Hayden Panettiere's Estate Could Face Major 'Complications' Involving Daughter Kaya
In the aftermath of Hayden Panettiere‘s passing, her estate may be facing a legal maze ahead.
It’s unclear whether Panettiere had a trust or a will, but her 11-year-old daughter Kaya, whom she shared with ex-fiancé Wladimir Klitschko, could find herself in a legal quagmire. The Heroes star was a resident of California, so automatically, her “property goes to [her] heirs,” because of the state’s “free will” law, per California-based attorneys Marc M. Stern to People.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Panettiere was worth $6 million and some of those assets would pass through probate while others, including life insurance or retirement accounts, would go to the named beneficiaries — which could be Kaya or Panettiere’s parents, if designated.
Once those issues are settled, Kaya’s under-18 status would also be taken into consideration.
“Certainly, the California estate can’t go to a minor, and it’s going to have to go to some sort of protective vehicle for the daughter until she reaches the age of 18,” Stern explained. That means a trust will likely be established for her and the court will have to name a guardian of those funds until she reaches adulthood.
“The natural guardian would probably be the father,” Stern added.
Still, Kaya’s European residency creates even more “complications” for her. “The amounts going to her daughter would need to be held in a court-supervised guardianship here in California, since that is where the assets are held, even though the daughter lives abroad,” California attorney Jonathan Forster told People.
Celebrity Net Worth‘s $6 million number for her estate might only be a rough estimate, though. According to The U.S. Sun, Panettiere was living a modest life in a two-bedroom West Hollywood apartment after selling her Hollywood Hills mansion for $3.075 million in February 2014.
Panettiere’s last major project was her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning.
Ultimately, the biggest question may be how Panettiere’s estate was structured before her death. If she had a will or trust in place, it could provide a clearer roadmap for Kaya’s inheritance. But without those details, the legal process could take time to untangle, leaving the fate of her daughter’s inheritance in the hands of California courts.