(NewsNation) — Jimmy Buffett’s widow Jane has accused the co-trustee of his estate of “wasting” her money in a lawsuit over a $275 million trust.
Jane Buffett alleges that Richard Mozenter has never sought her as a co-trustee to use the marital trust’s assets to finance what she describes as a “retaliatory litigation campaign,” according to court documents filed in July that were obtained by People.
Singer Jimmy Buffett died in 2023 after a fight with Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare type of skin cancer. He and Jane were married for 46 years until the time of his death, People reports. She is the beneficiary of the marital trust.
Mozenter was appointed co-trustee of the trust after the “Margaritaville” singer’s passing.
In her suit against Mozenter, Buffett says that he’s shown “little interest in sparing Marital Trust assets from the high cost of litigating three separate actions,” she claimed, according to People.
“Jane will not play into Mr. Mozenter’s hands by litigating this dispute in two separate courts across the country, which would drain the very trust money that Jimmy specifically set aside for her care,” Buffett’s attorney, Matt Porpora from Sullivan and Cromwell, told People in a statement.
Dueling lawsuits over Jimmy Buffett’s fortune
Last month, Jane and Mozenter filed lawsuits in Florida and California, respectively, accusing one another of mismanaging the trust, asking a judge in each jurisdiction to remove the other as co-trustee, according to records.
Mozenter claims in his lawsuit that Jimmy Buffett, who built the Margaritaville brand, created the trust with Mozenter as the independent trustee because he was concerned about “Jane’s ability to manage and control his assets.”
Jimmy Buffett was the “Margaritaville” mogul
He accused Jane Buffett of being “very angry” over the trust’s structure and “has repeatedly acted in a hostile manner and has been completely uncooperative with Rick in his attempts to administer the Trust,” he claims in his suit.
In addition to music, Jimmy Buffett was a successful entrepreneur whose assets include:
- $34.5 million in real property
- $15 million in equity from Strange Bird Inc.
- $2 million in musical equipment
- $5 million in vehicles
- $12 million in various investments
The trust includes a 20% stake in Buffett’s Margaritaville Holdings, which was founded by the Buffett family. It reportedly owns and operates hotels, cruise ships, casinos and more.
Legal filings showed that the trust was created “for the wife’s sole benefit of her lifetime.”