OJ Simpson's Estate Gets Hit With Massive Tax Lien

When he was alive, O.J. Simpson avoided giving millions of dollars to the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. It appears that he is still doing so from beyond the dead, avoiding paying them once again. Although Malcolm LaVergne, O.J.'s longtime attorney and current administrator of his estate, stated that he planned to discuss finances with Ron and Nicole's respective families, he claims that an unanticipated tax bill is posing a new challenge.

Malcolm revealed to TMZ that Simpson's estate is subject to a $572,402.69 hefty tax lien from the state of California. Malcolm claims this might jeopardize his plans to partially pay O.J. owes the families of his victims $33.5 million from the 1997 wrongful death case. O.J. was judged responsible for Nicole and Ron's deaths in a Santa Monica civil court despite being cleared of all charges during his murder trial. Despite the $33.5 million judgment, interest on the outstanding debt has reportedly increased to $100 million.

O.J Simpson's Estate Must Pay Tax Lien

Malcolm reports that earlier this month in his Las Vegas office, his attorney met with the Goldman family. Additionally, he met with an assignee for Ron's mother, Sharon Rufo, who put her rights to the judgment up for auction. He alleges a spokesman for Nicole's estate did not come up, despite being invited. They reportedly looked into O.J. Simpson's bank accounts, 401(k) plan, tax records, and more. The Goldman attorney and Sharon's representative were informed that they would be let inside the estate with the goal of fulfilling their judgments.

It's not clear when this will happen, though. Malcolm says he's still looking at the estate's value, particularly in light of the tax lien. He claims that the $500K debt took him off guard. He alleges he may have to file a lawsuit to resolve it before "it wipes out any idea I had in my head to pay Goldman something," though it "would be nice." Overall, even though O.J. Simpson is gone, his massive legal and pop-cultural legacy is still in the news.

[via]