OJ Simpson is still causing controversy, even after his death.

The NFL Hall of Famer, whose trial and eventual acquittal in the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman captivated and divided the nation, died last week at age 76 after a battle with cancer. OJ's will was filed in a Nevada court on Friday.

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Although OJ escaped criminal conviction, he was found liable in a civil case and a judgment was entered against him for over $33 million. He didn't pay the victims any of the sums ordered, so what happens now that he's dead?

Shortly after OJ's death, his appointed executor, longtime attorney Malcolm Lavergne, added fuel to the fire by telling Las Vegas Review-Journal in an interview that “I hope the Goldmans get zero, nothing. Those specifically. And I will do everything in my capacity as executor or personal representative to make sure they get nothing.”

Lavergne's inflammatory statement begs the question: What exactly is in his power as an enforcer to do?

Executors, if they accept the appointment, are fiduciaries. It is the executor's duty, in general, to settle an estate. One of the most basic duties of a trust is to collect the estate and settle or pay the decedent's debts and monetary obligations. Civil judgments fall under this umbrella.

The laws of each state clearly outline the order in which an estate's debts must be paid, with some debts given priority regardless of when they arose. According to Nevada law (NRS 147.195), the list looks like this:

1. Administration expenses.
2. Funeral expenses.
3. Expenses of recent illness.
4. Family support.
5. Debts preferred by the laws of the United States.
6. Money owed to the Department of Health and Human Services as a result of paying Medicaid benefits.
7. Salary in the amount of $600, for each employee of the decedent, for work done or personal services performed within 3 months before the death of the employer. If there is insufficient money to pay all such work claims in full, the available money must be distributed among the claimants in accordance with the amounts of their respective claims.
8. Judgments given against the testator during his or her lifetime and mortgages by their date. The preference given to the mortgage extends only to the income of the mortgaged property. If the income of this property is insufficient to pay the mortgage, the unsatisfied remainder must be classified with other claims on the property.
9. All other claims against the property.

This is actually a really interesting list, even longer than what is presented in many states and with judgments placed slightly lower in priority. Generally, states will prioritize judgments slightly lower than debts owed to the federal and state governments, with funeral expenses essentially always first.

What about Lavergne's stated intention to prevent the Goldmans from collecting anything?

“He can't do it,” says Avi Kestenbaum, a partner at Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein and Breitstone. “It doesn't matter what OJ or the exec thinks.”

In fact, Kestenbaum notes that if an executor were to attempt to circumvent these rules and refuse to pay certain creditors (when funds are available), they would be in breach of their fiduciary duty and, as such, would be personally liable.

The fiduciary nature of being an executor is why it is especially important to not only think long and hard about who should be appointed to the position, but also to speak with the chosen individual while the testator is still alive to explain the weight of the duties he or she is carrying out. there is. d take over if they accept.

It seems someone brought Lavernge up to this reality as well, as on April 14, he walked back his statements, telling ABC News, “At the end of the day, in response to that statement that 'it's my hope that they get zero, nothing', I think. That was too harsh. Now that I understand my role as an executor and personal representative, it's time to tone down the rhetoric and actually get to what my role is as a personal representative.

So unless he wants to put himself on the hook, it doesn't look like Lavergne can do much, at least in his capacity as executor, to prevent the Goldmans from collecting.

Whether there is enough money in OJ's estate to pay off that judgment or any of those that precede it in priority is another question entirely.