An unsigned will has emerged as the crux of the battle over the estate of Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent victims of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Details of the document surfaced on Friday as hearings began in Western Australia’s supreme court, where her sons, her longtime lawyer and her former carer are all vying for control of the assets.
Documents tendered in court reveal that in the weeks before her death in April, Giuffre wrote a will and contacted her lawyer, Karrie Louden, to have it prepared.
But she died on a small Western Australian farm, 80km north of Perth, before signing or having the document witnessed – leaving the estate officially intestate.
The existence of the unsigned will is now at the heart of competing claims with Giuffre’s sons, Christian, 19, and Noah, 18, fighting in court for control of the estate.
They reject the claim that documents submitted to the court by Louden and Giuffre’s former carer, Cheryl Myers, represent their mother’s final intentions.
“Such instructions were preliminary instructions in contemplation of preparing a will, which was not prepared,” a court document states.
“The deceased did not intend for such instructions to constitute her will.”
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Louden and Myers’ counterclaim argues the court should recognise verbal and written instructions they received as an “informal will”, which under WA law allows certain documents or notes to be validated as expressing a person’s intentions for their estate.
“On 27 February 2025, the deceased created an informal will in writing,” the defence counterclaim states.
“On 2 April 2025, the deceased provided 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 Act.”
A document submitted by the defence 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 an interim administrator.
On Friday, media reports put the estimated size of Giuffre’s estate at barely half a million dollars, but the true amount is likely to be much more and include what is left of a reported £12m (A$20m) out-of-court settlement Giuffre received in 2022 from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor – formerly Prince Andrew – after she alleged he sexually abused her when she was 17. He has denied the allegations.
The supreme court documents state Giuffre’s estate is worth more than A$472,000 – a legal threshold in WA that governs how assets are divided when there is no will.
A statement of claim by Christian and Noah includes the Witty River Family Trust, a 2017 Toyota Kluger, a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado, a horse, jewellery, royalties from Giuffre’s memoir and personal effects at the Neergabby property where she died.
Even if the court ultimately finds that an informal will existed, Christian and Noah argue that Giuffre lacked the capacity to make a will at the time the documents were drafted.
Medical records are expected to form a significant part of their evidence.
The plaintiffs in the case also argue the alleged informal will should not be accepted because Louden, the lawyer who recorded the instructions, stands to benefit financially from the estate.
“The first defendant [Louden] will stand to benefit from the deceased’s estate as a beneficiary and such benefit will be in breach of the fiduciary duty,” a defence to the counterclaim document states.
Myers, too, is listed to benefit under the document.
The court registrar Danielle Davies said a further case management hearing would be held at a date to be determined next year.
Davies queried if Giuffre’s estranged husband, Robert Giuffre, and their daughter, who is a minor, should be joined to the proceedings.
“He could be joined in his capacity as guardian or some other equivalent capacity,” the sons’ lawyer, Jon Patty, told the court on Friday.
“Otherwise, if there’s a prospect of any conflict, I’m sure we could find some other person to act as litigation guardian.”
Giuffre was groomed and abused by the late convicted sex offender Epstein.
In May this year, Sky Roberts, Giuffre’s father, claimed on Piers Morgan Uncensored that: “There’s no way that she committed suicide … somebody got to her.”
A WA police spokesperson said this week that Giuffre’s death was not being treated as suspicious.
“Major crime detectives are preparing a report for the coroner,” the spokesperson told the Guardian.
The WA coroner’s court could not provide a timeframe as to when investigations into the circumstances surrounding Giuffre’s death would be completed.
Her family stated at the time of her death that Giuffre “lost her life to suicide”.
