In this special Absolute Trust Talk episode, Kirsten Howe and associate attorney Jessica Colbert step into the captivating world of celebrity estates, taking a closer look at the probate of O.J. Simpson. Unlike traditional probates, where assets are distributed to heirs, O.J.’s estate paints a very different picture—one dominated by overwhelming debts, including a $117 million judgment. From the auctioning of memorabilia to an intriguing home equity dispute, this episode uncovers the complexities faced by executors in balancing creditors’ claims and legal obligations. Whether you’re a legal enthusiast or just curious about the challenges of high-profile estates, this episode is an entertaining and insightful dive into the world of probate law. Tune in to discover what happens when there’s nothing left for the heirs—and how even celebrity estates must follow the same rules as everyone else.
Time-stamped Show Notes:
0:00 Introduction
2:04 Learn about the executor’s efforts to auction O.J.’s personal belongings, from memorabilia to household items, and the challenges involved in organizing the sale.
3:34 Next, we dive into the details of the executor’s attempt to include home equity in the estate, despite complications involving a property jointly owned by O.J. and his son.
5:38 Discover the role of O.J.’s pour-over will and the trust it references, and why certain details of his estate remain private.
6:40 Kirsten and Jessica reflect on the unusual nature of this case and its educational takeaways, teasing more engaging episodes to come.
Transcript:
Hello, and welcome to Absolute Trust Talk. I’m Kirsten Howe. I’m here with one of our associate attorneys, Jessica Colbert. This is our live-streaming podcast here at Absolute Trust Counsel.
Jessica and I, the last number of episodes, have been very serious and focused on a specific piece of the law and trying to be very educational and very helpful. That’s great; that’s what this podcast is for, but sometimes, we like to have a little more fun than that. That’s what—today’s episode is just for fun, just for our fun. Hopefully, you will have fun.
There are lots of different kinds of fun episodes for me, but one variety that I like is our celebrity death episodes. We’re going to go back today and revisit a celebrity death because there have been some recent developments in this particular case. I’m talking about OJ Simpson.
To bring everybody, including Jessica, up to speed, OJ died in April of this year, 2024. He left a will. He appointed—or he nominated—a longtime friend and attorney as his executor. That gentleman was appointed to be the executor in the state of Nevada because that’s where OJ lived when he died in Nevada.
Probably everybody is aware that whatever estate there was when OJ died is now far outpaced by the debt that he had when he died. He had a judgment by the Goldman family against him for 33 and a half million dollars, which is now, I don’t even know, is that 20 years old, that judgment, 25 years old? It’s been collecting interest ever since, and now it’s up to about $117 million. So whatever estate he had, that’s not going to cover that. I think there’s also a tax lien by the state of California. Who knows what’s going to happen with that?
The executor has been working on some things that caught my attention, so we are having this conversation. Jessica, why don’t you tell us what the executor has been doing lately?
The executor part of the executor’s job is getting all the assets together. Right now, he’s trying to get those assets together and get some of that value into the estate. One thing that he’s working on is the executor petitioned the court. He asked the judge for permission to auction off some of OJ’s stuff, his tangible personal property, and his belongings. There’s some memorabilia, and people just want things owned by OJ. It’s cool to say, “Oh, I have OJ’s ashtray, or I have a painting that was hung in OJ’s house.” That stuff is likely worth something. We have not been able to figure out when that auction is. If you’re an OJ fan trying to get your hands on his ashtray, we don’t have that information yet.
I had seen something about October 31st. That’s explaining the timing of this episode, is that that October 31st date came and went. I don’t see any evidence that the auction actually took place. Probably, the executor has a lot of work to categorize all that stuff and figure out how much it should be and what should be the minimum bid. It’s not an easy job. Anyway, that’s one thing the executor has been up to. There’s another one that’s interesting as well. Go ahead.
The other thing that he’s working on is trying to get some home equity into OJ’s probate estate. OJ and his son had purchased a home together. It’s the home that OJ lived in, and each of them contributed some money to the purchase price. OJ put in about $159,000. The son put in a bit more than that. The value has gone up about $100,000 since they purchased it. Now the executor is trying to get that home equity, its value, into OJ’s probate estate.
So many things about this case are interesting. It’s very different from the probates we normally handle in our practice. Normally, there are assets, maybe a little bit of debt, maybe some credit cards that need to be paid back, and maybe the decedent borrowed money from somebody. Usually, money will be left for the heirs to get something after we pay all the creditors. That’s not going to happen in this case. Still, the executor is working away.
That’s something that people don’t think about. It’s not just the executor’s job to get money to the heirs. It’s the executor’s job. I’m going back to law school. Probate is like bankruptcy. It’s an “in rem” proceeding, which means it’s about the thing, being the estate. The executor brings the estate into the court and says, “Your Honor, who gets this?” Who gets it first is the cost of administration. So, who gets it first is going to be the executor. But then the creditors. In this case, I suspect the heirs aren’t going to get anything. I just wanted to point out that this is an unusual probate, but it’s following the regular rules we always follow in a probate.
Jessica, do you have anything else you want to add to this?
I am just kind of reiterating that even if the heirs aren’t going to get anything, there are no beneficiaries getting anything. The executor still has to do all of this. They still have to do their entire job, even if the result is OJ’s children walk away with nothing.
I’m just going to throw in one little other tidbit: I did see a copy of OJ’s will. Somebody had published it online. I’m sure you can see it if you purchase it from the courthouse in Nevada. I didn’t do that, but I did see it. It’s a pour-over will. OJ had apparently a trust, just like our clients do. But anyway, I just thought that was another fun point.
We don’t know what that trust says. I want to see it. The will is a public document, but the trust is not, and it may never be.
Okay. I hope that was entertaining, if not as educational as some of our episodes are. Thanks, Jessica. Thank you all for joining us.
We look forward to connecting with you next time.
Resources Related to This Episode:
- Absolute Trust Talk Episode 130: Exploring the OJ Simpson Estate: Probate and Creditor Claims https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/130-exploring-the-oj-simpson-estate-probate-and-creditor-claims/
- Absolute Trust Talk Ep. 125: Cher Files for Conservatorship of Son Elijah Blue Allman Over Alleged Substance Abuse: https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/125-cher-files-for-conservatorship-of-son-elijah-blue-allman-over-alleged-substance-abuse/
- Absolute Trust Talk Ep. 124: Beach Boys Founder Brian Wilson Suffering from Dementia as Reps Seek Conservatorship: https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/124-beach-boys-founder-brian-wilson-suffering-from-dementia-as-reps-seek-conservatorship/
- Absolute Trust Talk Ep. 122 – The Costly Truth of Ignoring Estate Planning Like Jay Leno: https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/122-the-costly-truth-of-ignoring-estate-planning-like-jay-leno/
- Absolute Trust Talk Ep. 117 – Estate Planning Lessons: Senator Dianne Feinstein: https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/117-estate-planning-lessons-senator-dianne-feinstein/
- Absolute Trust Talk Ep. 113 – How to Avoid a Chaotic “Casey Kasem” Estate Plan?: https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/113-how-to-avoid-a-chaotic-casey-kasem-estate-plan/
- Absolute Trust Talk Ep. 106 – What’s Left of the Presley Estate? Lessons Learned from Elvis & Lisa Marie: https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/106-whats-left-of-the-presley-estate-lessons-learned-from-elvis-lisa-marie/
- Absolute Trust Talk Ep. 097 – Estate Planning Lessons from the Rich and Famous: https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/097-estate-planning-lessons-from-the-rich-and-famous/
- Death and Estate Taxes Don’t Take Holidays, Even for Celebrities – A carefully crafted estate plan may have avoided the multi-million dollar battle over Michael Jackson’s estate: https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/death-estate-taxes-dont-take-holidays-even-celebrities/.
- From Prince to Pauper? What happens if you die without an estate plan? If you’re the late rock star, Prince, you lose half of your estate to state and federal estate taxes: https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/from-prince-to-pauper/
- Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher’s Deaths Give Offspring Millions to Inherit Overnight – Losing two generations back-to-back will strain even the most robust estate plan: https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/essential_grid/debbie-reynolds-carrie-fishers-deaths-give-offspring-millions-inherit-overnight/
- Nichelle Nichols Conservatorship Battle Sheds Light on Estate Planning for Incapacity: https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/essential_grid/nichelle-nichols-conservatorship-battle-sheds-light-on-estate-plannning-for-incapacity/
- Estate Planning Lessons, Celebrity Edition – Nichelle Nichols: https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/estate-planning-lessons-celebrity-edition-nichelle-nichols/
- Bill Paxton’s Death Sheds a New Light on Pre-Surgery Estate Planning Essentials: https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/essential_grid/bill-paxtons-death-sheds-new-light-pre-surgery-estate-planning-essentials/
- A Will is Not Enough – Securing Your Legacy with Estate Planning Life can change in an instant. A will is not enough to be prepared. Get free access to our actionable E-book Guidebook #1 and start protecting your legacy today. https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/guidebooks/
- Learn how to comfortably define gray areas and assess your own unique needs to effortlessly build a secure future now. Check out Guidebook #2, Estate Planning Beyond the Basics, here > https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/guidebooks/
- Get our free introductory guide to the most used estate planning tool, family trusts, and understand how we plan to help protect your family. Guidebook #3: https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/guidebooks/
- Absolute Trust Counsel would love to offer access to our Incapacity Planning resource page: https://AbsoluteTrustCounsel.com/Incapacity-Planning/. We’ve collected our top planning information all in one place so listeners can find videos, guidebooks, blog posts, and a host of information with tips and strategies on implementing, planning, and protecting themselves and their loved ones.
- We’re pleased to provide a library of e-books to address common estate planning questions and concerns in practical, easy-to-understand language. https://AbsoluteTrustCounsel.com/Resources/.
- ASK KIRSTEN: If you’d like Kirsten to answer your question on the air, please email her at Info@AbsoluteTrustCounsel.com.
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