Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer, Kent Richland

Texas oilman J. Howard Marshall II never intended to bestow his fortune on his wife Anna Nicole Smith, a federal court ruled Friday, marking another twist in a convoluted inheritance battle that has outlived both Smith and her adversary, Marshall's son and executor E. Pierce Marshall.

Kent L. Richland, the Los Angeles attorney who represented Smith’s executor and former partner Howard K. Stern, deemed the 9th Circuit ruling “a fairly startling extension of the law” as it gave precedence to the probate ruling that came after the bankruptcy court decision. Richland said he was exploring the estate’s options to request rehearing by the full 9th Circuit or to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court again, vowing that “we will certainly be pursuing something further.”