Court denies Smith's mom's petition

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Feb. 28 (UPI) -- A Florida appeals court Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling giving Anna Nicole Smith's body to her daughter, paving the way for a burial in the Bahamas.

Attorneys for Smith's estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, who sought to stay the lower court ruling, said there were no plans to appeal the three-judge panel's decision to the Florida Supreme Court, CNN said Wednesday.

Arthur petitioned the Florida 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach, Fla., to overturn the ruling by Broward County Judge Larry Seidlin, awarding Smith's body to her 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn, and her court-appointed guardian.

The child's guardian decided Smith would be buried in the Bahamas next to her son, Daniel, who died in September. Arthur said she wants custody of the body to bury it in Smith's home state of Texas.

An attorney for the child's court-appointed attorney told the three-judge panel that a burial in the Bahamas was scheduled for Friday.