Ex-fiancé petitions court for temporary guardianship of Hayden Panettiere's daughter's estate

Wladimir Klitschko, the former fiancé of actress Hayden Panettiere, has asked a Los Angeles County probate court to appoint him as temporary guardian of their daughter Kaya's estate. The petition, filed Thursday, describes the request as "urgent and essential" and warns that property belonging to the estate could be lost or damaged before a permanent personal representative is named.

Klitschko alleges that federal agents entered Panettiere's Los Angeles home after her death in August as part of an ongoing investigation and removed items belonging to the estate. He claims there is no authorized representative to protect those assets and that unauthorized individuals may have accessed or destroyed personal belongings, including clothing and emails. Some jewelry and other items are reportedly in law-enforcement custody, while others remain unaccounted for.

The filing seeks standing to have an administrator appointed for Panettiere's probate estate, which is expected to take several weeks to resolve. Details of the petition were first reported by a media outlet.

Panettiere died on Aug. 16 in Greenville, South Carolina, after being found unresponsive. The county coroner ruled the death an overdose involving fentanyl and other substances. The Drug Enforcement Administration is investigating the source of the fentanyl, and a family source said she had recently been released from a rehabilitation facility in Malibu, California.