Hayden Panettiere’s ex Wladimir Klitschko gets legal status to protect their daughter’s inheritance

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Actor Hayden Panettiere’s ex-fiancée, former boxer Wladimir Klitschko, was granted legal authority by a California court Thursday to protect Panettiere’s property for their 11-year-old daughter after the television star’s accidental overdose death left the girl as her sole heir. Klitschko had filed the urgent petition last week, saying that pieces of Panettiere’s property were being taken by federal law enforcement agents investigating her death and by an unnamed nonfamily member looking to sell them, with no one in a position to try to recover them for her daughter. Klitschko, a Ukrainian former world champion boxer, has had full custody of the girl, Kaya, for most of her life, and 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. Judge Stephanie Santoro granted 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. Park said they believed a person described only as a nonrelative had taken items after 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.

Panettiere, the former star of the TV series “Heroes” and “Nashville,” was pronounced dead in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, on Aug. 16 at age 36 after 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. Park told Santoro that the property, the pawnshop and the nonfamily member were in Los Angeles County, where the judge’s ruling held authority.