkhead testified that Smith — who was 39 when she died Feb. 8 of as-yet unknown causes — came close to death many times. Birkhead also told the court that Smith's most recent companion, Howard K. Stern, repeatedly interfered in their relationship when the couple's problems mounted in May 2006, ignored Birkhead's concerns about Smith's drug use and harassed Birkhead to deny that he was the father of the baby Smith was carrying. Stern and Birkhead have both claimed paternity of the child, Dannielynn, who is now 5 months old. That matter will be handled by a separate court in California, at least for now. "At times, I took her medicine," Birkhead testified. "I was told by Mr. Stern to give it back to her because she needed it to live. In addition to that, I told her over and over, 'Don't. Something's going to happen to you. Something's going to happen.'" Birkhead's voice broke, and he put his head in his hands. Birkhead, a photographer, also said that after he and Smith went their separate ways, Stern called him repeatedly during jobs he was on to tell him to deny that he was the baby's father, and posted nasty things about him on Smith's Web site. Until then, Birkhead testified he often said "No comment" when asked whether he was the father. "I finally agreed [to deny paternity] just to get him off my back," Birkhead testified. "Then he was saying Anna Nicole wanted me out of her life and said I just wanted my 15 minutes of fame." Birkhead also admitted that he did sell photographs showing Smith and him together to prove they'd been romantically involved. "I told Howard and Anna it wasn't fair for him to be saying that. She said, 'You're not the star. I'm the star,'" said Birkhead. "So I released photos to establish the relationship, and as a result of those photos, I have been compensated and will be compensated."

GIVE US YOUR COMMENTS HERE

He said he didn't know off hand how much he was being paid for the pictures, but he said he could get that information to the court. One of Stern's lawyers also showed Birkhead a series of e-mails he allegedly wrote to Smith after their relationship was ending in which he sounded angry and said things like Smith was heading to "the fire pits of Hell." He confirmed that he'd written most of them, but said he didn't remember writing the note that mentioned hell. He confirmed that he'd written most of them, but said he didn't remember writing the note that mentioned hell. For a week, attorneys battling for the remains of have fought with one another, fought off the media and fought for a chance to speak. Now their biggest fight is against the clock. Seidlin had originally set a self-imposed Friday morning deadline to issue a decision in the case, which boiled down to a tug-of-war between Smith's estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, who wanted to bring her daughter's body home to Texas, and her attorney-turned-boyfriend Stern who wanted a burial in the Bahamas. Seidlin said he had no time to waste, since the county's chief medical examiner warned again that a decision needed to be made soon before Smith's body became too decomposed for a public viewing. "I got a gun to my head," Seidlin said Wednesday.

CLICK HERE TO E-MAIL THIS STORY

Seidlin indicated at the start of testimony Wednesday that he wanted to reach a compromise agreement, but it was unclear what that might be. A recess was called for lunch Thursday after one of Arthur's attorneys, John O'Quinn, apparently had a brief diabetic episode because of low blood sugar, and participants ran over him in alarm. He was given something to drink and Seidlin called for a lunch break. Asked whether he'd object to releasing Smith's body to her mother, Birkhead said on the stand that he wouldn't. After Birkhead stepped down from the stand, Houston police officer Troy Hollier, a former bodyguard of Smith's, testified as a witness for Stern's case. He said Smith had expressed negative feelings about her home state of Texas. The last time he saw Smith, said Hollier, was right after her 20-year-old son Daniel's funeral in the Bahamas. He said he was talking to her by the swimming pool at her Bahamas residence. "She said, 'Troy, if anything should happen to me, I want to be with Daniel,'" Hollier testified.

GIVE US YOUR COMMENTS HERE

He also said he'd never seen Smith use prescription medication or any other drugs and he didn't see her taking pills in the period around Daniel's funeral. Daniel died in September of a lethal drug combination. The judge got angry at Hollier's claims that though he knew Smith well, he'd never seen her use drugs — since everyone else had testified that she had been on medication — and asked that he step down from the witness stand. "Something doesn't add up here," Seidlin said. "I'm not buying it." On Wednesday, Arthur testified that her last conversation with her daughter about her burial came more than 10 years ago, when Smith said she wanted to be interred near her idol Marilyn Monroe, whose body is in a Los Angeles crypt. The admission could hurt the woman's fight to have the former pinup laid to rest in her native Texas. "Wherever the stars are buried, that's where she wanted to be buried," Arthur said. Birkhead testified he had had a similar conversation with his ex-girlfriend in recent years. Even Stern has acknowledged the former Playboy model had hoped to be buried near Monroe, though he said she settled on a Bahamian site after her son died last year and the details of the California plot could not be worked out. O'Quinn said after the hearing Wednesday that he'd simply be happy if Smith wasn't buried in the Bahamas. Asked about California he said: "Better than the Bahamas." Wednesday's hearing stretched past the official close of the courthouse and had no shortage of drama. The testimony was peppered with details of Smith's drug use, her sexual liaisons and alleged deals being pursued to profit from the deaths of the starlet and her son. On the stand, Arthur was hammered with questions about any compensation she has or would receive from news organizations for access to interviews or footage after the deaths of her daughter and grandson. She frequently said no to questions about arrangements with specific media outlets, and sidestepped other questions or claimed she didn't understand them. "Have you in any fashion profited at all from the death of your daughter?" asked Krista Barth, an attorney for Stern. Arthur stared for a moment. "I'm trying to process that question," she said. Then Arthur attempted to deflect the attention, pointing at Stern. "He has," she said. The Florida hearing was just a morsel of the legal battle surrounding Smith. At issue in a California court is who fathered Dannielynn, who could inherit millions of dollars from Smith's estate. Smith married Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II in 1994 when he was 89 and she was 26 and she had been fighting his family over his estimated $500 million fortune since his death in 1995.

CLICK HERE TO E-MAIL THIS STORY

Link

JUDGE APPROVES EMBALMING AND ANNA NICOLE SMITH'S WILL IS READ

A judge approved the embalming of Anna Nicole Smith's remains Friday as he tried to broker an agreement among the three people fighting over the former Playboy Playmate's body.Lengthy legal fights still loomed over where she will be buried and who will get custody of her infant daughter. The hearing over Smith's final resting place was already in its third day."We're beginning to give her peace," Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin said.Smith's will was presented to the court as evidence, and Seidlin refused requests by both sides to keep it private. It was to be released Friday afternoon."I don't want any secrets here," the judge said.The proceedings moved out of Seidlin's chambers and into a courtroom to accommodate the horde of media and attorneys. The hearing stopped around noon for the holiday weekend and was set to resume Tuesday.Seidlin warned attorneys he would schedule as many sessions as it takes to resolve the issue. He ordered Smith's longtime companion, Howard K. Stern, who did not attend Friday's hearing, to appear in court Tuesday since he is trying to get control of her remains."This is a struggle for all of us," the judge said. "Let everyone perspire here."Stern claims he is executor of her will and wants her buried next to her son in the Bahamas. Smith's estranged mother, Virgie Arthur (Upper Right), wants her buried in her home state of Texas. Photographer Larry Birkhead hopes Smith's DNA will help prove he fathered the former centerfold's 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn, who could inherit millions of dollars. Stern is listed as the father on the girl's birth certificate.On Thursday, Seidlin ordered that additional DNA be taken, saying he wanted to make sure her body wouldn't have to be exhumed.Smith, 39, died Feb. 8 after collapsing at a Florida hotel.On Wednesday, Seidlin declared Smith's corpse would stay refrigerated in the medical examiner's office until he said otherwise. In California, von Anhalt, the husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, filed legal documents Thursday seeking a DNA test to determine if he fathered the baby. Von Anhalt, who says he is 59, has said he and Smith had a decade-long affair.Also in California on Thursday, the state medical board said it is investigating a doctor who may have prescribed methadone to Smith through a prescription that contained an alias.The Medical Board of California began looking at Dr. Sandeep Kapoor after receiving information about possible misconduct, board spokeswoman Candis Cohen said. Cohen declined to give details on the allegation or its source but said it was connected to Smith.Among other things, the board is investigating whether it is legal to prescribe drugs for someone using an alias, Cohen said. She described the review as routine and said the board is obligated to review all allegations of physician misconduct.A woman who answered the telephone at a listing for Kapoor in Los Angeles hung up when The Associated Press called Thursday.Smith was the widow of Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, whom she married in 1994 when he was 89 and she was 26. She had been fighting his family over his fortune since his death in 1999.

THE WILL IS READ

Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith

Anna Nicole Smith left everything to her son Daniel, who died in September, according to a will released Friday by a Florida court. She also named longtime companion Howard K. Stern as executor, according to the document, written in July 2001. The will was never updated. It does not mention Smith's 5-month-old daughter, DannielynnClouding an already murky legal senario, some language in the will seems to exclude any of Smith's future spouses or children.
Smith's heir or heirs stand to inherit a stake in her longstanding claim to the fortune of her late husband, Texas oil baron J. Howard Marshall II. As executor, Stern is authorized set up and oversee a trust on behalf of Smith's beneficiaries, and to make investments on its behalf. The document is signed "Vicky Lynn Marshall," the name Smith used before finding fame as a Playboy Playmate, Guess jeans model and reality TV show star. Smith's son would have received distributions at ages 21, 25 and 30. Daniel was 20 when he died. The judge overseeing the dispute over the former Playmate's burial ordered attorneys to file a copy of the will, which has been the subject of intense speculation since Smith's sudden death eight days ago. The document could be crucial to giving Stern the legal standing to determine Smith's final resting place -- the subject of a contentious courtroom battle between Stern and her Smith's estranged mother, Vergie Arthur. Stern's attorneys say Smith bought a plot in the Bahamas, next to the plot where her son, Daniel, is buried. He died in September, three days after Smith's baby daughter, Dannielynn, was born at a Bahamas hospital.

BICKERING LAWYERS

Anna Nicole Smith And Larry Birkhead

Besides the lawyers for Stern and Arthur, there are attorneys for Smith, daughter Dannielynn, and Smith's former lover, Larry Birkhead, who is seeking a paternity test to prove he is Dannielynn's father. The lawyers have frequently traded barbs. "The woman sitting across from me was estranged from her daughter. I have people who loved her," sniffed Barth, attorney for Stern, on Thursday. "She stands here today to take her to Texas and put her in the ground all alone. It's sad and it's sick." Retorted Arthur's lawyer, Stephen Tunstall: "Counsel is trying to trash my client in some kind of emotional appeal. My client is her mother. She wants to take her back to Texas to be buried with the rest of the family. She has the right." And so it went, all day Thursday for half a day on Friday and, from the looks of things, for many more days to come. The judge worked hard to keep things on track. "We're trying to balance the rights and respect of the body with the legal issues," Seidlin said. "When we bury her, I want it to be forever," The judge has appointed a guardian, Miami attorney Richard Milstein, to protect the interests of Smith's infant daughter, Dannielynn. He also appointed Kelley, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer, to sort through the competing interests and advise him.
Witnesses, including people close to Smith, are expected to testify Tuesday.

SO MANY FATHERS

Birkhead and Stern each claim to be the father of Smith's nearly 6-month-old daughter, Dannielynn. Stern's name is on the birth certificate. Smith's former bodyguard, Alexander Denk, told CNN's Larry King that he, too, could be Dannielynn's father, saying he and Smith had an off-and-on relationship for years. Denk is the fourth person to claim he could be the child's father. Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband, Frederic von Anhalt, has said he and Smith had a decade-long affair and that he could have fathered the child. He filed court papers seeking a paternity test on Thursday. Seidlin repeated several times that the most important issue to his court was the welfare of the baby. He also stressed the importance of maintaining dignity. "We want to preserve the beauty and model figure of Ms. Smith," he said. "Beauty was important to her, as you all have indicated to me, and we want her to look beautiful when she is placed in her final resting place." Smith, 39, died February 8 after she was found unconscious in her room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood, Florida.
Among the issues the attorneys wrangled over was whether Stern had legal standing to determine a burial place, or even to take part in the proceedings; and who was Smith's next-of-kin under Florida law. Tunstall, the attorney for Smith's mother, argued that Dannielynn did not qualify because a child must be over 18 to be legally considered next-of-kin. The release of Smith's body -- and even the embalming process -- was delayed because attorneys for Birkhead wanted a DNA sample for a paternity test. The judge ordered an additional sample be taken.