After decades, the Goldman and Brown families are still expecting to receive the roughly 33 million dollar settlement that O. J. Simpson was supposed to pay them when he was found liable in a civil trial for the deaths of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown, but according to reports, the executor of his estate, and former lawyer, has asserted that he believes the Goldmans should get nothing.
Simpson’s will names his longtime attorney, Malcom LaVergne, as the executor of his estate, with Simpson’s son, Justin Simpson, being the successor.
LaVergne, who has been Simpsons’ lawyer since 2009, said he does not want the family of Ron Goldman to gain any money from the estate.
“It’s my hope that the Goldmans get zero, nothing,” he said. “Them specifically. And I will do everything in my capacity as the executor or personal representative to try and ensure that they get nothing.”
The will reads that it would be “administered as set forth herein without litigation or dispute of any kind,” and that if a beneficiary, heir “or any other person” seeks to “set aside the administration of this Will, have this Will declared null, void or diminish, or to defeat any change any part of the provisions of this will,” that they’d “receive, free of trust, one dollar ($1.00) and no more in lieu of any claimed interest in this will or its assets.”
In defense of his argument, LaVergne cited the events surrounding Simpson’s controversial book If I Did It, in which the family secured the rights to his estate and later issued a revised version featuring additional commentary.
In 1997, Simpson was ordered to pay the Goldman and Brown families $33.5 million in a wrongful death lawsuit. About two years before, Simpson was acquitted of murdering Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.
According to the families, they never received this settlement, which has reportedly grown due to interest. An attorney for Goldman’s father says they are still owed more $100 million.
However, LaVergne says that there was never a court order forcing Simpson to pay the civil judgment and that he “can’t make a prediction right now as to what the value of the estate is,” adding that he was “flummoxed as to why he would name me as the personal representative or the executor.”
“And it’s something I’m going to take very seriously,” he said.
Simpson’s final will was filed in Clark County, Nevada, on April 12, two days after his death at 76. He requested his property be placed into The Orenthal Simpson Revocable Living Trust.
