Jane Buffett and Richard Mozenter, the co-trustees of a trust established after singer Jimmy Buffett’s death, have each asked courts to remove the other. Their dispute concerns access to trust information, how the trust is being administered, and what Buffett intended when he appointed an independent co-trustee. The allegations remain contested; a reported appellate decision about legal fees did not decide who should remain as trustee.
What is at stake in the trust dispute?
Jimmy Buffett died on September 1, 2023. The Wall Street Journal’s September 2026 account and a September 18, 2026 analysis by Berenzweig Leonard, LLP, describing court filings, report that his estate plan placed assets estimated at $275 million in a marital trust. Jane Buffett, also known as Jane Slagsvol, is reportedly the sole beneficiary during her lifetime; the couple’s three children are remainder beneficiaries after her death. The trust reportedly includes an interest in the Margaritaville business.
Those amounts and descriptions are reported estimates and summaries of court documents, not an audited valuation or a judicial finding about the trust’s value. The September 2026 coverage also put the reported value of the trust’s 20% Margaritaville stake at an estimated $85 million.
The dispute is not simply about who inherits the assets. It is about the division of authority between the person entitled to benefit from the trust during her lifetime and the co-trustee responsible for administering it. The parties disagree about what information Jane should receive, how the trust should be managed, and how Buffett meant their respective roles to work.
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What does each side say?
| Issue | Jane Buffett’s position | Richard Mozenter’s position |
|---|---|---|
| Trust and investment information | Her filings accuse Mozenter of withholding trust and investment information. These are allegations, not findings. | The filings described in coverage portray Jane as interfering with trust administration. This is Mozenter’s account, not a court finding. |
| Administration and costs | Jane’s filings accuse Mozenter of failing to act in her interests and charging unreasonable fees. She has also opposed his proposed transfer of assets into a new trust, described in coverage as decanting. | Mozenter has sought to continue administering the trust as an independent co-trustee. His attorney has argued that Buffett intended that arrangement. |
| Buffett’s intended division of authority | Jane’s request to remove Mozenter challenges his continued role in administering the trust. | John Gatti, Mozenter’s attorney, said: “Jimmy deliberately limited Mrs. Buffett’s authority for his own reasons, and Rick must ensure Jimmy’s wishes are carried out and administer the trust as he expressly intended.” That is an advocate’s statement of one side’s argument, not a court’s conclusion. |
In its September 2026 account, The Wall Street Journal reported that Mozenter had also sought Jane’s removal. An Associated Press report dated July 21, 2025, described the competing filings and positions at that point in the dispute.
How did the dispute develop?
| Date | Reported development |
|---|---|
| September 1, 2023 | Jimmy Buffett died. Later reporting on court documents described the marital trust and its reported beneficiaries. |
| 2024 | According to the parties’ filings as summarized by The Wall Street Journal and Berenzweig Leonard, tensions over trust information and administration surfaced. |
| February 2025 | Mozenter reportedly told Jane that the trust might produce less than $2 million in annual net income. Jane disputed the implications of that estimate. Mozenter said much of the trust consisted of assets that did not produce income and that Margaritaville had not projected cash distributions. The figure is a reported estimate discussed in litigation coverage, not an audited income figure or an established distribution. |
| June 2025 | Mozenter filed an action in Florida seeking Jane’s removal, while Jane filed a complaint in California seeking his removal. |
| July 2025 | Jane also asked a Florida judge to remove Mozenter and stop his effort to remove her, according to the Associated Press. |
| September 2026 | The Wall Street Journal reported that each co-trustee was seeking the other’s removal and that the case was headed toward a January trial. A September 18, 2026 Berenzweig Leonard analysis specified a January 2027 trial in Palm Beach County. |
What is known about the trial schedule?
September 2026 coverage places the trial in Palm Beach County in January 2027. The reports do not establish a specific day, so the month and year are the reported schedule rather than a precise trial date. A court docket would be the place to confirm any exact date or later scheduling change.
What has a court decided—and what has it not decided?
The Wall Street Journal reported that an appellate court upheld an earlier ruling allowing Mozenter to bill the trust for reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. That ruling concerns payment of legal expenses. It is not a decision on the merits of either co-trustee’s request to remove the other, and it does not resolve the competing allegations about information, administration, or Buffett’s intentions.
The claims about withheld information, interference, fees, and the intended balance of authority should therefore be understood as disputed positions in litigation unless and until a court rules on them. Neither side’s description of the other’s conduct is, by itself, a judicial finding.
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Why does the reported income estimate matter?
The reported figure of less than $2 million a year has been discussed in coverage of the parties’ disagreement over the trust’s finances. It should not be mistaken for the value of the trust, a guaranteed annual payment to Jane, or an established amount the trust distributes each year. The reporting describes it as Mozenter’s estimate of possible net income, with disagreement over its implications and how prospective Margaritaville distributions should be treated.
That distinction matters because the trust reportedly holds both income-producing and non-income-producing assets, including a Margaritaville business interest. An estimate of annual net income does not, on its own, describe the trust’s total assets, the value of its business holdings, or the cash Jane may receive.
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