Jeffrey Epstein signed a will two days before he killed himself in jail, court records show.

Court papers filed in the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned two isles, list no details of beneficiaries but valued his estate at more than $577m (£477m), including more than $56m (£46m) in cash.

The existence of the will raised questions about Epstein’s final days in the Metropolitan Correctional Centre, where he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.

Epstein signed the document on 8 August and was found dead in his cell less than 48 hours later.

On Monday, prosecutors moved to dismiss the indictment against Epstein, but said they are considering charging others with facilitating his alleged abuse of dozens of girls.

Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Show all 9 1 /9 Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in court Billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein attends court as he pleads guilty to solicitation and procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution, 2008 Zuma/Rex Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in court Billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to felony solicitation and procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail. Epstein, allegedly paid several girls under the age of 18 in return for naked massages at his Palm Beach, Florida estate Zuma/Rex Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's car Jeffrey Epstein is whisked away from the Palm Beach County jail in a black car shortly after 6am on 22 July 2009. Epstein left the jail through the sally port, where prisoners are brought in, rather than through the main doors where prisoners are routinely released Zuma/Rex Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's mugshot Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's mugshot, taken after he was indicted for soliciting a prostitute on 26 July 2006. Beginning in mid-March 2005, Epstein became the target of a sexual battery probe conducted by the Palm Beach Police Department, according to the affidavit, which alleges that Epstein paid a series of underage girls to engage in sexual activity with him. In a 2002 New York magazine profile of Epstein, Donald Trump called the moneyman a 'terrific guy' who 'likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.' Epstein, who reportedly runs a multibillion-dollar investment fund, travels in his own Boeing 727 (upon which he has transported Bill Clinton to Africa) and owns a 45,000-square-foot mansion on Manhattan's Upper East Side Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jack Goldberger, Jeffrey Epstein's attorney Jeffrey Epstein's attorney, Jack Goldberger, talks with reporters gathered outside the Palm Beach County jail on 22 July 2009 after Epstein was whisked away from the jail in a black car Zuma/Rex Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein Florida Police department sexual offenders database picture of Jeffrey Epstein taken in 2013 Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's mansion His Palm Beach mansion in Florida Google Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's island The private Caribbean island, Little St James is part of the US Virgin Islands NBC News Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's island The private Caribbean island, Little St James is part of the US Virgin Islands NBC News

The filing of the will, meanwhile, had 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.

One woman filed suit against the estate last week, claiming Epstein repeatedly raped her when she was a teenager.

One of the lawyers, Lisa Bloom, wrote in an email: “Give his entire estate to his victims. It is the only justice they can get.

“And they deserve it. And on behalf of the Epstein victims I represent, I intend to fight for it.”

Drone captures FBI raiding Jeffrey Epstein's Caribbean home

According to the petition to the court, Epstein’s personal property also included $18m (£15m) in planes, cars and boats, more than $112m (£93m) worth of equities, and nearly $200m (£165m) in “hedge funds and private equity investments”.

He also owned shares of a corporation valued at nearly $56m (£46m) that holds title to a home on East 71st Street in Manhattan, and others that hold title to a $17m (£14m) property in New Mexico, and a $12m (£10m) home in Palm Beach.

The petition also lists shares worth over $22m (£18m) of a corporation that holds title to Great St James Island, and nearly $64m (£53m) to another that holds title to Little St James Island, both in the Virgin Islands.

Among the properties that will be subject to appraisal and valuation are his collection of fine arts, antiques and other collectibles.

William Blum, an attorney for Epstein’s estate, said in a statement that any debts or claims against the estate will be “fairly administered”. He said the document was Epstein’s original last will.

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It comes after William Barr, the US attorney general, removed the acting chief of the federal Bureau of Prisons following Epstein’s suicide.

An autopsy report released on Friday concluded Epstein hanged himself.