Nicole Smith Daughter Dannielynn Birkhead May Inherit $49 Million

Anna Nicole Smith and Larry Birkhead's 6-year-old daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead, may become a multi-millionaire soon Forbes reports.

Wednesday, May 29, a federal judge in California put an end to the more than decade-long effort by Smith's estate to nab some of the massive fortune amassed by her unlikely and elderly husband, J. Howard Marshall II, who died just a year into their marriage. The judge also ordered sanctions against the estate of his late son, Pierce, for using delaying tactics in his case against Smith.

"Pierce's bad faith conduct was too pervasive and too egregious to be ignored, despite the fact that he has since passed away. It would promote disrespect for the authority of the federal courts to turn a blind eye to actions that so willfully and blatantly attempted to make a mockery of this justice system. Further, it would reward a party for win-at-all-costs tactics, to the deprivation of his opponent. Such behavior cannot be condoned," U.S. District Judge David O. Carter said.

The legal battle has been going for more than 10 years with Smith's estate attempting to recover hundreds of millions of dollars from the huge estate of her husband, estimated to be between 500 million to 1 billion dollars.

Smith died of a drug overdose in 2007 but her fight for estate has kept her in the news. J. Howard died at the age of 90 in 1995 but failed to put his wife, Smith, in his will.