Anna Nicole Smith’s Husband: Who Howard K. Stern Is

Who Anna Nicole Smith was

Anna Nicole Smith was an American model, actress and television personality. She began her modelling career as a Playboy magazine centrefold in May 1992 and won the title of Playmate of the Year in 1993. She later modelled for clothing companies including Guess, H&M and Heatherette. Her work across fashion, film and television made her a prominent public figure during the 1990s and early 2000s.

She married J. Howard Marshall in 1994 and, after his death in 1995, fought a legal battle over his estate through the Supreme Court of the United States. She later served as a spokeswoman for TrimSpa, appeared in films and starred in The Anna Nicole Show on E! from 2002 to 2004. Smith died in 2007, ending a public career that had developed across modelling, acting and television.

Who Howard K. Stern is

Howard Kevin Stern is an American attorney based in California. He was born on 29 November 1968 and works as a lawyer. He is primarily known in bankruptcy law, including service as an estate executor and as the petitioner in a landmark Supreme Court case. That legal work forms the principal public part of his professional identity.

Stern was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. As of 2019, he worked with the Los Angeles Public Defender’s Office. After Smith’s death, he testified in the trial concerning the disposition of her remains. He also spoke publicly about Smith’s family, including her son Daniel, and described Daniel’s importance to her.

How the relationship was documented

Smith and Stern exchanged vows and rings in an informal commitment ceremony in the Bahamas on 28 September 2006. Stern said that he and Smith had been in a relationship for a very long time. Fox News reported that they were staying in the Bahamas to avoid paternity testing of Smith’s daughter in the United States. He is identified as Smith’s husband.

Stern said in 2006 that he was Dannielynn Birkhead’s father, and the Bahamian birth certificate also listed him as her father. DNA results supported his paternity, and he did not contest either the results or the ruling. Birkhead then returned to the United States with the baby. Accounts of the events document Stern’s parental role through his own statement, the birth certificate and the DNA result.

Anna Nicole Smith’s other family relationships

Anna Nicole Smith had two earlier marriages. Billy Wayne Smith was her husband from 1985 to 1993. J. Howard Marshall was her husband from 1994 to 1995. Following Marshall’s death in 1995, Smith began a legal battle over his estate that reached the Supreme Court of the United States.

The Smith family record also includes Smith’s son Daniel Wayne Smith and her daughter Dannielynn Birkhead. Stern said that Smith was devastated by Daniel’s death. He said she saw herself as both mother and father to Daniel. These statements came during his testimony about the legal control of her remains.

How Howard K. Stern worked away from Smith

Stern’s stated occupation is lawyer, and he is described as an American attorney based in California. His work has centred on bankruptcy law. He served as an estate executor and was the petitioner in a landmark Supreme Court case. He has also worked within estate administration and the court proceedings that followed Smith’s death.

As of 2019, Stern worked with the Los Angeles Public Defender’s Office. That is the most specific employer information published for him. His position there formed part of his broader legal work alongside bankruptcy and estate cases. He also testified in proceedings concerning the disposition of Smith’s remains after her death.

What has not been publicly reported

No account of how the couple met has appeared in print. The precise point at which their relationship began has not been publicly established. Stern’s account of their private life together has not been published in detail. Their public appearances have centred on the commitment ceremony, paternity and court proceedings, rather than an extended personal narrative.

No detailed personal account of his upbringing in Los Angeles has appeared. He has not publicly explained how he first met Smith or the private circumstances that led into their relationship. His life outside the legal matters described above remains largely private.