New York Probate & Estate Litigation Blog

CNBC has reported that the litigation over the estate of the late hedge fund financier Seth Tobias is settled pending the approval of a Probate Judge in Florida Monday. Last December we reported here about the controversy raging since Tobias was found dead in his swimming pool in Palm Beach County  on September 4, 2007. Tobias' brothers brought suit against his widow Filomena charging that she had murdered him by poisoning his pasta  and then luring into a swimming pool on the promise of sex with a male stripper.

Police have failed to find any substantial evidence supporting a criminal charge and have not charged Mrs. Tobias with any crime. Florida law would prevent her from inheriting from her late husband if she was found to have murdered him. There would have been a lower burden of proof for the brothers to meet in the civil action in Probate Court. It would have been necessary to prove their case by a mere preponderance of the evidence  (51% would do it) rather than beyond a reasonable doubt which is the criminal standard.

Given the rather strange brew of evidence which has surfaced in this case, one would surmise that the burden would still have been pretty steep. Hence, it is hardly surprising that a settlement is in the works. While there will be no information released as to any sum of money changing hands, the brothers have evidently agreed to withdraw their accusations that their brother was killed by his wife.