Supreme Court to Anna Nicole: Go for it!

The Supreme Court gave Anna Nicole Smith the green light to keep fighting for her beloved husband's fortune today, saying an appeals court was wrong when it ruled that a Texas probate court had total jurisdiction over the estate of oilman J. Howard Marshall III.

Smith, a former Mexia topless dancer who married Marshall when she was 26 and he was 89, has been locked in an 11-year battle with Marshall's son, E. Pierce Marshall, whom she accuses of destroying evidence and altering documents to cheat her out of her share of his late father's estate.

The younger Marshall, who denies any wrongdoing, says his father's widow received more than $7 million while J. Howard Marshall was alive and that is all she's getting.

"I will continue to fight to clear my name," E. Pierce Marshall said today. "That is a promise that [Smith] and her lawyers can take to the bank."

There was no immediate comment from Smith.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — herself a former topless dancer (no, not really) — said the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrongly ruled a California bankruptcy court didn't have jurisdiction over Marshall's millions. The Supreme Court's decision makes it clear that state courts are responsible for handling probate matters; though Ginsburg said there are still other issues that could keep Smith from getting the $88.5 million she's after, she will be free to keep trying.