A legal battle over the reported multi-million-dollar estate of Virginia Giuffre, who was allegedly abused by US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has begun in Western Australia’s Supreme Court.
Ms Giuffre, who said she was trafficked for sex by the notorious billionaire paedophile, died by suicide at her rural property on the outskirts of Perth in April.
The 41-year-old had not lodged a will and left multiple assets in WA. The legal process underway is set to determine who will control her estate.
Ms Giuffre’s sons Christian , 19, and Noah, 18, who are listed as the plaintiffs in the civil case, applied to be the administrators of Ms Giuffre’s estate in June.
The last photo taken of siblings Sky Roberts, Virginia Roberts Giuffre and Danny Wilson before Virginia’s death. (Supplied)
The defendants, Ms Giuffre’s lawyer Karrie Loudon and Ms Giuffre’s former carer Cheryl Myers, filed a counterclaim.
Registrar Danielle Davies raised several concerns during the hearing on Friday, including that Ms Giuffre’s estranged husband Robert and daughter be involved.
“It appears to me that the deceased’s husband should be joined or at the very least notified,” she said.
Handwritten will claim
The court was told when the writ was filed in June, Robert Guiffre agreed to it.
The court case is happening in Perth, on Australia’s west coast. (ABC News: Jack Stevenson)
But that was before Ms Louden and Ms Myers’s counterclaim, which seeks to make them administrators of the estate.
In documents filed to the court, they say Ms Guiffre created an informal, handwritten will in the weeks before she died which should be considered legally valid although it had not been executed.
They say Ms Giuffre’s informal will contained a paragraph that said: “I appoint Cheryl MYERS and Karrie Jean LOUDEN as my executors and trustees”
Registrar Davies said their counterclaim affected Robert Giuffre.
“Now there’s a defence counterclaim that would remove his entitlement … it seems he should be joined as a party to the proceedings,” Registrar Davies said.
She ordered the parties to lodge further legal documents and indicated she would set another court hearing next year.
The WA Supreme Court appointed Ian Torrington Blatchford to manage Ms Giuffre’s estate on an interim basis earlier this week.
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Her estate is believed to be worth millions and likely include what is left of her reported 12 million British pounds out of court settlement with Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly prince Andrew — after she claimed he had sexually abused her as a teenager.
He has vigorously denied those claims.
Ms Giuffre also reportedly received money from Epstein in 2009 when she settled a lawsuit against him.
It comes after the US government released documents from Epstein’s estate, showing he and Mr Mountbatten Windsor remained in contact longer than the ex-royal had claimed.
Ms Giuffre’s memoir Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, detailed how she became involved with the notorious sex offender, which led to her abuse at the hands of the world’s “wealthiest and most powerful” people.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor was sensationally stripped of his titles and honours by King Charles III following the posthumous publication last month.
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