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197: O.J. Simpson’s $58 Million Problem: What His Probate Teaches Us

December 15, 2025

In this episode of Absolute Trust Talk, Kirsten Howe returns with the latest development in the ongoing O.J. Simpson probate saga. Over 18 months after his April 2024 death, headlines announced that the executor of O.J.’s estate had “agreed to pay” the Goldman family close to $58 million—but what does that actually mean?

Kirsten breaks down the reality behind the sensational headlines, explaining what happens when an executor accepts a creditor’s claim versus actually paying it. With O.J.’s estate valued at just $1-2 million against a $58 million accepted claim, she reveals who really gets paid first in probate and why the Goldmans may see almost nothing despite “winning.” Tune in for a real-world lesson on why probate takes so long and how creditor claims actually work.

Time-stamped Show Notes:

0:00 Introduction

0:45 Key lesson #1: O.J. died in April 2024, and over 18 months later, his probate is still ongoing—proof that probate takes a long time

1:30 The headline that grabbed attention: “Executor agrees to pay $58 million to the Goldman family”

2:00 Listen in as Kirsten provides some background on the Goldman family’s 1997 civil judgment of $33 million against O.J. for the deaths of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson

2:45 Next, let’s discuss how the judgment grew to $117 million with nearly 30 years of accumulated interest, and the creditor’s claim was filed in July 2024

3:30 What really happened: The executor accepted the claim at $58 million (disputing the interest calculation), but this doesn’t mean writing a check

4:15 The reality check: O.J.’s estate is worth only $1-2 million—nowhere near the $58 million claim

4:45 Key lesson #2: Who gets paid first in probate—executors, attorneys, court fees, and expenses come before any creditor claims

5:30 Why the headline was misleading and what this case teaches us about probate and creditor claims

Transcript:

Hello and welcome to Absolute Trust Talk. I’m Kirsten Howe. I’m the managing attorney at Absolute Trust Counsel, and we are back for another round of conversation about O.J. Simpson. I felt that it was important that I get on the microphone and talk about the latest developments for a few reasons. First of all, my longtime listeners know that we provide celebrity trust and estates gossip whenever we can find it, and I know people would expect to hear me talk about the latest development in O.J.’s case, and it’s fun. So, there actually are a couple of lessons to take away. Let’s get started.

Just to remind you, O.J. Simpson, very famous American, infamous American, died in April 2024. He was living in Nevada at the time, so his estate is being administered in the state of Nevada. So, April 2024—I want you to pay attention to that date, because here we are now, it’s November 2025, and what I’m about to talk to you about is a recent development in O.J.’s probate. It’s been over a year and a half, and his probate is still ongoing. Lesson number one, takeaway number one for you all listening is, you know, as I’ve said many times, probate takes a long time, and if you can do planning to avoid probate, that’s really going to be beneficial to your family. Okay, so that’s a basic lesson. You’ve heard me say it many times, and now here you have a real, concrete example of, oh, yeah, it really does take a long time.

So what happened yesterday? There was a big announcement, or at least the press made a big deal about it. Everybody covered it. And the headline of this announcement was that the executor of O.J.’s estate had agreed to pay the Goldman family close to $58 million. And in case you don’t remember, the Goldman family—those are the parents of Ron Goldman, the young gentleman who was also killed along with Nicole Brown Simpson. They got a judgment years and years ago, 1997, against O.J. Even though he wasn’t convicted criminally, he was found civilly responsible for those deaths, and the Goldman family got a judgment of around $33 million back in 1997.

Now, you know, fast forward 20, almost 30 years later, and O.J. paid little, if any, on that judgment during his lifetime. It accumulated interest over the years. And , in probate, the Goldman family filed what’s called a creditor’s claim. They might call it something different in Nevada, but that’s the basic concept, and that’s what we call it in California—a creditor’s claim—back in July of 2024. That’s over a year ago, they filed their creditors’ claim, and it’s just a document where they say to the court, we are owed this much money by this decedent, and we expect to be paid out of this probate. They filed their creditors’ claim. I believe it was stated that they were owed $117 million, with all the interest that has accrued over the last almost 30 years.

What happened yesterday is that the executor filed the required document, which says we accept the creditor’s claim. They filed it for a different number, and the executor stated that they think perhaps the interest was improperly calculated—that the amount owed wasn’t actually $117 million, but it was, in fact, closer to $58 million. The executor filed this document saying, yes, we accept that creditor’s claim. And what that means is not what the headline said. It doesn’t mean the executor said, “I agree to pay that $58 million. I’m going to sit down and write a check. Don’t worry about it.” That’s not what that means. It means the executor is saying, yes, it’s a valid claim, and it should be paid from the estate.

But that doesn’t change the fact that O.J.’s estate is something like $1 million, $2 million dollars. Right? And a creditor’s claim of $58 million is—it’s just not going to happen. They might get a little bit, but the executor has to be paid first. The executor’s attorney has to be paid first. All the expenses involved in the probate, the court filing fees, all of that stuff has to happen first. And then what’s left will be used to satisfy legitimate creditor claims. But again, it’s just not going to be very much.

So that big headline, you know, “Executor agrees to pay $58 million to the Goldmans”—it’s a little misleading. It, I’m sure, it sold some newspapers; it got people to pay attention. But really, nothing is different from what we knew at the very beginning.

Okay, I hope you found this interesting and fun, and maybe you learned a little lesson or two. And thanks for joining me, and I look forward to connecting with you next time.

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Categories: Celebrity Estates, Civil Judgements, Creditor Claims, Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Executor Duties, Goldman Family, O.J. Simpson, Podcasts, Probate, Probate Timeliine Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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