Anna Nicole Smith estate barred from oil fortune

Anna Nicole Smith’s estate will receive none of the more than $300m she claimed her late billionaire husband had promised her, a US federal appeals court said today.

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals is the latest stop in the 15-year legal battle over the $1.6bn estate that oil magnate J Howard Marshall left after his 1995 death at age 90.

Smith had married Marshall the previous year and argued he meant to leave her more than $300m. She died in 2007.

A Texas state court ruled against Smith and in favour of Marshall’s son, who argued the model should receive nothing.

A federal bankruptcy court in Los Angeles later awarded her $474m.

A federal trial court later reduced that to $89m.

Lawyers for the son’s estate say they hope the litigation is at an end with today’s ruling.