Virginia Giuffre’s sons deny unsigned document is their mother’s will | Western Australia

An unsigned will has emerged as a turning point in the fight over the estate of Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent victims of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Details of the document were revealed on Friday as hearings began in the Western Australian supreme court in which her sons, her long-time lawyer and her former caretaker vie for control of her assets.

Documents filed with the court reveal that Giuffre wrote a will in the weeks before her death in April and contacted her lawyer Karrie Louden to prepare it.

But before he could sign the document or have it witnessed, he died on a small Western Australian farm 80 km north of Perth, formally leaving the estate in will.

The existence of the unsigned will is at the center of competing claims in which Giuffre’s sons Christian, 19, and Noah, 18, are fighting in court for control of the estate.

They deny the claim that documents submitted to the court by Louden and Giuffre’s former caregiver, Cheryl Myers, represent their mother’s last words. intentions.

“Such instructions are preliminary instructions regarding the preparation of an unprepared will,” a court document states.

“The deceased did not intend such instructions to constitute his will.”

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Louden and Myers’ counterclaim argues that the court should have recognized the oral and written instructions they received as “informal wills”, which under Western Australian law allows certain documents or notes to be validated as expressing a person’s intention in relation to their property.

“On February 27, 2025, the decedent created an informal will in writing,” the defense’s counterclaim states.

“On April 2, 2025, the deceased gave verbal instructions to the first defendant [Louden]in the presence of the second defendant [Myers]”To prepare a will to be executed in accordance with the Wills Law.”

A document submitted by the defense reads: “I appoint Cheryl Myers and Karrie Louden as my executors and trustees.”

On Tuesday, Guardian Australia revealed that lawyer Ian Torrington Blatchford had been appointed as interim administrator.

On Friday, media reports put the estimated size of Giuffre’s estate at barely half a million dollars, although the actual amount is likely to be much more and includes what is left of the £12 million (A$20 million) out-of-court settlement Giuffre reportedly received in 2022 from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (formerly Prince Andrew) after she alleged he sexually assaulted her when she was 17. He denied the allegations.

High court documents state Giuffre’s estate is worth more than A$472,000; This is a legal threshold in WA that determines how assets are divided in the absence of a will.

The statement of claim filed by Christian and Noah includes the Witty River Family Trust, a 2017 Toyota Kluger, a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado, a horse, jewelry, copyrights from Giuffre’s memoirs and personal items from the Neergabby estate where she died.

Even if the court ultimately found that an unofficial will existed, Christian and Noah argue that Giuffre did not have the capacity to prepare a will at the time the documents were prepared.

Medical records are expected to form a significant part of the evidence.

Plaintiffs also argue that the alleged informal will should not be accepted because Louden, the attorney who recorded the instructions, would benefit financially from the inheritance.

“The first defendant [Louden] In the defense in the counterclaim document, it is stated that he will benefit from the deceased’s estate as a beneficiary and that such benefit would be contrary to his fiduciary duty.

It is stated that Myers can also benefit from the document.

Court clerk Danielle Davies said a new case management hearing would be held at a date to be determined next year.

Davies asked whether Giuffre’s estranged husband, Robert Giuffre, and their underage daughters should be required to attend the hearings.

“He will be able to participate as guardian or in another equivalent capacity,” the sons’ attorney, Jon Patty, told the court Friday.

“Otherwise, if there is any possibility of conflict, I’m sure we can find someone else to act as litigation guardian.”

Giuffre was groomed and abused by convicted sex offender Epstein.

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.

At the time of her death, Giuffre’s family stated that she “died due to suicide.”