Lawyers representing Virginia Giuffre‘s two adult sons, her former housekeeper, and her former attorney appeared in an Australian court on Friday in a legal battle over control of the late Jeffrey Epstein accuser’s estate.
The first court hearing in the case was held on Friday, with another scheduled for next year. During the hearing, lawyers discussed several issues, including whether Giuffre’s daughter, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and her estranged husband, Robert, should become parties in the case.
Why It Matters
The estate dispute involves not only property holdings in Western Australia but also control over assets from Giuffre’s undisclosed settlement with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, and potential revenue from her posthumous memoir released last month.
Giuffre was the highest-profile accuser of sex offender Epstein, and her 2022 settlement with Mountbatten-Windsor led to him being stripped of his royal titles. The appointment of an administrator also clears the way for multiple stalled legal proceedings to restart, including a $10 million defamation lawsuit filed against Giuffre by fellow Epstein survivor Rina Oh in October 2021.
What To Know
Giuffre died by suicide in April at age 41 at her farm in Western Australia without leaving a valid will. According to court documents, the estate is believed to be worth millions and includes what remains of her settlement with Mountbatten-Windsor after she accused him of sexually abusing her when she was 17, allegations he has always denied.
Christian Giuffre, 19, and Noah Giuffre, 18, filed a case in Western Australia’s Supreme Court in June seeking appointment as administrators of their mother’s estate, which includes property and potential revenue from her memoir Nobody’s Girl. The application is opposed by Giuffre’s former housekeeper and caregiver, Cheryl Myers, and her former Perth-based attorney Karrie Louden, who want to be made administrators themselves. A temporary administrator, lawyer Ian Torrington Blatchford, was appointed this week to manage the estate at $260 per hour.
Nobody’s Girl, co-written with journalist Amy Wallace, expands on Giuffre’s claims that she was sexually trafficked as a teenager by the late financier to billionaires, politicians, and King Charles III’s brother. The court order explicitly authorizes the administrator to act in relation to the memoir and its revenue.
Giuffre had separated from her husband, Robert, and her children earlier this year. She had been charged with breaching a family violence restraining order over an incident in February and died before she was scheduled to appear in court over the matter.
Court documents list four “existing and other legal proceedings” connected to the estate, including Oh’s defamation case, a resolved 2015 defamation case against Ghislaine Maxwell, and an arbitration involving attorney Alan Dershowitz whom Giuffre dropped a defamation lawsuit against in 2022.
What People Are Saying
Rina Oh, whose case has been on hold pending the appointment of an administrator, told Guardian Australia the drawn-out process has taken a heavy personal toll: “I still suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, especially when I am asked to provide more documents and go through the discovery materials and look at the court documents. I get flashbacks. We were waiting for the estate to be established. It has been six years, and I just want it over.”
Sky Roberts, father of Virginia Giuffre, spoke to Piers Morgan on May 1 about his daughter’s death: “First of all, I couldn’t even believe it. I mean, I started crying right away. I’m still crying. I can’t believe that this is happening. It’s impossible,” he began before adding: “And then for them to say that she committed suicide, there’s no way that she did. Somebody got to her.”
What Happens Next?
The court will continue deliberations on the estate matter, with another hearing scheduled for 2026.
Western Australia’s coroner continues to review the police report on Giuffre’s death. However, a spokesperson for Western Australia police said that Giuffre’s death was not being treated as suspicious.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “988” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org
Reporting from the Associated Press contributed to this article.