FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida judge ordered that more DNA samples be taken from the body of Anna Nicole Smith Thursday at the request of one of several men claiming paternity of her infant daughter.

The former Playboy Playmate and Trimspa spokeswoman was found dead last week in a room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. An official cause of death has not been announced.

Since then, lawyers for Howard K. Stern, Smith's boyfriend and attorney, have become embroiled in a legal battle with her estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, over who decides the model's final resting place.

But before she is buried, lawyers for another of Smith's former lovers, Larry Birkhead, attended Thursday's hearing to ensure that he obtains an independent DNA sample from Smith for a paternity test.

Along with Stern, Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband, and Smith's former bodyguard, Birkhead claims he is the father of Smith's 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn Marshall Stern.

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Thursday's proceeding brought together lawyers for all parties at one crowded table in Judge Larry Seidlin's chambers for a hearing that resembled an animated conversation around the dinner table.

Seidlin, a former New York City taxi driver with a tendency for grandiose statements, repeatedly stated his intent to see that Smith was embalmed and laid to rest in an expeditious manner.

"We want to protect Ms. Smith's body and give it the respect and dignity it deserves," Seidlin told the lawyers at the start of the hearing. "With the help of the Lord, I'm going to perform my duty."

But Seidlin said that the welfare of Dannielynn was his highest priority, and that before he could designate the rightful recipient of the remains, he wished to address the paternity and DNA issues.

Against the objections of lawyers for Stern and Arthur, Seidlin appointed Miami-based lawyer Richard Milstein to serve as a guardian ad-litem for Dannielynn, who lives in the Bahamas with Stern.

He also appointed local attorney Shane Kelley, whom he described as a "worker," to serve as an administrator ad-litem by reviewing documents in the case and making recommendations to him.

"My vibes tell me this, and I want you all to sign off on this," Seidlin remarked. "We appoint Shane Kelley, no dog in the race, as an administrator ad-litem."

Among the evidence Kelley will consider are statements from Smith's former L.A. neighbors, who are expected to testify to Smith's last wishes on Tuesday.

Stern's Florida attorney, Krista Barth, told Seidlin that Smith wanted to be buried in the Bahamas next to her son, Daniel Smith who died there in September 2006, in his mother's hospital room while visiting her and his newborn sister.

"The evidence is going to show that she wants to be with Daniel," Barth said, as an audience of media members packed the perimeter of the chambers.

"The woman sitting across from me has not laid eyes on her [daughter] since 1995," she said, gesturing toward Smith's mother, who attended the hearing with her husband and two lawyers from Texas and Florida.

Sitting next to Barth at the table was Ron Rale, Smith's attorney in the paternity proceedings, who said that as executor of Smith's will, Stern was the only person familiar with the casket design and burial dress that she had been planning to use for years.

But a lawyer for Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, challenged Barth to produce the "phantom will," which he said still would not give Stern the standing necessary to claim Smith's body.

"What Mr. Stern is attempting to do is do an Enron around the law," Miami-based attorney Stephen Tunstall said. "Mr. Stern is not an executor. No documents have been introduced in any jurisdiction to prove he is."

Tunstall told Seidlin that as next of kin, Arthur was the only person with the standing to claim her daughter's remains, and noted that Stern could not be considered next of kin because the couple, who exchanged vows in 2006, never obtained a marriage license.

Despite their differences, the two attorneys were united in their opposition toward Birkhead's lawyers for "injecting" themselves into the proceedings.

Nonetheless, Seidlin approved their request to obtain fresh buccal swabs from Smith's body, which is being stored in a refrigerator in the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office.

Lawyers for Stern and Birkhead were scheduled to accompany Dr. Joshua Perper to the facility Thursday after the proceeding ended for the day. Tunstall, who strenuously objected to the process, waived his appearance.

Perper testified in the hearing Thursday that he performed a "vast array" of tests on Smith during her autopsy due to the high-profile nature of the case. He said there was no further need for the medical examiner's office to keep her body, which was slowly decomposing.

Even so, he agreed to take new cheek swabs to satisfy Birkhead's attorneys, who were concerned about the integrity of the testing.

The move paved the way for the embalming of Smith's body, which Seidlin is expected to sign off on when the hearing resumes Friday morning.

"You've brought to my attention that she was a beautiful woman, and wanted to remain in that condition in her final resting place," he said, addressing the lawyers. "We want to preserve the beautiful and model figure of Ms. Smith. ... Beauty was important to her, you have told me."