Anna Nicole's death probably won't stop legal battle

So here we are in the first full day of a World Without Anna Nicole — and though she's gone, the news isn't likely to stop anytime soon. Today, the medical examiner's office in Broward County, Fla., will conduct an autopsy on Smith to see if it can determine how she died, and closer to home, experts say her legal battles will probably stay in the courts for quite some time.

First, what we know about the death: According to the Seminole, Fla., police chief, a private nurse employed by Smith called 911 at 1:38 p.m. Eastern time yesterday after she found Smith unresponsive in her room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. At 1:45 p.m., Smith's bodyguard performed CPR; just after 2, she was taken to a nearby hospital, where she died. Smith's boyfriend, attorney Howard K. Stern, was traveling with Smith but wasn't around when she collapsed; Smith's 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn Hope, is reportedly in the Bahamas.

It's not clear when we'll hear anything from the autopsy. Dr. Joshua Perper, who will conduct it, told the AP that results could be released fairly quickly if it is determined that Smith died of natural causes, but final results might not come out for weeks.

In the meantime, the battle over millions of dollars Smith claimed she inherited from ex-husband J. Howard Marshall, who died in 1995 at age 90. Smith and Marshall's son E. Pierce were locked in a legal feud over Marshall's fortune, which is estimated at as much as $1.6 billion. A series of legal decisions gave Smith $474 million, then took it away; in May, the Supreme Court sent the case to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California, where it remains even though both E. Pierce Marshall and Smith are dead. "The claims will survive to her estate," Charles W. "Rocky" Rhodes, a South Texas College of Law professor, told the AP. "In civil cases where the claim is for money, your estate and the heirs you have from the estate are able to continue the litigation in the name of the representatives of the estate." Marshall family lawyer Rusty Hardin agreed that Smith's death "probably won't have any effect on litigation."

Through a spokesman, the Marshall family said it was "shocked" by Smith's death, but that was about all: "Out of respect to her friends and family, we will reserve comment on the litigation at this time," spokesman David Margulies said.

Update: Vergie Arthur, Smith's mother, said on Good Morning America today that she thinks drugs were to blame for Smith's death. "I tried to warn her about drugs and the people that she hung around with. She didn't listen," Arthur said. "By the last interview I saw of her, she was so wasted."