Jimmy Buffett’s Widow Accuses Manager of ‘Wasting’ Margaritaville Money on Estate Battle

Jimmy Buffett’s widow says her late husband’s longtime business manager is improperly using her inheritance to bankroll his legal battle for control of the singer-songwriter’s $275 million estate.

Jane and Mozenter, co-trustees of the $275 million estate, have each brought lawsuits seeking to remove the other due to supposed mismanagement and hostility. Responding to Mozenter for the first time on Tuesday, Jane says the accountant only brought his case as a “retaliatory maneuver” after she notified him that she planned to sue unless he resigned from managing the estate.

“Mr. Mozenter did not resign,” write Jane’s lawyers in the filing, obtained by Billboard. “Instead, he raced to a different court and filed two separate actions against Mrs. Buffett, including this one, as retaliation for her attempt to remove him — presumably using marital trust assets to fund his retaliatory campaign, without ever seeking approval from his co-trustee, Mrs. Buffett, to use marital trust money intended for her benefit to litigate against her.”

Jane Buffett makes the claims in a Monday (July 22) court filing against Rick Mozenter, an accountant who served as Jimmy Buffett’s financial adviser before the singer’s death in 2023. Jane and Mozenter are locked in litigation over who should control Jimmy’s hefty estate, which includes a stake in his successful island-themed hospitality company, Margaritaville.

Jane claims Mozenter’s use of the estate’s funds for legal fees is a “tactic” to improperly gain leverage in the dispute; the move is “clearly intended to drain” Jane’s inheritance so that she’ll back off from her attempts to remove him as trustee, says the court filing.

But Jane isn’t surrendering. Instead, she’s opted to re-assert her allegations against Mozenter – which she originally filed in California – as counterclaims to the accountant’s Florida lawsuit in order to “minimize Mr. Mozenter’s waste of trust funds.”

A lawyer for Jane, Matt Porpora, says in a statement, “Jane will not play into Mr. Mozenter’s hands by litigating this dispute in two separate courts across the country, which would drain the very trust money that Jimmy specifically set aside for her care.”

“Instead, Jane is bringing the fight to Florida, where she and Jimmy called home,” adds Porpora. “Jane is confident she will prevail regardless of where her claims are heard, and her decision to move her claims from California to Florida illustrates that she is the only co-trustee looking to conserve — not waste — trust assets.”

An attorney for Mozenter did not immediately return a request for comment on Tuesday.

Jane and Mozenter’s lawsuits, both filed in early June, tell markedly different stories about the management of Jimmy’s estate after his death at the age of 76.

Mozenter says Jimmy’s will purposefully limited Jane’s control because the singer had concerns about his wife’s ability to manage the family inheritance. Jane grew “very angry” about this situation and as a result became “hostile” towards Mozenter, claims the accountant, refusing to do what he asked and interfering with his duties.

Jane, meanwhile, alleges Mozenter is actually the one acting hostile. She says that after months of refusing to provide her with details about Jimmy’s finances, Mozenter told her that she should only expect to earn $2 million in annual income from the $275 million estate – a “remarkably poor return” that indicates Mozenter is mismanaging the funds, Jane claims.