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Former heavyweight boxing champion and current Mayor of Kyiv, Wladimir Klitschko has taken legal action in California following the death of his ex-fiancée, actress Hayden Panettiere, filing an urgent petition to be appointed as temporary guardian of her estate on behalf of their 11-year-old daughter, Kaya.
The legal filing, submitted on September 24, seeks to manage and preserve Panettiere’s assets, which Klitschko asserts belong entirely to their daughter under California probate law.
In the petition, Klitschko expressed grave concerns over missing property, noting he was informed that personal belongings and jewelry had disappeared and remain unaccounted for.
He warned of a "high probability that property belonging to Hayden's Estate may be lost, damaged or dissipated before a duly appointed personal representative can be in place to protect it".
The court documents also highlight pre-existing security concerns, stating that Panettiere had expressed documented worries before her passing regarding an unauthorized individual gaining access to her home. Klitschko stated:
“It is expected that the individual will continue to try and misappropriate property belonging to Hayden's estate. Given the high publicity of Hayden's estate, a personal representative needs to be appointed immediately to safeguard and protect Hayden's home and contents.”
Panettiere was found unresponsive inside a residence in Greenville, South Carolina, on August 16.
Resuscitation efforts by first responders were unsuccessful, and she was pronounced dead at the scene at the age of 36.
The Greenville County Coroner's Office subsequently ruled her death an accidental overdose involving fentanyl and other prescription medications. A court hearing regarding Klitschko's emergency guardianship petition has been scheduled to address the preservation of the estate.
