A Florida appeals court has suspended a lower court ruling that would have allowed the burial of former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith in the Bahamas.

The Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach has granted an emergency petition by Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, to stop a court-appointed guardian for Smith's five-month-old daughter from taking the body to the islands, where Smith lived the final months of her life.

The legal manoeuvring will further delay a funeral for Smith, the buxom tabloid star who died suddenly at age 39 on February 8 at a Florida casino-hotel.

Her decomposing body remains at a medical examiner's office in Dania Beach, Florida.

Ms Arthur wants Smith buried in her native Texas.

Ms Arthur's appeal seeks to overturn a ruling by Broward County Judge Larry Seidlin following an emotional week-long hearing to determine who had the right to bury the former topless dancer and billionaire's widow.

Smith's death touched off a legal firestorm over the body and custody of her baby, Dannielynn.

The appellate court's ruling has halted the transfer of the body temporarily and asks lawyers in the case to respond by 2:00pm (local time) to Ms Arthur's appeal.

Judge Seidlin ruled that Smith's daughter was her legal next-of-kin and ordered her remains turned over to Miami lawyer Richard Milstein, who was appointed as Dannielynn's guardian to protect the rights of the baby during legal proceedings.

Mr Milstein said he was arranging to bury Smith beside her son Daniel, who died last year, in the Bahamas.

Meanwhile in Nassau, lawyers for Ms Arthur and Smith's former boyfriend Larry Birkhead - who says he is the baby's biological father - went to court for a procedural hearing in a custody fight over the child.

Smith's long time lawyer and companion, Howard K Stern, is listed as the child's father on her birth certificate, but both Birkhead and Ms Arthur are vying for custody.

Birkhead's lawyer, Debra Opri, says she is challenging the legitimacy of the birth certificate.

Birkhead is seeking a DNA test on the baby to prove his claim he is the biological father.

"All the pending actions have been consolidated under Mr Birkhead's fraud action on the birth certificate and we anticipate DNA testing," Ms Opri said.

Smith's estate could ultimately be worth millions if it wins a legal battle over the estate of her late husband, billionaire oil tycoon J Howard Marshall.

- Reuters