Virginia Giuffre: Family feud over Jeffrey Epstein victim’s estate escalates to WA Supreme Court

A legal battle over Virginia Giuffre’s multi-million dollar estate has kicked off in Perth, with her estranged husband and daughter likely to join her sons in batting off other parties vying for a slice of her fortune.

The 41-year-old — the most vocal survivor of notorious billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein — took her own life at her hobby farm near Neergabby, 80km north of Perth, without leaving a valid will on April 25.

After claiming she was sex trafficked as a teenager by the New York financier to his wealthy friends, including Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, she amassed a fortune in victim’s compensation claims and civil lawsuit settlements.

Her estate includes a rumoured $22 million paid by the disgraced former prince, who accepted no liability and has always rejected her claims she had sex with him three times, including when she was 17.

The battle over who gets it is now being duked out in Perth, where the mother-of-three’s sons Christian, 19, and Noah, 18, are fighting Ms Giuffre’s former barrister Karrie Louden and her former housekeeper Cheryl Myers.

A writ filed in the Supreme Court of WA in June showed Christian and Noah sought an order making them administrators of the vast estate, saying they had an interest in it and were suitable persons.

But Ms Louden and Ms Myers are contesting that, represented by Solomon Hollett Lawyers, and what claim they say they have is yet to be publicly revealed.

At a case management hearing on Friday, none of the actual parties to the proceedings showed up, and there were more reporters than lawyers.

Craig Hollett appeared in person for Ms Louden and Ms Myers, while Jon Patty from DFG Legal acted for Ms Giuffre’s sons and took part via telephone, while his colleague Jemin Jo was present in court.

Mr Patty said it appeared that Ms Giuffre’s estranged husband Robert Giuffre, who consented to his sons taking control, “should be joined” to the proceedings along with their third child, a daughter who cannot be named as she is a minor.

Mr Patty suggested Mr Giuffre could take part as a guardian for the girl, then suggested an independent guardian could be appointed to avoid a conflict of interest.

It’s understood that while Mr Giuffre could be eligible for up to one-third of the estate, Ms Giuffre emailed her lawyers shortly before her death, instructing them that she did not want him to have one cent.

The pair parted ways months before she died and had a Family Court case underway.

He slapped a restraining order on her as their relationship unravelled — leaving her also separated from her children.

Registrar Danielle Davies requested the lawyers amend and submit various documents, asking for submissions on whether the case could be dealt by her on the papers in chambers or be referred to a master or a judge to be heard in person.

That dependent on whether non-parties to the case wished to be heard, she said, adding a hearing should be listed to allow that to happen.

Mr Patty said it would take some time to serve all of the parties with relevant documents, including to one in hospital, without revealing who that was or why they were there.

Both sides did not object to eventually publicly releasing various case documents, although some containing confidential information and details of the minor would be held back.

Outside court, Mr Hollett was asked about the counter-claim.

“Once copies of those pleadings are provided to the media, then you will be able to establish the basis for that counter claim,” he told reporters.

Another case management hearing will be held in the new year, the registrar said.

At the request of the sons, the court this week appointed Ian Torrington Blatchford as interim administrator to manage the estate while the legal battle plays out.

It has also been reported that Ms Giuffre’s brothers Sky Roberts and Danny Wilson are challenging Mr Giuffre over his right to her funds - and that her paternal aunt Kimberley Roberts believes it should all go to her children.

Ms Giuffre moved to Perth from Cairns in 2020, buying a $1.9 million, six-bedroom, four-bathroom ocean-front property in the northern suburb of Ocean Reef.

But she spent her last days at the farm, having been slapped with a restraining order by Mr Giuffre as their relationship unravelled — leaving her also separated from her children.

The court order detailing Mr Blatchford’s appointment revealed Ms Giuffre had at least four legal proceedings on foot when she died, three of those in the US.

Most notably, she had a case against Epstein’s jailed former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell but was the defendant in a case brought by fellow Epstein survivor Rina Oh.

Ms Giuffre was also in arbitration with prominent American attorney Alan Dershowitz, who she mistakenly claimed she had been trafficked to.

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