V.I. Probate Appeal: Government Notice Seeking Estate Asset Freeze Review

VIRGIN ISLANDS SUPERIOR COURT PROBATE APPEAL Matter of the Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, Deceased Case No. ST-2021-RV-00005 / Originating Probate No. ST-2019-PB-00080 Filed: March 17, 2021 This filing is the Government of the United States Virgin Islands' notice of appeal and petition for review from two magistrate orders in the Epstein probate matter. The government asked the Superior Court to review orders that denied its attempt to intervene in the probate case as a claimant and struck its emergency motion to freeze all estate assets and cash on hand. The petition ties the probate dispute to the government's separate civil enforcement action, Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey Epstein, et al., No. ST-2020-CV-00014. That civil action sought forfeiture, divestment, penalties, damages, and other remedies under Virgin Islands law, including CICO theories, against the estate, the 1953 Trust, and affiliated entities. For property-record purposes, the filing matters because it captures an official government effort to prevent estate assets from being transferred or depleted while civil claims and victim-related claims were pending. The government argued that probate administration could affect recoverability of assets connected to Epstein's Virgin Islands property, trusts, and business entities. The record also documents timing: Epstein died on August 10, 2019; the probate estate was created on August 15, 2019; the voluntary claims program was proposed later in 2019; and the government brought its civil enforcement case in January 2020. The appeal therefore sits at the intersection of estate administration, territorial enforcement claims, and the control of assets potentially available for public remedies or survivor compensation. Source: DOJ Epstein Library / V.I. Superior Court Available at: https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/Matter%20of%20the%20Estate%20of%20Jeffrey%20E.%20Epstein%2C%20Deceased%2C%20No.%20ST-21-RV-00005%20%28V.I.%20Super.%20Ct.%202021%29/EFTA02821562.pdf