As Alex Murdaugh stands trial for the double homicide of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, he has been fighting another less public legal battle seeking to keep the millions Maggie left in his family and out of reach of his numerous victims and creditors.
Now DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal how, after close to two years of legal wrangling, Maggie’s estate has finally been settled in a complex deal that will see Moselle, the murder home, sold and millions divided between those victims and creditors as well as surviving son, Buster, when it is executed next month.
A trove of documents held by Georgetown County Probate Court in South Carolina and reviewed by DailyMail.com show that Maggie’s estate was valued at $4,309,057.77.
In her will drafted in August 2005, a copy of which has been obtained by DailyMail.com, she left everything to her husband.
Maggie Murdaugh’s estate, valued at $4,309,057.77, has been settled after husband Alex sought to keep her millions in his family. In her will drafted in August, 2005, she left everything to her husband who is now on trial for her murder
The complex deal will see Maggie’s millions divided between her surviving son Buster, victims and creditors when it is executed next month
The vast majority of Maggie’s estate was tied up in Moselle, the remote Islandton home where Maggie and son Paul died on June 7, 2021
The vast majority of her estate, and the battle for a stake in it, is tied up in Moselle, the remote Islandton home with 1,772 acres of hunting grounds and swamp straddling Hampton and Colleton Counties, where she and Paul met their gruesome ends on June 7, 2021.
But Maggie, 52, no longer considered Moselle her home.
In fact, a close friend has told DailyMail.com, that she had been living separately at the family’s beach house on Edisto Island for many months fueling speculation that all was not well in the marriage.
The friend told DailyMail.com, ‘Maggie wasn’t living at Moselle. She was living out at the beach house. She really wanted a house with a dock running down to the water. She never wanted Moselle to be her primary residence.
‘Who would? You’re out there in the boonies, with terrible cell reception.
‘Maggie only went back there to see her boys Paul and Buster when they were home.’
Jurors at Colleton County Court have heard how the marriage had been tested by Murdaugh’s addiction to opioids, by the threat of ruinous lawsuits and, according to Maggie’s sister Marion Proctor who testified as a witness for the prosecution, by suspicions that he had been unfaithful once and was cheating on her again.
In fact, Maggie had reportedly consulted a divorce lawyer and was considering bringing in the services of a forensic accountant.
Friend and housekeeper, Blanca Simpson, told the court that she had found Maggie’s wedding ring under a seat when she cleaned out her Mercedes SUV.
On the night of the murders Murdaugh told investigators that he and Maggie had dinner together ‘most nights.’
But texts showed that Murdaugh had asked Maggie to come back to Moselle that night telling her his father, Randolph’s health was failing and they should have a family meal with Paul, 22.
Immediately after the Moselle property was put up for sale in February 2022 Murdaugh filed a Qualified Disclaimer with the probate court in which he renounced his inheritance
Probate records obtained by DailyMail.com show that in December 2016 Murdaugh ‘sold’ Moselle – an estate worth around $3million at the time – to Maggie, for ‘$5 and love and affection’
An offer of $3.9million was accepted on Moselle in December 2022 when the sale was allowed on condition that the proceeds be held in trust until their division be decided in court
The dog kennels where Maggie and Paul were found shot to death is pictured
At the time of Maggie’s death Moselle was no longer a home for her, it was an asset. And it was one that, records show, Murdaugh was at pains to shield from the creditors and victims we now know he defrauded over years of misappropriation of funds and embezzlement.
The probate records obtained by DailyMail.com show that in December 2016 Murdaugh ‘sold’ Moselle – an estate worth around $3million at the time – to Maggie, for ‘$5 and love and affection.’
According to receivers brought in to represent the interests of Murdaugh’s creditors and victims, this was tantamount to ‘fraud.’
In documents held in Georgetown County Probate Court they state, ‘Alex Murdaugh [had] orchestrated, planned, participated in, directed and began to execute a complex financial scheme of indefinite duration to take, divert and otherwise deprive third persons of their money unlawfully for his benefit, the benefit of Maggie Murdaugh, potentially unknowingly by Maggie Murdaugh, and the benefit of others associated with the financial scheme.’
Murdaugh has been charged with close to 100 financial crimes including numerous allegations that he embezzled law firm fees and deprived victims he represented in civil suits of millions of dollars’ worth of settlement money.
He moved Moselle into Maggie’s name in the full knowledge that a host of potential lawsuits were coming down the pipeline should his actions be discovered.
Moselle was shielded if Maggie was alive. And records uncovered by DailyMail.com show that Murdaugh had a quick fix to keep it that way following her death.
Alex Murdaugh has been charged with close to 100 financial crimes including numerous allegations that he embezzled law firm fees and deprived victims he represented in civil suits of millions of dollars’ worth of settlement money
Jurors heard how the Murdaugh marriage had been tested by Murdaugh’s addiction to opioids, by the threat of ruinous lawsuits and, according to Maggie’s sister Marion Proctor who testified as a witness for the prosecution, by suspicions that he had been unfaithful
Friend and housekeeper, Blanca Simpson, told the court that she had found Maggie’s wedding ring under a seat when she cleaned out her Mercedes SUV
Immediately after the property was put up for sale in February 2022, Murdaugh filed a Qualified Disclaimer with the probate court in which he renounced his inheritance.
This meant that if the property was sold any proceeds would flow not to him, nor to the pockets of all those with claims against him, but to surviving son Buster, 26.
As representative of Maggie’s estate, Murdaugh’s brother John Marvin, 41, put Moselle on the market in February 2022.
The complex legal battle over who was entitled to the proceeds stalled that sale for close to a year.
In filings and counter filings, Marvin and Murdaugh petitioned for the right to sell, while the receivers argued that neither Maggie’s ownership, nor Murdaugh’s renunciation of his inheritance, were legal, as both were cynical ruses employed to hold onto the millions.
Key among those staking a claim to the money were several families of victims of the now infamous boat crash.
The family of Mallory Beach, who was killed in a boating accident caused by Paul Murdaugh, are understood to be receiving approximately $600,000 to release their claim against Buster
The balance of the proceeds of selling the Moselle home will be divided between Paul’s ex Morgan Doughty (right), Miley Altman (left, with Mallory Beach) and the Beach family
Buster, Paul, Maggie and Alex Murdaugh are pictured in a photo presented to jurors during the trial at Colleton County court on Tuesday, February 14. Buster will receive $530,000 from his mother’s estate
At the time of his death Paul was facing criminal charges for being drunkenly at the helm of his father’s boat when, in February 2019, he crashed it into bridge pilings killing Mallory Beach, 19, one of six friends on board.
Beach’s family as well as the families of fellow passengers Connor Cook, Miley Altman and Morgan Doughty have all brought claims against Murdaugh.
The Beaches also sued Buster whose ID Paul used to buy alcohol that night.
An offer of $3.9million was accepted on Moselle in December 2022 when the sale was allowed on condition that the proceeds be held in trust until their division be decided in court.
The fate of Maggie’s millions, which had remained in limbo since her death, was finally settled last month, when, DailyMail.com can reveal, the ‘gordian knot’ of claimants was unraveled.
After the protracted legal battle, $290,000 of the estate will be eaten up by legal fees.
A reduced mortgage settlement has been reached with Palmetto State Bank (owed more than $1million) and $275,000 will be held in a fund by the receivers.
Buster will get $530,000, a sum augmented by his uncle John Marvin’s decision to waive the percentage he could have claimed as representative while Marvin will be reimbursed $12,305.28 for personal funds advanced on behalf of the Estate.
Intriguingly though Murdaugh vocally remained focused on ‘clearing Paul’s name’ in the aftermath of the murders, Buster has used the sale of Moselle to settle his suits with the boat crash victims.
Connor Cook, who placed the 911 call on the day of the crash and told officers that Paul had been driving, will receive $100,000.
The balance of the proceeds will be divided between Morgan Doughty, Miley Altman and the Beach family with the Beaches understood to be receiving approximately $600,000 to release their claim against Buster.
The settlement will be executed on March 8 when the sale of Moselle is completed and the battle for Maggie’s millions finally laid to rest.
Mysterious handwritten change to Maggie Murdaugh’s will
In a bizarre twist Maggie Murdaugh’s will was changed with a handwritten scrawl that was neither dated nor initialed by Maggie herself.
In the original document Maggie, 52, named her sister, Marion Proctor, 59, as her Personal Representative meaning that Proctor would oversee the execution of Maggie’s wishes following her death.
But, in the will obtained by DailyMail.com, Proctor’s name has been struck out and ‘Randolph Murdaugh father-in-law,’ handwritten in its place.
Randolph died three days after Maggie on June 10, 2021. But rather than reinstate Proctor as Estate Representative, both Alex, 54, and Buster Murdaugh, 26, signed documents nominating John Marvin, 41.
An affidavit filed by Proctor shows that she was not aware that Maggie had named her Personal Representative, nor that her name had been crossed out, until she received documents from lawyers acting for the Murdaughs in December 2021.
The paperwork called for her to officially sign away any claim to the role.
In the will obtained by DailyMail.com, Maggie’ sister’s name has been struck out and ‘Randolph Murdaugh father-in-law,’ handwritten in its place
An affidavit filed by Proctor shows that she was not aware that Maggie had named her Personal Representative, nor that her name had been crossed out
