Florida judge clears embalming of Anna Nicole

By Tom Brown

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (Reuters) - A judge in Florida gave the go-ahead on Friday for the body of former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith to be embalmed, but a decision about releasing her for burial is days away.

Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin said the embalming would take place on Friday at the Broward Medical Examiner's Office where Smith's body has been stored since she died on February 8 at a Florida casino hotel of unexplained causes, aged 39.

"I want to maintain the beauty and dignity of Anna Nicole Smith," Seidlin said.

The medical examiner's office in Dania Beach, Florida, had warned that her corpse was beginning to decompose. But Smith's body has been hostage to several disputes.

Her lawyer and companion, Howard K. Stern, wants her buried in the Bahamas next to her son, who died at age 20 last year. A private forensics expert hired by Smith said her son's death was likely due to a dangerous mix of prescription drugs.

Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, long estranged from the former topless dancer and billionaire's widow, wants her buried in her home state of Texas.

Meanwhile, Smith's estate is the subject of a paternity suit. Her estate could one day be worth half a billion dollars if a separate, decade-long courtroom battle to inherit the fortune of her ex-husband, oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall, prevails.

Former boyfriend Larry Birkhead claims to be the father of Smith's 5-month-old baby, Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern, who was born in the Bahamas three days before Daniel Smith died. Stern, however, is listed as the father on the birth certificate.

Stern's lawyers on Friday handed the court in Fort Lauderdale what they said was Smith's will. Its contents were not immediately revealed.

Seidlin ordered Stern to appear in his court to testify on Tuesday, but ended Friday's hearing with a number of issues unresolved, including whether his court would have jurisdiction in the paternity case and who would have the right to bury Smith.

But he indicated he wanted to decide the burial issue on Tuesday.

"I want to put to rest Ms. Smith's body," Seidlin said. "I want her to have the peace and tranquility that she deserves."