O.J. Simpson was cremated in Las Vegas this week. Funeral plans are still in the works
O.J. Simpson was cremated this week at a mortuary in Las Vegas, and his family is still finalizing funeral plans, according to a representative for the family.
There are currently no plans for a public memorial, Malcolm LaVergne, a longtime attorney for Simpson who was appointed executor of his estate, told the Associated Press this week.
He told the outlet that Simpson’s ashes will be given to Simpson’s children “to do with as they please, according to the wishes of their father.”
Simpson, 76, died of cancer on April 10. Almost immediately, LaVergne started the process of sorting out his client's estate.
Simpson's will, which was filed in Clark County court in Nevada, notes that Simpson’s personal property had been placed into a revocable living trust created in January. The will, unlike the trust — which has not been made public — does not detail Simpson’s assets or his wishes for any possessions left behind.
Just how much money Simpson had at the end of his life remains a mystery.
Read more: O.J. Simpson never paid the Goldmans the millions he owed them. Can they finally collect?
Simpson's death could open a window for the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman to collect the multimillion-dollar settlement they were awarded following the pair's slaying.
Simpson, once a football superstar, was acquitted for the deaths of his ex-wife and her friend in a criminal court in 1995.
A civil court jury later found Simpson liable for the deaths and ordered him to pay their families more than $33 million, though their attorney says they have received a fraction of the total.
The amount owed has ballooned to more than $100 million with interest.
While it's unclear how much the family could receive, LaVergne told The Times this week that a claim filed against Simpson’s estate by Goldman’s father, Fred Goldman, is “going to be a valid claim that’s going to be accepted.”
LaVergne told the Associated Press that one of the final times he visited his longtime client was just before Easter.
“He was awake, alert and chilling,” the attorney told the outlet. “He’s on the couch … drinking a beer and watching TV. And so that was the last time we had effective back-and-forth conversations. He’s usually the one who keeps me up on the news … so we were just catching up on the news then.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.