Anna Nicole Smith’s Bahamian lawyer Michael Scott has confirmed Anna Nicole ‘married’ attorney Howard K Stern for “a shot of emotional adrenaline”.

The two took part in a spiritual but not legally binding ceremony on a catamaran offshore of Nassau in the Bahamas last Thursday, just 18 days after Anna Nicole’s son Daniel died and three weeks after Anna Nicole gave birth to a baby girl, possibly fathered by Howard.

Scott confirmed: “It was not a formal, legal arrangement.”

“The goal was to exchange vows to reaffirm a commitment they have made to each other. It was also to give them a shot of emotional adrenaline.”

“I don’t think that they had [the emotional strength] to wait for a marriage license. They have been through a trying time, and they have one more very difficult event to go through,” Scott added, referring to Daniel’s funeral.

Anna Nicole and Howard are also likely to face a paternity challenge in the near future as Anna Nicole’s former boyfriend Larry Birkhead is claiming that he fathered the baby girl, named Dannilynn.