Hayden Panettiere’s former fiancé, Wladimir Klitschko, has been granted temporary legal authority to protect assets linked to the actor’s estate for their 11-year-old daughter, Kaya.
A judge in Los Angeles County approved the former world champion boxer’s urgent petition after concerns were raised that property may have been removed following Panettiere’s death.
Klitschko’s lawyer, Diane Park, told the court that an unnamed non-family member was alleged to have taken items and attempted to sell some of Panettiere’s jewellery at a pawn shop.
The lawyer also said assets risked going unaccounted for while the death investigation continued, and that Panettiere’s taxes needed to be filed this month.
Judge Stephanie Santoro appointed Klitschko temporary guardian of Kaya’s estate until a permanent administrator can be selected. The authority covers dealings with the pawn shop and police agencies in Los Angeles County.
Klitschko and Kaya appeared remotely at the brief hearing. The child, who was the only person visible on camera, lives with her father in Ukraine and has been in his full-time care for most of her life.
Court documents said Klitschko’s application was intended solely to safeguard his daughter’s future assets until a long-term administrator could be appointed. Panettiere’s mother, Lesley Vogel, filed a document consenting to the arrangement.
The filing also said Panettiere and Klitschko had hired security before her death after an unnamed person allegedly gained unauthorised access to her home.
Panettiere, known for her roles in Heroes and Nashville, was found unresponsive in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, and pronounced dead on August 16 at the age of 36.
A coroner’s report said her death resulted from an accidental overdose involving several drugs, including fentanyl. She had attended rehabilitation just weeks earlier.
Panettiere and Klitschko began dating in 2009 and became engaged in 2013. Their daughter was born in 2014 and went to live with Klitschko full-time when she was two.
