2019: Epstein Executes Will Two Days Before Death

On August 8, 2019, Jeffrey Epstein signed his last will and testament in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. The will was executed just two days before he died on August 10.

The timing of the will’s execution attracted immediate scrutiny. Critics and legal observers questioned whether it was coincidental that Epstein completed major estate planning so close to his death, and some raised the possibility that he or associates anticipated imminent death.

The will transferred substantially all of Epstein’s assets — estimated to exceed $500 million — into a trust called the 1953 Trust (named for his birth year). This structure made subsequent civil litigation more complex, as plaintiffs had to pursue claims against a trust rather than directly against an individual’s estate.

Estate executors Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, both longtime legal and financial associates of Epstein, were named in the will to administer the estate.

The will and trust structure became a focus of victim litigation in subsequent years. While the estate ultimately settled billions of dollars in claims, victims’ advocates argued that the trust structure was designed to complicate their recovery of compensation and that its execution just before Epstein’s death should be treated as legally suspect.