Jeffrey Epstein signed new will just two days before he died

[Judi Lynn]

Source: NBC News


The will details almost $578 million in wealth, to be assigned to an apparently newly created trust, not to his family.

Aug. 19, 2019, 7:52 PM CDT
By Sarah Fitzpatrick and Alex Johnson

The financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein executed a new will just two days before he was found dead in his New York City jail cell this month, according to probate documents obtained by NBC News.

The documents, a petition for probate of the will and an enumeration of the estate's total property, were filed Thursday in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein had a home. Two witnesses signed affidavits declaring that Epstein "signed it willingly" and that he was "of sound mind and under no constraint or undue influence" at the time.

The estate details wealth of $577,672,654 — $18,551,700 more than Epstein told a judge he had when he unsuccessfully sought bail last month on federal sex trafficking charges. The new property listing includes an entry for that amount described as "aviation assets, automobiles and boats."

The final amount of the estate remains undetermined, as it lists "fine arts, antiques, collectibles, valuables & other personal property" yet to be appraised, without subtracting any potential debts and claims that aren't yet known.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/jeffrey-epstein-signed-new-will-just-two-days-he-died-n1044176

[jberryhill]

1. I hope he spelled my name right

[SergeStorms]

18. I wouldn't want...

anything remotely connected to that piece of garbage. The taint of Epstein's complete lack of morals would never come off in the shower.

[jberryhill]

20. Uh-huh... and do you know where every dollar in your wallet has been?

[SergeStorms]

37. It doesn't have his name on it.

So there's that.

[Maeve]

25. There is another way of looking at that...

There was an old reprobate who flashed a wad of cash under the nose of a preacher who had denounced him frequently from the pulpit. "Bet you're too holy to take the devil's money," he crowed. The preacher snatched the cash and said "The devil has had it long enough!"

There is a lot of good that could be done with such wealth, not that anyone who stands to inherit it is likely to do that. I would never live the lifestyle of the uber-rich, but boy howdy can I think of lots of things that money could do to help people!

[dflprincess]

2. I know nothing of trusts so I'm seriously asking

could this be a way to protect his estate from lawsuits?

[rpannier]

10. From what I've been able to dig up, it could be a lot of reasons

Because he has a fairly large amount of money and investment in the VI some of his fortune is governed under the Laws of the Virgin Islands

There is a forced heirship law in the VI, which prevents you from disinheriting family members from your will. One exception to this rule comes from trusts. So he could choose to disinherit anyone he wants because the money is tied to the trust. So, you're probably correct that it would make it harder to sue his estate as it is tied up in VI trusts (how much is in that trust, idk)

A bit of interesting info is that one of the witnesses to his will is Mariel Colón Miró, a New york Defense attorney whi is/was representing Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman.
She has confirmed that she was a witness, so it's not speculation on my part.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

17. Trusts are a way of passing on assets without going through probate.

Which means the estate typically gets settled a great deal faster than one where there's no trust, but a will. He would not have a trust to protect against lawsuits, but rather this is how wealthy people do it.

Even if you have a trust, you still need a will because not all of your assets will necessarily be titled in the name of the trust. Plus, you may want to use the will to give certain things, like jewelry or family heirlooms, to specific people.

[Sgent]

24. A USVI trust

funded from his estate will not protect him from lawsuits in a meaningful way.

A BVI trust (not at issue in this article but often confused with USVI), or any assets located outside the US, could be more difficult to deal with.

[Kid Berwyn]

3. Gee. This will cuts off his brother entirely.

I wonder who witnessed the will, what are their connections to Epstein, and how did the will get filed in the US Virgin Islands when Epstein was jailed in NYC?

And art is a great way to move and launder money.

[R Merm]

5. You don't know that,

it depends on the terms of the trust.

[Kid Berwyn]

6. My source was the article.

“But the new will leaves nothing to Mark Epstein — instead, it bequeaths everything to a trust that probate documents indicate was created on Aug. 8, the same day the will was signed.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/jeffrey-epstein-signed-new-will-just-two-days-he-died-n1044176

[R Merm]

11. But it doesn't say who or what the trust benefits.

For all we know his brother may be a beneficiary of the trust.

[rpannier]

7. It's not difficult to get the will written in the VI

The laws are fairly lax on a lot of things
from findlaw
here are several important exceptions which authorize tax exemption and incentive programs. Combining this unusual tax arrangement with other federal statutes makes for a unique mix, including tax free aircraft holding companies, federal estate tax exemptions, captive insurance companies which can write U.S. domestic health insurance plans, and tax free U.S.-flag mutual funds which are not subject to U.S. federal securities registration requirements.

and

The IDC Program provides exemptions from nearly all local taxes and a 90% income tax exemption. In order to qualify, a company must invest $50,000 in a U.S. Virgin Islands business and employ ten persons. Initial tax benefit grants are for either ten or fifteen years and may be renewed for five year periods. The IDC Program is typically used by new hotels and light manufacturing enterprises, although in recent years more service businesses are taking advantage of its provisions. Benefits are usually not granted for businesses which primarily serve the local market. U.S. Virgin Islands resident shareholders of companies which have benefits are also entitled to 90% income tax exemptions. Companies incorporated in the United States are also eligible for benefits under the IDC Program and can thereby qualify for the federal tax benefits available under section 936


The trust may be used to by pass the forced heirship laws of the VI.
Trusts appear to be exempt from the VI laws on inheritance
But, from what I've read, they could muck up anyone trying to lay claim to his money in civil court

As to witness, you can get anyone to be witness, as, for example, Mariel Colón Miró was one of his witnesses. In case you are uncertain as to whom Ms Miró is, she was/is the defense attorney for Joaquin Guzman, aka El Chapo

[Kid Berwyn]

9. Thank you for the information.

It makes me want to know more about the people who signed Epstein’s will and the rest of the process. If acceptable in USVI probate court, perhaps he emailed a copy from NYC.

[SergeStorms]

19. There's no way....

this will won't be contested, what with him offing himself two days afterward.

[rpannier]

28. It probably will, but it will be contested in the Virgin Islands

that's where the trust is
Epstein had a lot of his wealth declared in the Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands has a forced heirship law, which prevents you from cutting family members out. One of the few exceptions to this law is if the money is in a trust.
I am guessing many wealthy people who have large amounts of wealth declared in the VI have trusts

[FakeNoose]

4. I guess this means his lawyers knew what his plans were

They knew.

[jberryhill]

15. Or perhaps that he likely faced peril in prison, as child molesters do

[Talitha]

22. I'm pretty sure I read that his lawyers visited him quite a bit

before his 'suicide'.

If that's true, then it makes sense that they knew.

Curiouser and curiouser.....

[LisaL]

36. I really doubt you can assume that his lawyers knew of his plans based on the fact that

he made a will.

[bucolic_frolic]

8. $577 million??????

A non-college graduate, not an entrepreneur of a public company (which is sometimes a path to prosperity), amasses $577 million plus significant additional personal collectible property. There's still some incongruity in that life story. Authorities and journalists need to follow the money.

[Kid Berwyn]

12. Quality recording equipment.

Can you imagine the inside information captains of industry could reveal while intoxicated in the company of a professional sex worker?

Then there’s the blackmail revenue stream from compromising evidence.

[Roy Rolling]

13. One Asset

I’m interested in the CDs and the contents of his safe.

[Kid Berwyn]

14. Yes! The holdings.

These offshore multimillionaires and billionaires know how to hide the loot. In addition to the properties, the names of the individuals recorded are most important to know.

Unfortunately, this history echoes the DC Madam case. Ms. Deborah Jean Palfrey died violently. Sen. David Pampers Vitter survived.

Epstein was part of a conspiracy. Per Alexander Acosta, Epstein didn’t run it.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

35. I bet Geraldo Rivera is bidding for the safe-opening rights.

I mean, what are the odds of TWO safes being empty?

[bucolic_frolic]

26. Insider trading

with mega stock option positions, on takeovers and earnings releases, in untraceable accounts that terminate in a Cayman Islands post office box?

Several SEC investigations over the years would announce that as the end of their investigation. Unable to know the account owners. These are trades of the magnitude of 5000 contracts (500,000 shares) on an earnings hit or miss that moved the stock 10-50 points.

It's also the bastion of those able to underwrite the selling of puts after a stock's plunge, and then using the money to buy calls at a higher strike price in the same position. Profits in such trades can run into the tens of millions, and if it's untraceable, it's untaxable.

[ehrnst]

27. That's the origin story of many wealthy people, including Mark Zuckerberg.

Epstein was apparently a prodigy (skipped two grades in high school) with math, particularly when it came to investments, and was very charismatic, which is necessary to sales and dealmaking. Like Zuckerberg at Harvard, Epstein was also well-connected very early in his career - teaching at a private manhattan school. Willam Barr's father hired him.

While teaching at the school, Epstein became acquainted with Alan Greenberg, the chief executive officer of Bear Stearns, whose son and daughter were going to the school. Lynne Koeppel, pointed to a parent–teacher conference where Epstein influenced another Dalton parent into advocating for him to Greenberg.[28] Greenberg, impressed with Epstein's intelligence and drive for financial success, offered him a job at Bear Stearns.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Epstein

I'm not saying that he never got involved in criminal activities once he made money - like insider trading, but those who have very specific skills that are highly valued can become wealthy, especially if they have a connection or benefactor to get them started.

See also fashion models and attractive atheletes.

[bucolic_frolic]

29. Unlike most wealthies, Epstein did not leverage the masses to accumulate wealth

All of the other examples you cite used their skill set to draw wealth from large populations. Even models and athletes rely on companies that market their assets to the masses, who buy their products and pay for their labors.

Not so with Epstein. He had a very small client base. He was not a mutual fund manager that had hundreds of thousands of clients paying 1.4% a year. We he ever a true hedge fund manager with operational control and responsibility for trading? OK that can pay tens of millions a year plus trading profits. But these guys are on the markets 24/7. They have no time to jetset the globe partying with the rich and famous.

Maybe he did take Wexner for a ride. And probably he was a good investor, or used inside tips. But there is still a lot of unexplained there. For a non-Director level Wall Street investor, he made an outsize amount of money for his resume.

[Arazi]

33. He was a blackmailer whose leverage was sex tapes of wealthy pedophiles

And other powerful people having sex with young teen girls, then extorting them or selling the tapes to the highest bidding IC agency.

If he did any investing at all beyond putting $$ into S&P index funds I'd be very surprised

[oldsoftie]

30. Some good looking athletes make more money endorsing than on their sport contracts.

I guess you'd be foolish not to take advantage of it.

[IronLionZion]

32. He made his fortune in finance, but was definitely involved in some shady stuff

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Epstein#Career

[eppur_se_muova]

16. Hey, nothing suspicious about that ... I'm sure it's genuine. nt

[jberryhill]

21. It's witnessed by "Epstein's Mother"

[oldsoftie]

31. Wow, THAT brings back memories.

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. A trust for what?

The point of trusts is that they have a purpose, stated publicly, and trustees, who have to be publicly named, who control it to achieve that purpose. You can't just come up with a name for a trust in a will and say "that's where the money goes to" - that's no better than naming a non-existent person in a will.

[brooklynite]

34. UPDATE: Epstein Created Trust With $578 Million Days Before Suicide

Jeffrey Epstein wrote a will just two days before his suicide, saying he had about $578 million in assets that he placed in a trust, which could complicate efforts by women who say he sexually abused them to collect damages.

Epstein, who died Aug. 10 in a federal jail cell in Manhattan, asked that Darren K. Indyke and Richard D. Kahn be appointed as executors, according to a copy of the will filed Aug. 15 with the court in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

All of his assets were transferred to the trust as of Aug. 8, two days before he died, assuring that details on how the proceeds are distributed may remain private. The will was first reported Monday by the New York Post, which also published a document detailing Epstein’s fortune in real estate, cash, equities and other assets.

The real estate -- from his New Mexico ranch to his Manhattan mansion and private islands -- is held through various entities laid out in the will. The assets listed are similar to those in Epstein’s unsuccessful bail request and the document was confirmed by an officer of the court in the Virgin Islands.

https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2019-08-19/epstein-created-trust-with-577-million-days-before-his-suicide