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NASSAU - The custody fight over the 7-month-old daughter of Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith was unresolved after another court hearing in the Bahamas at the weekend.
Larry Birkhead, a Los Angeles photographer and former boyfriend of the billionaire's widow, was identified recently by DNA tests as the father of Dannielynn, who could someday be wealthy if Smith's estate wins a legal fight to inherit a fortune from her oil tycoon husband, J. Howard Marshall.
Smith's sudden death from an accidental drug overdose on February 8 in Florida sparked a legal battle over her remains and then over custody of the baby.
Participants in the custody fight are limited by Bahamian court rules in what they can say, but they indicated the hearing on Friday produced no resolution.
"I wish it was over today. It should have been over today," said Howard K. Stern, who was Smith's lawyer and companion and was listed as Dannielynn's father on her birth certificate.
A lawyer in the case said the next hearing was scheduled for Wednesday.
Since Birkhead was named the baby's father on April 10, the custody fight has been reduced to two -- Birkhead and Virgie Arthur, Smith's estranged mother.
According to media reports, the two have been trying to work out a visitation arrangement.
Birkhead described the hearing as "a good day for me in court" and, in a hint that he might leave the Bahamas soon, said he was going to contact his travel agent.
"I can say that I'm happy everything went well and I'm moving toward starting a life with my daughter out of the Bahamas," he said, adding "I'll call my travel agent. One seat or two, I don't know."
- REUTERS
