WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- The Bush administration is supporting Anna Nicole Smith's U.S. Supreme Court bid to claim hundreds of millions of dollars from her late husband's estate.
The government has filed papers with the high court and is expected to participate in arguments set for February to back up the former Playboy Playmate's claim to $474 million from the estate of Texas oil baron J. Howard Marshall II, the New York Post reported Tuesday.
One of Smith's attorneys told the newspaper the federal government's support "can't help but give credibility to our position.
A federal bankruptcy judge awarded Smith $474 million, which a district court judge lowered to $89 million. An appeals court later tossed the ruling based on jurisdictional matters.
The administration is arguing that the federal courts should have jurisdiction in bankruptcy matters, even if they started out in state courts.
Marshall's son, E. Pierce Marshall, has claimed to be his father's sole heir since his death in 1995.
