Jeffrey Epstein Signed Will Two Days Before Death

Jeffrey Epstein Image by wikicommons
A mere two days before Jeffrey Epstein was found dead by suicide he signed a will, according to documents from the Court of the Virgin Islands, the New York Times reported.
Epstein’s dead body was discovered in his Metropolitan Correctional Center cell on August 10th amid a lawsuit accusing him of running a sex-trafficking ring of minor girls. His will, filed in St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, is 21 pages long and values his wealth at $577 million, including millions of dollars worth of shares in private companies and $194 million in private equity and hedge fund investments.
Excluded is the value of Epstein’s eclectic and erotic art collection. His wealth was put in a trust labeled “1953 Trust,” for the year Epstein was born. He listed one heir, his brother, Mark Epstein.
According to the documents, Epstein’s funeral occurred last Tuesday at the Frank Campbell Funeral Home in New York City.
Epstein signed, “In witness whereof, I have duly executed this will, 8 day of August 2019.”
Unlike wills, the dealings of trusts are private. If his trust is ineffective, his wealth will be split among its trustees, who are not named in his will.
One of Epstein’s accusers, Jennifer Araoz, has filed a lawsuit against his estate, which could delay or prevent his fortune from passing into the trust.
Patrick D. Goodman, a probate law expert at the University of California, Los Angeles law school stated that “the assets of the will cannot be distributed to any beneficiaries, including a trust, until any creditors, including victims who are owed damages or restitution, have collected what they are owed,” Mr. Goodman said. “Who determines what they are owed is a court of law.”
More lawsuits from Epstein’s accusers are expected.
While federal prosecuters have dropped the criminal case against Epstein in light of his death, they asserted that their investigation has not ended. William P. Barr, US Attorney General warned last week, “Let me assure you that this case will continue on against anyone who was complicit with Epstein. Any co-conspirator should not rest easy.”
Alexandra Wells is a news intern at the Forward. Contact her at [email protected]
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
- 2
News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
- 3
Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
- 4
Music After decades of waiting, we’re finally getting a Bob Dylan-Barbra Streisand duet
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Mosab Abu Toha, Palestinian writer targeted by far-right pro-Israel activists, wins Pulitzer for commentary
-
Fast Forward A Jewish nonprofit may have accidentally caused Michigan to drop charges against pro-Palestinian activists
-
Culture For Christian nationalists, Trump’s pope picture isn’t a joke
-
Opinion Is Israel really going to reoccupy Gaza? Ask Trump
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.