Anna Nicole's Estate Wins Millions in Sanctions

The daughter of late model Anna Nicole Smith, Dannielynn could be awarded as much as $49 million in sanctions from the estate of E. Pierce Marshall's son of Anna Nicole's once-husband J. Howard Marshall, per court orders.

According to Forbes, a California federal judge has ordered Marshall's estate to "pay sanctions over 'massive discovery abuse' in the Koch Industries heir's scorched-earth legal battle against his stepmother, the late 'Playboy' model Anna Nicole Smith."

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For over a decade, Smith's estate has been attempting to recover hundreds of millions of dollars from the estate of her husband J. Howard Marshall, who died in 1995 at the age of 90, a year after he married the then-26-year-old model.

The sanctions against the estate of E. Pierce Marshall, who passed away in 2006, were issued due to his alleged attempts to delay the transfer of wealth to Smith's estate, including purportedly "shipping crucial legal documents to a lawyer in Lake Charles, La. to try and keep them out of the hands of Smith’s lawyers."

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Forbes reports that the judge didn't specify the monetary amount of damages but suggested last March that it could reach up to $49 million.

"This is a complete vindication of Anna Nicole's rights and a total condemnation of what was done to her," Phil Boesch, lawyer of Smith's estate, told Forbes. "We are confident that the amount Anna's estate and daughter Dannielynn will finally be awarded will be fair and substantial."

The judge set a hearing for Dannielynn and the Smith estate's lawyers to request sanctions on August 13.