Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein signed a will just two days before he killed himself in the Manhattan federal jail, new court records show,.
Court papers filed last week in the US Virgin Islands list no details of beneficiaries but put the estate at more than $US577 million.
The existence of the will, first reported by the New York Post, raised new questions about Epstein's final days inside the Metropolitan Correctional Centre, where he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.
His suicide on August 10 has prompted multiple federal inquiries and cast a harsh light on staffing shortages at the Manhattan facility.
In the fall-out, the Director of the Bureau of Prisons Hugh Hurwitz has been removed from his post.
The filing of the will has been closely followed by lawyers representing women who claim they were sexually abused by Epstein when they were teenagers and recruited into his residences to provide him massages.
Several attorneys vowed to go after his assets even if the will had named beneficiaries, as Epstein's death means there will be no trial on the criminal charges against him.
"Give his entire estate to his victims. It is the only justice they can get," one of those lawyers, Lisa Bloom, wrote in an email. "And they deserve it. And on behalf of the Epstein victims I represent, I intend to fight for it."
Australian Associated Press
