Replies

Here is the latest on the Horizons dispute from today’s Bahama Journal :http://www.jonesbahamas.com/?c=45&a=12270

12th April
Lawyer Says Paternity May End House Battle
By Quincy Parker

Larry Birkhead’s confirmation as the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s infant daughter Dannielynn paves the way for an end to the legal standoff centred on the Eastern Road mansion called ‘Horizons,’ according to the lawyer for one claimant to the house’s title.
Godfrey ‘Pro’ Pinder told the Journal that his client, Ms. Smith’s ex-lover G. Ben Thompson, would “work with” Mr. Birkhead.

He has been locked in a dispute with lawyers for Howard K. Stern, Ms. Smith’s live-in lawyer, over who owns the residence where Ms. Smith and Mr. Stern lived with Dannielynn until Ms. Smith’s sudden death in February.

Mr. Stern and Dannielynn still live at Horizons.

Mr. Thompson claims he owns the home, since Ms. Smith never fulfilled the terms under which he supposedly turned it over to her, and Mr. Stern and lawyers for Ms. Smith’s estate support Ms. Smith’s claim the house was a gift.

Mr. Pinder said that the substantiation of Mr. Birkhead’s paternity claim adds a new dimension to the wrangling over the house.

“I believe that he (Mr. Birkhead) would also get temporary custody. If he gets temporary custody then he should replace Howard K. Stern in the house. You don’t need to have two fathers in the house,” Mr. Pinder said.

“We shall invite Howard out of the house, and leave Larry in. We’ll work with Larry. Larry knows who the owner is; he’ll eventually probably do the right thing and turn it back over to us.”

However, insiders in the housing case say that is a difficult call to make.

The property is the subject of an injunction. Supreme Court Senior Justice Anita Allen has ordered that nothing further be done with regard to the property until further notice.

And the Journal understands that the estate of the late Playboy pinup must be probated before the property can be dealt with definitively. Ms. Smith’s will may have to be probated in California, and then resealed in The Bahamas – a process that is likely to take months, if not longer.

Mr. Birkhead was confirmed as the child’s father on Tuesday when DNA expert Dr. Michael Baird disclosed in the Bahamas Supreme Court that the DNA tests showed Mr. Birkhead was 99.9999 percent likely to be Dannielynn’s father.

The determination of paternity is the first milestone in the custody proceedings. Next up, the court will hear a claim from Ms. Smith’s mother Virgie Arthur on Friday. Mrs. Arthur intends to press her claim for guardianship and custody of Dannielynn, although her lawyer Deborah Rose may have indicated some wiggle room on Tuesday.

“We are scheduled to be back before the court on Friday [to argue Mrs. Arthur’s claim for custody and guardianship], but as we said, we’re looking forward to working with Larry and hopefully we can come to a position that’s in Dannielynn’s best interests,” Ms. Rose said.

Sources close to the case say that while it is possible that Messrs. Stern and Birkhead may have made an arrangement with regard to both custody of the child and the disposition of the Horizons residence, it is unlikely that such a deal has been struck with Mrs. Arthur.