A former boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith has obtained a court judgment ordering the reality TV star out of her oceanfront residence and he plans to seek her forcible eviction, his lawyer said Thursday.
But an attorney for Smith, Wayne Munroe, said he secured a temporary stay of the order and his client has no intention of leaving.
Emerick Knowles, the attorney for South Carolina businessman G. Ben Thompson, entered the default judgment on Tuesday after Smith missed a deadline to respond to a suit declaring his client the rightful owner of the gated mansion known as “Horizons.”
Munroe appealed to the court, which scheduled a Feb. 19 hearing on whether the default judgment was filed irregularly, he said.
The office of the Supreme Court’s registrar could not be reached despite several phone calls seeking confirmation.
Smith, who moved to the Bahamas while she was pregnant with her nearly 3-month-old daughter, has remained secluded in the house since her 20-year-old son Daniel died at her hospital bedside on Sept. 10.
The 39-year-old former Playboy playmate has claimed that Thompson bought her the nearly $1 million house as a gift. Thompson, who had a brief relationship with Smith, says it was a loan.
Knowles said he gained authority to file the judgment with the Supreme Court after a two-week deadline expired Monday, and he asked Smith in writing to vacate by Thursday.
Howard K. Stern, an attorney who is Smith’s companion, said the couple did not believe they would be forced to leave anytime soon.
“I can assure you that we will continue to stay in Anna Nicole’s house as long as we want to,” he said Thursday in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
A private pathologist concluded that Daniel Smith died from a lethal combination of methadone and two antidepressants. Official toxicology results have not been publicly released.
Bahamian police completed their investigation into his death and submitted their report six weeks ago, but authorities have not indicated whether they will convene a jury inquest.