Virginia Giuffre died in Australia without a valid will – now the legal battles can resume | Australia news
An interim administrator has been appointed to oversee Virginia Giuffre’s estate after she died without a valid will, meaning multiple pending lawsuits can now proceed.
Giuffre, 41, died in April on a small Western Australian farm 80 km north of Perth.
On Monday, the Western Australian supreme court appointed lawyer Ian Torrington Blatchford to take temporary control of his estate, thought to be worth millions.
The inheritance is likely to include what’s left of the £12 million out-of-court settlement Giuffre reportedly received from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (formerly Prince Andrew) in 2022 after she claimed he sexually assaulted her when she was 17. Giuffre denied the allegations.
Blatchford’s A$400-an-hour appointment means legal proceedings can continue, stretching from Perth to New York.
Previously, Giuffre’s sons Christian and Noah had made a bid to be appointed administrators of the interstate property.
But high court documents reveal that Giuffre’s lawyer, Karrie Louden, and her maid, Cheryl Myers, have filed a legal challenge to block the siblings from being given power over the property.
Monday’s court orders state that “the administrator is appointed as the decedent’s legal representative in any legal action or arbitration to which the decedent was a party prior to his or her death.”
Giuffre’s death without a valid will halted a high-profile defamation lawsuit filed in October 2021 by Rina Oh, who then went by the name Rina Oh Amen.
Like Giuffre, Oh says she was abused by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
He was suing Giuffre for US$10 million in New York federal court over social media posts published in October 2020 and statements she made in a memoir and a podcast; Oh says this falsely portrays her as an accomplice of Epstein rather than one of his victims.
Oh claims the allegations against him have caused “devastating” damage to his reputation and have been repeated by international media.
The dispute played out in tit-for-tat litigation in state and federal New York courts.
This includes a countersuit filed by Giuffre in December 2022, which alleges Oh played an abusive role within Epstein’s circle and cut him off during sadomasochistic encounters while Epstein watched, according to court documents. Oh categorically denies the allegations.
“I still suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, especially when I’m asked to produce more documents, review discovery materials and look at court documents. I get flashbacks,” Oh told the Guardian before Blatchford was appointed.
“We were waiting for the site to be established. It’s been six years, I want it to be finished now.”
In April of this year, a New York appeals court ruled that Oh’s defamation claim could continue against Giuffre’s estate because civil liabilities continue after the defendant’s death.
Now that the interim administrator has been appointed, Oh’s legal team will be able to officially service the property and proceed with transactions.
Blatchford declined to comment on the complex legal legacy he is tasked with managing.
Monday’s WA supreme court rulings detail four “current and other legal proceedings”.
The list also includes the defamation case against Ghislaine Maxwell, which was resolved in Giuffre’s favor in 2015. according to his lawyer at that time and also an “arbitration” involving U.S. attorney Alan Dershowitz. Giuffre dropped the defamation lawsuit against Dershowitz in 2022.
The WA court rulings also state that: “The Administrator, as the deceased’s legal personal representative, is entitled to do whatever is necessary to exercise that power in relation to the deceased’s memoir titled Nobody’s Daughter, written with journalist Amy Wallace.
At the beginning of the book, Wallace shares details of Giuffre’s worrying final months, including her various health problems.
Giuffre first gained international fame with the Mountbatten v. Windsor case, filed under the Child Victims Act in New York.
She claimed that Epstein kidnapped her at Ghislaine Maxwell’s London mansion, Epstein’s New York mansion and his private island.
In May this year, Giuffre’s father, Sky Roberts, claimed in Piers Morgan Uncensored: “There’s no way she could have committed suicide…someone got to her.”
A WA police spokesman said this week Giuffre’s death was not being treated as suspicious.
“Major crime detectives are preparing a report for the coroner,” the spokesman told the Guardian.
The WA coroner’s court was unable to provide a timeframe for when investigations into the circumstances surrounding Giuffre’s death would be completed.
