SECRETIVE OJ ..CONTROL FREAK TO THE VERY END
Visitors forced to sign NDAs in last days
DISGRACED OJ Simpson made his friends, family and medical staff sign non-disclosure agreements in order to see him in his final days.
The former Hollywood actor and American football star reportedly forced 30 to 50 people to sign an NDA.
He also insisted that those who came to see him on his deathbed left their mobile phones at home.
Four of Simpson’s children – Sydney Brooke, Justin, Jason and Arnelle – are believed to have been by his side when he died on Wednesday, aged 76.
But while Simpson managed to keep his cancer battle private, he will now have his finances pored over in public as lawyers for his victims’ families pursue what they are owed.
Despite being controversially acquitted of the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman, Simpson was found liable for their deaths in a civil lawsuit three years later.
He was ordered to pay the families $33.5million (€31.4million) in damages but took steps to move his money, meaning he only paid a fraction of what he owed.
Owed
By the time of his death, Simpson owed the families more than $100million (€92.9million) due to the interest imposed.
Now lawyers for Nicole and Ron’s families say they intend to pursue Simpson’s estimated $10.8million (€10.1million) fortune.
David Cook, the debt collection attorney for Ron’s father, Fred Goldman, said he is still chasing the payments. He added: “We’ve had this problem for a long, long time but we’re going to work on that… there might be something out there.
“It could be in a trust. It could be probate. It could be all gone.”
Whether Simpson left a will or not, his assets will now go through probate so children or other intended heirs can collect them.
In 2008, Simpson was sentenced to 33 years in jail for an armed robbery involving sports memorabilia he claimed had been stolen from him. He was released after nine years.
Simpson died without having paid the lion’s share of the $33.5 million to the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
The public is now likely to get a closer look Simpson’s finances, and the families are likely to have a better shot at collecting.
Assets
Whether or not he left behind a will, and whatever that document says, Simpson’s assets will now almost certainly have to go through what’s known as the probate process in court before his four children or other intended heirs can collect any of them.
Different states have different probate laws. Generally, the case is filed in the state where the person died.
In Simpson’s case that’s Nevada. But if significant assets are in California or Florida, where he also lived, separate cases could emerge there.