The question of who is the father of the late Anna Nicole Smith's baby continues to take twists after a Florida judge wondered if he had the authority to oversee the case.

"I have a big question about whether I have jurisdiction," said family court Judge Lawrence Korda at the end of a Friday hearing in his chambers in Fort Lauderdale. "I don't think that I have jurisdiction."

Anna Nicole Smith, holding her daughter, Dannielynn Hope, and Howard K. Stern are shown last October during an interview with Entertainment Tonight. The fight over Dannielynn's paternity continues.
(AP Photo/Entertainment Tonight)

Korda heard pleas from lawyers for Larry Birkhead, an ex-boyfriend of the former Playboy model, who claims to be Dannielynn's biological father.  Birkhead was there as his lawyers argued that Korda should order a DNA test on the baby.

Smith's boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, is listed as Dannielynn's father on the baby's birth certificate. As well, Frederic von Anhalt, the husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, has said he may be the father. Smith's estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, has joined the fray and is also fighting for custody.

Korda did not issue a ruling after the hearing. He noted that the child was born and lives in the Bahamas, which could have jurisdiction over the case.

Birkhead's lawyers contend Smith moved to the Bahamas to evade a paternity row with the photographer.

"This is about Anna Nicole Smith running from Larry Birkhead," said lawyer Susan Brown.

Five-month-old Dannielynn stands to inherit her mother's substantial fortune. Smith, then 26, was married briefly to oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall until his death in 1994 at the age of 90. She recently won a legal battle over a share of his estate to the tune of $489 million US.

It marks the latest twist in a multi-layered saga that has emerged since the 39-year-old ex-model was found dead at a Florida hotel on Feb. 8. The cause of her death has yet to be determined.

The paternity hearing came only a day after the dramatic end to a televised court proceeding in which another judge handed Smith's remains for burial to the court-appointed guardian of her baby.

The guardian, Miami lawyer Richard Milstein, has decided Smith should be buried in the Bahamas, next to her son Daniel, who died in September. On Friday, Smith's mother filed an emergency motion against the decision. Her family wants Smith to be buried in Texas, where she was born and raised.