Klitschko Gets Interim Control of Hayden Panettiere Estate
A Los Angeles judge has given the former boxer authority to protect the estate inherited by their 11-year-old daughter until a permanent administrator is named.
Vladimir Klitschko has been managing the estate of actress Hayden Panettiere on an interim basis since Thursday, October 8. Their 11-year-old daughter inherited the estate. Judge Stefani Santoro of Los Angeles County gave him the authority at a hearing, and it remains in force until the court appoints a permanent administrator.
Who attended the hearing, and what exactly did Klitschko receive?
The hearing was held by video link. Klitschko and the couple’s daughter, the sole heir to her mother’s multimillion-dollar estate, took part. In his petition to the court, the former boxer said his only goal is to preserve what should belong to the child until a permanent administrator is in place.
Panettiere, a former star of the series “Heroes” and “Nashville,” was pronounced dead on August 16, 2026, in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina. She was 36. She had left custody of their daughter to Klitschko back in 2018, and the girl has spent most of her life with him in Ukraine. The actress’s mother, Leslie Vogel, filed written consent with the court for Klitschko to be appointed interim administrator.
The judge also allowed him to sign and pay the late actress’s federal and state tax returns. The deadline for that expires in about a week. His attorney, Dajana Park, said there is a risk that the estate’s assets will not be inventoried during the investigation into the actress’s death, and that the tax returns need to be filed this month.
What does Klitschko claim about assets going missing?
He filed an emergency petition with the court on September 24. It states:
“There is a significant likelihood that property belonging to Hayden’s estate may be lost, damaged or scattered.”
The petition also said that a person who is not a family member is trying to sell parts of the estate. He amended it this week, and Klitschko’s attorneys now claim that, after the actress’s death, this person took certain items and tried to sell some of the jewelry at a pawn shop. Reports differ on whether a sale actually took place, and there is no independent confirmation. This is an allegation by one side, made before the court, and the person has not been named.
His attorneys are also seeking permission to open a police investigation to locate and recover property they suspect was unlawfully taken. According to Klitschko’s filing, until now there was no one who could take steps to preserve the estate for their daughter, and some items, as he put it, were taken as part of the investigation into the actress’s death.
What is known about the cause of death, and what comes next?
The Greenville County coroner’s office determined that Panettiere died of an accidental overdose of a combination of fentanyl, 4-ANPP, alprazolam, methocarbamol and quetiapine. According to the report, she had been in rehab several weeks earlier. Local and federal investigators are examining the origin and supplier of the illicit substances linked to her death.
The interim authority is a stopgap arrangement. A decision on a permanent administrator of the estate is expected in December. Until then, Klitschko decides what happens to what the actress left behind, and what belongs to their daughter.
