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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallJane Buffett, widow of singer Jimmy Buffett, and Richard Mozenter, Buffett’s longtime financial adviser and co-trustee of a marital trust, have each asked courts to remove the other. Their fight concerns access to trust information, how the trust is administered, and who should carry out Buffett’s wishes. As of reporting in September 2026, the dispute was headed toward a trial in January 2027; the exact date has not been established by the sources reviewed here.
What is the dispute about?
Jimmy Buffett died on September 1, 2023. The Wall Street Journal and a September 2026 analysis by law firm Berenzweig Leonard describe court-document reporting that Buffett’s estate plan placed assets estimated at $275 million in a marital trust. Jane is reportedly its sole lifetime beneficiary, while the couple’s three children are remainder beneficiaries—meaning they are expected to inherit what remains after her death. The trust reportedly includes an interest in the Margaritaville business.
Jane Buffett, also known as Jane Slagsvol, and Mozenter are the trust’s co-trustees. A beneficiary’s interest in receiving trust benefits is distinct from a trustee’s responsibility to administer trust property. The dispute is about whether both current co-trustees should continue serving and how the trust should be managed in the meantime; the reported trust structure alone does not resolve those questions.
What does each side say?
The parties’ accounts below come from litigation coverage summarizing court filings, not findings that the claims are true. Their positions differ across three central issues:
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| Issue | Jane Buffett’s position | Richard Mozenter’s position |
|---|---|---|
| Trust and investment information | Her filings accuse Mozenter of withholding information about the trust and its investments. | Mozenter’s filings portray Jane as interfering with trust administration. |
| Administration and costs | She alleges that Mozenter failed to act in her interests and charged unreasonable fees. | His side argues that he must administer the trust in line with Buffett’s intentions. A reported appellate ruling allowed him to charge the trust reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs; it did not decide whether he or Jane should remain a co-trustee. |
| Division of authority | She has opposed Mozenter’s proposed transfer of assets into a new trust, a process the reporting describes as decanting, and seeks his removal. | His filings argue that Buffett intended an independent trustee to serve alongside Jane. His attorney, John Gatti, 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 position, not a court finding. |
How did the case reach this point?
- 2024: According to the Wall Street Journal and Berenzweig Leonard’s summaries of the parties’ filings, tensions over trust information and administration emerged.
- February 2025: Litigation coverage reported that Mozenter told Jane the trust might produce less than $2 million in annual net income. He reportedly said much of the trust consisted of assets that did not produce income and that Margaritaville had not projected cash distributions. Jane disputed the implications of the estimate. It is not an audited income figure or an established annual distribution.
- June 2025: Mozenter filed a Florida action seeking Jane’s removal, while Jane filed a California complaint seeking his removal.
- July 2025: Jane also asked a Florida judge to remove Mozenter and to stop his effort to remove her. The Associated Press’s July 21, 2025 account described the competing filings and the parties’ positions.
- September 2026: The Wall Street Journal reported that both co-trustees were seeking the other’s removal and that a trial was expected in January. A September 18, 2026 Berenzweig Leonard analysis specified January 2027 in Palm Beach County. Neither source reviewed here established a specific trial day or a subsequent docket update.
What do the reported dollar figures mean?
The figures in coverage are estimates tied to this dispute, not verified measures of what a beneficiary will receive:
- $275 million: The Wall Street Journal and Berenzweig Leonard reported this as an estimated value of assets placed in the marital trust, based on court-document coverage. It is not an audited valuation.
- $85 million: Coverage put the estimated value of the trust’s reported 20% stake in Margaritaville at this amount. It does not establish that the stake produces that value in cash or that the trust will distribute it.
- Less than $2 million a year: This was Mozenter’s reported February 2025 estimate of possible annual net income. The parties disputed what the estimate meant and how future Margaritaville distributions should be treated; it is not an established payout.
Trust assets, income, and distributions are different things. A business interest may contribute to an estimate of asset value without generating regular cash income. The coverage does not establish what Jane will receive in any given year.
What has a court decided—and what remains open?
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 competing requests to remove a co-trustee or on the truth of either party’s allegations.
The removal dispute remained contested in the latest reporting reviewed. The January 2027 trial timing comes from September 2026 coverage, and no specific day or later schedule update is established here. The reviewed reporting does not establish a final ruling on who should serve as trustee.
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Why does the trustee question matter to beneficiaries?
Trustees administer the assets under the trust’s terms, while beneficiaries hold interests defined by those terms. When co-trustees disagree over information, expenses, or authority, the disagreement can affect administration even before a court rules on removal. In this case, the reported lifetime-benefit and remainder-beneficiary structure makes both the management of assets during Jane’s life and the children’s later interests part of the context—but the sources do not establish how a court will resolve the conflict.
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