LOS ANGELES, California — Actress Daveigh Chase, best known for her memorable performances in The Ring and as the voice of Lilo in Disney’s Lilo & Stitch, left behind an estate valued at approximately $400,000 after her death last month, according to newly filed probate records in Los Angeles County.
Court documents filed on July 8 in Los Angeles County Superior Court show that Chase died without a will. Her mother has petitioned the court to serve as the administrator of the estate, which consists of roughly $400,000 in personal property. The filing also states that Chase was survived by her parents and was experiencing homelessness at the time of her death.
Probate Filing Reveals Details of Actress’s Estate
According to probate records, Chase died on June 17, and a hearing regarding her estate has been scheduled for Aug. 12 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The documents indicate she had been living in an RV near Los Angeles’ Skid Row area before she was taken to a nearby hospital, where she died. Her last known permanent address was listed in Chatsworth.
The medical examiner reported that the cause of death was Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The report also identified chronic polysubstance use as a significant contributing condition.
Mother Says Addiction Began After 2016 Accident
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Chase’s mother, Cathy Chase, said her daughter’s struggles with addiction began after a 2016 motorcycle accident, when she was prescribed pain medication.
“She was seeking drugs and was partying with the wrong people,” Cathy Chase said. “I never kicked my daughter out. She wanted freedom and these people got her hooked on some drugs. That was the beginning.”
Cathy Chase also rejected claims that family estrangement contributed to her daughter’s decline, saying she repeatedly tried to persuade her to seek treatment.
“I tried desperately to try to get Daveigh help, but you can’t legally force someone who doesn’t want that help,” she said. “The drugs took hold of her.”
She added, “As a mother, you don’t give up on your child. I was hoping she would still come home.”
Former Child Star Built a Successful Hollywood Career
Chase began acting in the late 1990s, appearing in television series including Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Charmed, The Practice, and ER before gaining wider recognition in the 2001 film Donnie Darko.
She achieved international fame in 2002 after voicing Lilo in Disney’s Lilo & Stitch and portraying Samara Morgan in the horror hit The Ring, a role that earned her the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.
Chase also voiced Chihiro in the English-language version of Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award-winning animated film Spirited Away. From 2006 to 2011, she appeared as Rhonda Volmer in HBO’s Big Love. Her final credited role came in 2016 as a voice actor in the video game Let It Die.
The probate case is expected to continue at the scheduled August hearing as the court considers the petition to administer Chase’s estate.
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