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The battle over Jimmy Buffett’s $275 million fortune has gone cross-country.
Buffett’s widow, Jane Buffett, demanded the musician’s financial advisor be removed as a co-trustee from the couple’s marital trust in a counterclaim filed July 21. The tug-of-war over the singer’s finances reportedly began shortly after Buffett’s death in 2023.
Jane claimed Richard Mozenter failed to distribute the funds in the trust in her best interests, according to a counterclaim filed July 21 and obtained by Fox News Digital.
“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,” Jane’s attorney, Matt Porpora, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
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Jane Buffett demanded Jimmy Buffett’s financial adviser be removed from the marital trust the musician left behind after his death. (Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
“Instead, Jane is bringing the fight to Florida, where she and Jimmy called home,” he said. “Jane is confident she will prevail regardless of where her claims are heard, and her decision to move her claims from California to Florida illustrates that she is the only co-trustee looking to conserve – not waste – trust assets.”
Jane’s latest filing accused Mozenter of “repeatedly” failing in his duty to inform her of the marital trust’s assets and investments. The widow claimed that despite this failure, the financial advisor had made her pay “unreasonable fees and costs in the context of the services provided.”
In his own lawsuit, filed June 2, Mozenter claimed that Jimmy had set up the marital trust with the financial advisor as a trustee because he was worried about his wife’s “ability to manage and control his assets.”
Mozenter asked the Florida court to remove Jane as a co-trustee.
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Jimmy Buffett and Jane Buffett were married for 46 years. ( Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
In her original filing, Jane’s legal team claimed Mozenter began “stonewalling” her roughly one month after Buffett’s death.
“Rather than help his recently-widowed client understand her finances, Mr. Mozenter spent the next 16 months stonewalling and making excuses for why he could not yet provide the requested information,” the filing, obtained by Fox News Digital, read.
Mozenter eventually gave Jane an estimate that the marital trust would generate less than $2 million in net income annually, a rate of return of less than 1%, according to the filing.
He allegedly told Jane the marital trust would not cover her expenses. Mozenter recommended she make “adjustments” or sell her own real estate to make up the difference.
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Jimmy Buffett passed away in 2023 after a years-long cancer battle. (Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
Buffett became a billionaire in 2023, months before his death. His fortune stemmed from his music career, touring and the Margaritaville brand.
The singer released several pop-culture staples in the 1970s and ’80s, including the 1977 hits “Margaritaville,” “Come Monday,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,” “A Pirate Looks at Forty” and “Pencil Thin Mustache.”
He built an entire brand off of his “Margaritaville” hit — creating merchandise, resorts, restaurants, casinos and even cruises. Buffett held a 28% stake in Margarita Holdings LLC, which had an estimated value of $180 million.
Jimmy Buffett gained a fortune after building out his “Margaritaville” brand, named after one of his biggest hits. (Paul Natkin/WireImage via Getty Images)
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Jimmy Buffett and Jane Buffett shared three children. (Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Buffett married Jane in 1977. They met during a spring break trip when Jane was attending the University of South Carolina.
The couple split five years into their marriage, but remained together until his death after reuniting. “I’d been with Jimmy since I was a child, through the craziest times, and I didn’t have a clue who I was,” Jane told TIME in 1998. “So I left. I got sober.”
The couple shared three kids together; Savannah, Sarah and Cameron.
According to his biography, Buffett wrote the song “Come Monday” about his wife.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
