WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - MAY 30: Actress Hayden Panettiere attends the Variety Emmy Studio at Palihouse on May 30, 2013 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Mike Windle/WireImage)
A California court on Thursday granted Wladimir Klitschkolegal authority over some property belonging to the lateHayden Panettiere. They shared an 11-year-old daughter namedKaya.The former boxer petitioned the court to protect said property for the child after her mother’s accidental overdose death, which left the girl as the actor’s sole heir.
Hayden Panettiere, the former star of the TV series ‘Heroes’ and ‘Nashville,’ was pronounced dead in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, on Aug. at age 36. Paramedics found her unresponsive. A coroner’s report obtained by The Associated Press said her death was from an accidental overdose of several drugs, including fentanyl. She had been in rehab just weeks before. Her on-and-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson and his brother Zach Hickerson were at the home.
Klitschko had filed the urgent petition last week. He claimed that federal law enforcement agents had taken pieces of Hayden Panettiere’s property while investigating her death. Also, an unnamed non-family member allegedly took items with the intention of selling them, he claimed. At this time, no one is in a position to try to recover theitems for Hayden’s daughter.
Klitschko, a Ukrainian former world champion boxer, has had full custody of Kaya for most of her life. Additionally, she has lived with him in Ukraine. The father and daughter appeared in Los Angeles County court remotely via videoconference. They spoke only to introduce themselves at the brief hearing with only Kaya visible on camera, sitting at a table in front of curtains.
In Hayden’s memoir released earlier this year, Panettiere acknowledged being addicted to alcohol and having postpartum depression after her daughter’s birth in 2014. Kaya went to live with Klitschko full-time when she was 2. Panettiere’s father told investigators that when she died she had plans to visit her daughter in Ukraine days later.
Judge Stephanie Santoro granted Wladimir Klitschko the status of temporary guardian of Kaya’s estate until a long-term administrator can be appointed. Santoro asked Klitschko’s lawyer, Diane Park, why the matter was urgent. Klitschko’s Sept. 24 petition emphasized that his intention is solely to protect his daughter’s future assets.
“There is a high probability that property belonging to Hayden’s Estate may be lost, damaged or dissipated,” the document said.
The filing said that before her death, Hayden Panettiere and Wladimir Klitschko hired security to protect her home because an unnamed person had gained unauthorized access. It’s expected that the same person would continue to try to “misappropriate” her property.
Panettiere’s mother, Lesley Vogel, filed a document saying she consented to Klitschko being appointed.
Also, Park said they believed a person described only as a non-relative had taken items after Hayden Panettiere’s death and had tried to sell some of her jewelry at a pawn shop. And she said assets were in danger of going unaccounted for during the death investigation. Court documents said authority was needed to deal with both the pawnshop owner and police agencies. Panettiere’s taxes also need to be filed this month, the lawyer said. Santoro, satisfied with the explanation, approved the move.
Attorney Park told Judge Santoro that the property, the pawnshop and the non-family member were in Los Angeles County, where the judge’s ruling held authority.
AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
