Jimmy Buffett’s Estate: Net Worth, the $275M Trust, and the Lawsuit (2026)
Yes. Jimmy Buffett died on September 1, 2023, at 76. CNBC reported that his will, first written more than 30 years earlier and amended in 2017 and 2023, sent most of his assets into a marital trust for his wife, Jane Slagsvol, with their three children as remainder beneficiaries. Court filings put the estate at $275 million. Jane and her co-trustee, Richard Mozenter, have each asked courts to remove the other. As of October 7, 2026, no court has finally resolved it, and a trial is set for January 2027.
Both sides have made accusations. They’re allegations, and I attribute each one to the person making it. I checked everything below on October 7, 2026.
Did Jimmy Buffett have a will?
Yes. CNBC reported that his will was first written more than 30 years ago and amended in 2017 and again in 2023, and that it directed most of his assets into a marital trust for Jane.
Buffett’s plan has two layers. CNBC, citing legal filings, said the marital trust was created for Jane’s sole benefit during her lifetime. He also named a co-trustee to serve with her.
Who inherits Jimmy Buffett’s estate?
During her life, Jane. After her death, whatever is left goes to their three children, Savannah, Delaney and Cameron, CNBC reported. The children are what trust lawyers call remainder beneficiaries.
CNBC reported that Buffett chose Richard Mozenter, an accountant who had been his business manager and financial adviser for about 30 years, to serve as co-trustee alongside Jane. The AP reported that Mozenter, in his lawsuit, claimed Buffett set up the trust with an independent trustee because he was concerned about his wife’s ability to manage and control his assets. Jane’s Florida complaint says her relationship with Mozenter is “untenable.”
What was Jimmy Buffett’s net worth when he died?
CBS News reported that, according to Forbes, Buffett’s net worth was over a billion dollars. The court filings describe something smaller: a $275 million estate.
The two numbers measure different things. Forbes estimates a person’s total wealth. The filings list the specific assets in the estate. CNBC, citing those filings, reported $34.5 million in real property, $15 million of equity in a company that held his planes, $2 million in musical equipment, $5 million in vehicles, $12 million in other investments, and an $85 million stake in Margaritaville held through a company called JB Beta. I haven’t seen a filing that explains the full gap between the Forbes estimate and the estate figure.
Under the plan, most of that $275 million sits in the marital trust for Jane’s lifetime, and the children receive what remains after her death.
What is the lawsuit over Jimmy Buffett’s trust?
It’s a fight over who controls the marital trust. Each co-trustee has asked a court to remove the other.
The AP reported the opening moves. Mozenter filed a petition on June 2, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Florida, asking to remove Jane as co-trustee. Jane’s complaint followed on June 3 in Los Angeles Superior Court, asking to remove him. CNBC reported her allegations: that Mozenter was “openly hostile and adversarial,” wouldn’t give her details on the trust’s finances, charged “excessive fees” of $1.7 million a year, and mismanaged assets, projecting income of only $2 million. Mozenter alleges that Jane has been “completely uncooperative,” interfered in business decisions and acted in her own interest, CNBC reported.
Later, the AP reported, Jane asked the West Palm Beach judge to stop Mozenter’s removal effort and to remove him instead, and moved her claims from California to Florida. Her lawyer said litigating in two courts would drain the trust money Jimmy set aside for her care.
Where it stands: NBC Palm Springs reported on September 15, 2026, that the competing actions are headed for a non-jury trial in January 2027, and that the allegations haven’t been resolved by a final trial judgment. I haven’t found a final ruling on the merits.
What do estate lawyers say went wrong?
CNBC quoted several attorneys, and their points are general lessons, not findings about this case.
Keith Davidson of Albertson and Davidson said these cases usually turn on the same issue: a beneficiary who feels uninformed and without a say, and a trustee who is too paternalistic. The lawyers CNBC interviewed said families should explain the plan before death, so no one is surprised, and that a friend or business associate doesn’t always make a good trustee. One suggested a removal right would have let Jane replace Mozenter more easily. Another said a judge might appoint a professional fiduciary to replace both. Those are opinions about what might happen, and no court has done that.
What this means for your own plan
A co-trustee can protect a surviving spouse from a bad decision. It can also put an outsider between your spouse and the money.
- Decide how a co-trustee can be removed. If the trust is silent, a beneficiary may have to go to court. See how to remove a trustee in California.
- Tell everyone what the plan is. Information fights are common. Successor trustee duties explains what a trustee owes beneficiaries.
- Pick the people, not just the titles. Business managers and friends can see the role differently than your spouse does.
- Know what a contest costs. The fees paid out of the trust come from the money set aside for the family. See how to contest a trust in California, the deadline to contest, and the no-contest clause.
- Fund the trust. Assets outside the trust don’t follow it. Trust funding explains the retitling.
Jimmy Buffett’s case is one of several on this site. For the broader picture, see celebrity estates, and for two other cases, the Elvis Presley estate and the Robin Williams estate.
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