A Florida appeals court has been asked to weigh in on the battle for control of the estate of the late “Margaritaville” singer and Palm Beach homeowner Jimmy Buffett — valued at an estimated $275 million.
Attorneys for Buffett’s widow, Jane, on Feb. 26 asked the Fourth District Court of Appeals in West Palm Beach to review a Palm Beach County Circuit Court judge’s order that allowed Jimmy Buffett’s longtime financial adviser Richard Mozenter to continue to pay his court fees using money from a marital trust.
“Jane fears that, while her appeal is pending, Mr. Mozenter will continue to excessively drain Trust assets to fund his litigation campaign without any review or approval by his Co-Trustees,” her attorneys wrote in a motion.
Mozenter’s attorneys in turn on March 13 asked the appellate court to dismiss Jane Buffett’s motion, on the grounds that the state court does not have jurisdiction. They called the county judge’s ruling “uncontroversial.”
“Florida law does not permit Mrs. Buffett to do an end-run around the carefully laid out” by state statutes, Mozenter’s attorneys said in their response to her motion.
Mozenter’s attorneys had argued in the Palm Beach County court that it is appropriate and standard for trustees engaged in a dispute over trust management to continue to pay their fees using money from that trust. Jane Buffett’s attorneys responded that Mozenter must seek approval from his fellow trustees, including Jane Buffett and a third party engaged by Mozenter, before paying his legal bills using trust money.
Mozenter had spent $2 million from the trust on the legal action as of February, Jane Buffett’s attorneys alleged in court.
The trust battle was brought into the spotlight after months of contention in June, when dueling lawsuits were filed by Mozenter and Jane Buffett, Jimmy Buffett’s wife of 46 years. Each asked a judge to oust the other as co-trustee of the marital trust created by Jimmy Buffett before his Sept. 1, 2023, death at age 76.
The singer, a longtime part-time Palm Beach resident, before his death built a business and financial empire built on the back of his specific type of so-called “yacht rock.” Notably, he turned his fan-favorite song “Margaritaville” into a global brand with resorts, housing developments, clothing and cruise ships that sail out of the Port of Palm Beach and Port Tampa Bay.
Buffett’s estate includes a main trust and a marital trust, Mozenter’s attorneys said. Jane Buffett and Mozenter are co-trustees of the marital trust, court records show. A third co-trustee, Coral Gables Trust Co., was appointed by Mozenter in July. An attorney for the Coral Gables Trust Co. said in a court filing that it believes all parties should be able to pay their attorneys’ and other court fees using money from the trust, even as litigation is ongoing and barring a court order that says they cannot do so.
Legal sparring has been been confined to Palm Beach County Circuit Court since Jane Buffett agreed last summer to move her lawsuit from California to the Sunshine State, where the trust was created and where Mozenter filed his initial salvo.
Attorneys for Jane Buffett wrote in their recent request to the Fourth District Court of Appeals that they believe Palm Beach County Judge Charles Burton’s Feb. 18 order to allow Mozenter to continue to pay court fees from the trust, without Jane Buffett’s approval, was in error.
Jane Buffett’s attorneys asked the court of appeals to overturn Burton’s order and, while that is in process, to pause the trial court proceedings.
Soon after a court-ordered mediation resulted in impasse, Mozenter’s attorneys on Nov. 12 filed a motion asking Burton to confirm that Mozenter may pay all of his fees and costs related to the trust lawsuit using money from the trust.
In a response the next day, Jane Buffett’s attorneys said that they had send Mozenter’s attorneys an email the previous month asking for information about his legal fees and payments. It was after that, her attorneys said in court records, when they learned of $1.5 million in legal fees spent so far by Mozenter. Her attorneys updated that number to $2 million during a February court hearing.
Mozenter should not be able to make unilateral decisions about how to spend money from the trust, based on the trust’s terms, Jane Buffett’s attorneys argued in the state court filing. A majority decision is needed before an action can be taken by the trust, her attorneys said in that motion.
Burton’s Feb. 18 order approving Mozenter to pay “reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs” from the trust said that under Florida law, “a trustee of a trust is entitled to retain counsel in such matters in order to defend the trust.”
Jane Buffett’s attorneys on Feb. 19 asked Burton to stay, or pause, his decision to let Mozenter use trust money to pay his court fees in the case as her appeal proceeds in state court.
“The stay is warranted and necessary because Jane is likely to prevail on her appeal and, absent a stay, Mr. Mozenter’s unilateral use of Trust funds before the District Court of Appeal renders its decision will result in irreparable harm to Jane and the Trust,” her attorney’s wrote in the motion, expressing concern that costs will continue to “balloon.”
Mozenter’s attorneys said that request was not proper. “If Mrs. Buffett is truly concerned about Mr. Mozenter exhausting the Trust’s assets through the payment of legal fees, she should cease wasting the Court’s time and the Trust’s money with wholly unnecessary motion practice and focus on resolving this action is swiftly and economically as possible,” his attorneys said in their response in the trial court. “That is certainly Mr. Mozenter’s goal.”
Burton on Feb. 26 denied Jane Buffett’s request for a stay on his order. As of March 17, the Fourth District Court of Appeals had not ruled on her motion.
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Battle over $275M Jimmy Buffett estate heads to Florida appeals court
Reporting by Kristina Webb, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Post
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