O.J. Simpson Estate Accepts Claim To Pay Goldman Family Millions

O.J. Simpson’s estate has agreed to pay the father of Ron Goldman nearly $58 million, drawing closer to the massive civil judgment that has haunted Simpson’s name for years. The agreement comes years after a civil jury found Simpson liable for the 1994 killings of Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson, even after he was acquitted of a similar charge in the “Trial of the Century.”

Fred Goldman filed a creditor claim in the summer of 2024 that seeks just over $117 million once decades of interest are factored in. That number builds from a $33.5 million civil judgment from the 1990s, about which the bulk was never paid by Simpson during his life. The new settlement reflects a negotiated amount that the estate admits it owes of about $58 million.

Estate Executor Acknowledges Claim, Alleges Miscalculation

In court documentation filed in Clark County, Nevada, estate executor Malcolm LaVergne acknowledged he would pay the claim but noted the original number did not seem correct when applying “some simple judgment interest calculations” in his opinion. More than LaVergne appears to acknowledge, this clarified that the judgment should have grown larger. But he would agree to pay $58 million to settle the claim.

Goldman’s attorney Michaelle Rafferty described the estate admitting and agreeing to the claim as a good recognition of the fact that the estate owes a debt, even without an actual money transaction yet taking place. The maneuver allows the issues to move into probate, where the court can determine how much can actually be paid after other obligations are satisfied.

Simpson’s financial condition at the time of his death is, of course, in the background. LaVergne has said that the estate is estimated to be worth between $500,000 to $1 million. He indicates that estate debtors will first have to be paid and only whatever is left can be directed to Goldman’s claim. Reporting on the case lists the fact that Simpson died owing money to federal and state authorities which will make the amount actually go to the Goldman family much smaller.

A Judgment that Outlived O.J. Simpson

Simpson, a former pro football star and actor, was charged with murder after the 1994 killings of Nicole Brown Simpson and the her friend Ron Goldman who were stabbed to death outside her Los Angeles condo. In 1995 he was acquitted in a criminal case that drew massive national attention and coverage by media. But the next year, in a civil case, a jury found him liable for the wrongful deaths and ordered him to pay millions in damages to each of the Goldman and Brown families.

For years after that, Simpson paid only a trickle toward the judgment. Efforts by the Goldman family to try and seize several of Simpson’s assets, including rights to the controversial book of his own twisted “If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer,” saw them receive little justice and almost all of the judgment went unpaid. In April of 2024 he died of cancer, with the judgment still hanging like a burden on his estate and forcing his creditors into probate court seeking what they could recover.

The settlement of almost $58 million doesn’t mean Fred Goldman will ever see that full amount, certainly not with the small estate. But it formalizes the debt and preserves the judgment as a claim when the estate is settled. For the Goldman family, it is a step in a decades-long effort to hold Simpson responsible, financially, for the wrongful deaths, even if they cannot recover what the courts said he owed. And it is an indicator of how a mega-criminal trial judgment can continue as a civil matter and a part of the public discussion long after the principal has passed on.