In certain applications of nonstationary system identification the model-based decisions can be postponed, i.e. executed with a delay. This allows one to incorporate in the identification process not only the currently available information, but also a number of "future" data points. The resulting estimation schemes, which involve smoothing, are not causal. Assuming that the infinite observation history is available, the paper establishes the lower steady-state estimation bound for any noncausal estimator applied to a linear system with randomly drifting coefficients (under Gaussian assumptions). This lower bound complements the currently available one, which is restricted to causal estimators. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.