August 18, 2026 / Press
Jonathan Forster Discusses Estate of Hayden Panettiere with PEOPLE After Actress’s Tragic Passing
PEOPLE recently tapped Jonathan Forster for insight into the estate of late actress Hayden Panettiere, including how her assets, residuals and royalties could be handled following her tragic passing and what may happen to her inheritance under California law.
While it is not publicly known whether Panettiere had previously engaged in any estate planning activities, Jonathan explains how the estate is handled may depend largely on whether she had a will or trust in place.
“If she has a trust, then it would be paid to the trust estate, and the trust would distribute to the beneficiaries,” Jonathan tells PEOPLE. “If she died with a will, it would go through the California probate process and it would go to the people named in her will.” Jonathan further explains that if Panettiere died without a will, California law would determine where her assets go, generally meaning her daughter would inherit the estate.
If a trust was established prior to the actress’s death, it could have allowed Panettiere to provide for her daughter while giving her greater control over when and how her daughter receives the inheritance. “It could be held in a trust for her daughter’s benefit until she’s old enough to be financially mature enough to handle her inheritance,” Jonathan says. “If she did an estate plan, it would be very likely that she did a trust.”
He concludes by noting that trusts also add a layer of financial privacy, as they eliminate the need for a court-supervised guardianship (a public proceeding) to determine what the assets are and where they go.