Dannielynn Hope Could Be Very Rich

A petition to have Anna Nicole Smith's 18-month-old daughter declared the sole heir to her estate was approved today by a Los Angeles judge.

In court papers filed last Oct. 18 in Los Angeles Superior Court, Howard K. Stern, the executor of Smith's estate, sought to clarify Smith's intentions in her July 2001 will, drafted five years before Dannielynn Hope's September 2006 birth.

"We and Mr. Stern always believed that Anna Nicole never intended to disinherit her daughter," Stern's lawyer, Bruce S. Ross, said after the hearing. "I'm pleased to say this chapter in the saga is closed."

Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff's ruling not only confirms Dannielynn Hope as her mother's sole heir, but also establishes a trust on her behalf with Stern and the toddler's father, photographer Larry Birkhead, as co-trustees, Ross said.

Dannielynn, who is being raised by Birkhead, could inherit millions of dollars from the estate of Smith's second husband. Billionaire J. Howard Marshall left much of his fortune to Smith in his will, although his family has contested it.

Ross said today's action will have no bearing on Dannielynn's possible inheritance of the Marshall fortune, which is tied up in litigation in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

KTLA