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Jimmy Buffett’s widow and the co-trustee of the late singer-songwriter’s estate are at odds with each other over the $275 million trust.
Jane Buffett is seeking to get Richard Mozenter’s position as co-trustee of the “Margaritaville” singer’s estate stripped in a recently-filed lawsuit.
Mozenter has also taken legal action, petitioning this week to get Jane’s status as co-trustee and personal representative of the estate revoked.
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA: (L-R) Jimmy Buffett and Jane Slagsvol attend the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted By Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on Mar.12, 2023. (Amy Sussman / Getty Images)
Their lawsuits were filed in California and Florida, respectively.
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Jane’s lawsuit claimed Mozenter “has failed to perform even the most basic tasks required of him in his role as co-trustee, including providing Mrs. Buffett with information concerning trust assets and finances, which has left Mrs. Buffett in the dark with regard to the state of her own finances,” Fox News Digital reported.
The lawsuit alleges he took 16 months to give the widow information about how much income she could expect to see from the trust, supplying it in February of this year.
The suit claimed he forecasted the trust would produce less than $2 million in net income a year based on an estimate that did not factor in distributions from Margaritaville, according to Fox News Digital.
The trust’s ownership stake in the company reportedly amounts to roughly 20%.
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Jane’s lawsuit argued that “if the Marital Trust truly earns such a low return consistent with the financials Mr. Mozenter presented, it will confirm that Mr. Mozenter is either not competent to administer the Trust or unwilling to act in Mrs. Buffett’s best interests.”
Jane Slagsvol and Jimmy Buffett (Stephen Lovekin/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images)
Jane allegedly received a recommendation to think about making changes to her spending or real estate holdings in light of the trust’s projected income, per the outlet.
Buffett’s widow also reportedly accused Mozenter of having “belittled, disrespected, and condescended” her in dealings with the singer’s estate.
Meanwhile, a petition filed by Mozenter in Florida asking Jane to be removed as a personal representative of the marital trust argued Jimmy had “repeatedly expressed to Rick [Mozenter] his concerns regarding Jane’s ability to manage and control his assets” and was “very careful to create the Trust in a manner that precluded Jane from having actual control over the Trust.”
Jane “repeatedly acted in a hostile manner toward Rick and has been completely uncooperative with Rick in his attempts to administer the Trust,” it alleged.
Andrew Comiter, an attorney for Mozenter, told FOX Business that Mozenter had no comment but said that his client’s filings “speak for themselves.”
The dispute between Buffett’s widow and his estate’s co-trustee comes after the singer-songwriter died on September 1, 2023.
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The 76-year-old had been battling Merkel Cell Skin Cancer for several years.
“Jimmy was love,” Jane wrote in a statement on her husband’s website after his death. “Every cell in his body was filled with joy. He smiled all the time, even when he was deeply ill. And his sense of humor never wavered.”
Jimmy Buffett plays a song as he performs at a Get Out the Vote rally for U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Florida Democratic governor candidate Andrew Gillum at the Meyer Amphitheatre on Nov. 03, 2018, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
He released several pop-culture staples in the 1970s and 1980s, including the 1977 hit “Margaritaville,” “Come Monday,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,” “A Pirate Looks at Forty” and “Pencil Thin Mustache.”
Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson and Cassie Maynard contributed to this report.
