Prestige class spell advancement

[habibo]

so my paladin at 6th level is going to go into Inheritor's Crusader
Witch says it stacks for paladin spells and smite ability
my question is what happens after the three levels of prestige class
So when i start getting my paladin levels 5pal/3 prestige/1 paladin i count as 9th for smiting right?
And would i have to reach level 10 in paladin to start getting my level 3 spells?

Also since Inheritor's crusade requires +5 bab that means you do not qualify at fifth right id have to take it at sixth

[Claxon]

Well, you wouldn't track it as 5 paladin/ 3Inheritor Crusader/ 1 paladin.

You'd just be Paladin 6 / Inheritor's Crusader 3.

Without being able to see the prestiege class I'm not certain, but assuming it says it counts for the purposes of levels for spells and smite evil then it does exactly that. You would have the spell casting and smite abilities as a 9th level paladin.

And yes, at paladin 7/inheritor 3 you would count as a 10th level paladin for spellcasting and receive bonus spell slots based on charisma to allow you to cast 3rd level spells.

I'm unsure of how you count exactly when you can enter a prestiege class. I feel like there has been some back and forth on the issue. I thikn you are right here as well.

[ryric]

You must meet all the prerequisites for entry into a PrC before selecting it, so yes a BAB+5 requirement means you'll be at least 6th level when you enter the prestige class.

Claxon has the right of it for the ways spells work.