Jimmy Buffett's legacy filed a petition to remove the co-trust of her late husband's $275 million estate and accused her of "deprecating, disrespectful and condescending."
Before the “Margaritaville” singer died in September 2023, Buffett chose Rick Mozenter, an accountant at the business management company Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman LLP, as a shared trustee of Jane Buffett. Mozenter, in turn, leads attorney Jeffrey Smith to represent the trustee.
In Jane Buffett's petition, filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court Rolling stonesIt alleged: “Mr. Motzent and Mr. Smith were hostile and confrontational to Mrs. Buffett because they were in the best interest of Mrs. Buffett himself and were beneficiaries of the Marriage Trust. When Mr. Motzent faced the facts alleged in this petition, Mr. Motzent refused to use this action as such, and therefore needed it.
The petition added that Mozenter “has not even performed the most basic tasks he needed to serve as a person of shared trust, including providing Mrs. Buffett with information on the assets and financial status of the trust, which puts Mrs. Buffett in a state of darkness in his own financial state.”
Jane Buffett also accused Mozenter of “a request for basic financial information for more than one year” and “fees for the trust fund are approximately $1.75 million for accounting, taxation, business management and trustee services.”
"In the 20 months since Mr. Buffett's death, the government of the Marriage Trust...is obviously insufficient." "Mr. Mocent and Mr. Smith are openly hostile and confrontational to Mrs. Buffett because they are in the best interest of Mrs. Buffett and the best interest of the beneficiaries of the Marriage Trust. When Mr. Zenter faces the facts claimed in this petition, Mr. Zenter refused to be an independent colleague and therefore needed this action.
Things boiled further last month when Jane Buffett asked Mozenter and Smith to resign from their roles on the estate. In response, Buffett's petition claimed that Mozenter took action to remove her as a joint trust to "full control of it from her."
The petition asked the court: "The situation is untenable, and Mrs. Buffett asked the court for assistance to resolve it."
Mozenter did not respond immediately Rolling stonesMake a request for comment.