(Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)
A last will and testament has been filed in the U.S. Virgin Islands for disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died last week as a result of an apparent suicide. The last will and testament was executed in the Metropolitan Corrections Center in New York, New York, two days prior to his passing. The proximity of the last will and testament signing to his death has some suggesting that he feared his death at the hands of others, or that he was planning a suicide. Either scenario reveals that in his final days, incarcerated, a priority for him was getting his affairs in order and consulting with his own legal counsel.
One may think that estate planning is not an inmate’s preeminent legal concern, especially an inmate with as serious charges as Epstein’s. Jail and prison, however, are dangerous places, especially for high-profile inmates. Given the gravity of the alleged crimes and Epstein’s well-known history, many feel that he was a target and death, including suicide, was not out of the realm of possibility. As such, updating legal documents like a last will and testament seem appropriate for someone in as precarious position as Epstein.
Inmates have assets and they have children. If one is going to prison for any amount of time, it would behoove her to make a last will to provide for her children in the event she passes away in prison and especially if there is no other parent. Moreover, a power of attorney and health care proxy should be executed. Although at this time it appears that Epstein was not propelled to write a last will because of children, the disposition of his enormous assets was seemingly of concern. Given his wealth, measured in the court probate petition as $577 million, direction was necessary. The estate reportedly includes $56 million in cash, $112 million in equities, $200 million in hedge funds and private equity, and $18.5 million in “aviation assets, automobiles, and boats.”
Epstein named his longtime lawyers Darren K. Indyke and Richard D. Kahn as executors. The executors have a set commission of $250,000 for their services. Medical entrepreneur Boris Nikolic, an advisor to Bill Gates, was reportedly surprised to hear of his appointment as successor executor.
The last will and testament is a “pour over” will which bequeaths the estate to a trust named “The 1953 Trust.” In that trust, which is not public, the specific beneficiaries are listed. The filing is in the probate court in St. Thomas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, where the last will states that Epstein was a resident. This certainly provides more privacy by making it more difficult for individuals to obtain the estate file.
Without a valid last will and testament, Epstein’s brother, Mark Epstein, would be his next of kin and under the laws of intestacy, his heir. As the heir, he has the standing to object to the last will and testament based on the testator’s capacity, undue influence, lack of execution, or fraud.
Wills executed shortly prior to death are scrutinized by probate courts as to the testator’s frame of mind, capacity, and any suspicious activity. Given Epstein’s death so soon after the signing, in addition to his prior suicide attempt, the court will review the circumstances surrounding the signing carefully.
Epstein’s accusers have already commenced civil proceedings against the Estate. As the last will has been filed with the probate court, the number of cases are likely to grow. The executors will need to review any claims against the Estate and they will seek to pay or contest them.
A question that will surely arise for Epstein’s executors is the existence of any additional heirs and any claims to paternity that they set forth. The existence of any children for Epstein would change the course and direction of the administration of his Estate. Suicide, death bed will, will execution, heirs, probate and non probate assets, trusts, kinship, claims against the estate: in the few days that Epstein has been deceased, his estate is already providing the public with a robust primer on trusts and estates.
Cori A. Robinson is a solo practitioner having founded Cori A. Robinson PLLC, a New York and New Jersey law firm, in 2017. For more than a decade Cori has focused her law practice on trusts and estates and elder law including estate and Medicaid planning, probate and administration, estate litigation, and guardianships. She can be reached at cori@robinsonestatelaw.com.