Celebrity Estate Planning - Estate of Sam Simon - Episode 194
- Jenny Rozelle, Host of Legal Tea
- Apr 29
- 7 min read
Hey there, Legal Tea Listeners! This is your host, Jenny Rozelle. We’re back to “estate planning of the rich and famous” where we chat about celebrities and their estate planning (or lack thereof!). Today’s episode is about Sam Simon – which is best-known for being a co-developer of the famous, famous sitcom, The Simpsons. So, if you haven’t heard of Sam Simon, you’ve definitely heard of The Simpsons. After all, according to Time Magazine, The Simpsons is known as one of the most exceptional television achievements in history, earning the distinction of "best series of the 20th century" from the prestigious Time magazine. So, we have Sam to partially thank for The Simpsons – therefore, today’s episode is on Sam Simon, his estate, and what happened estate-wise following his death in ten years ago – in 2015. As we typically do with these types of episodes, let’s talk a little about Sam first, then we will shift into estate stuff.
According to his Wikipedia page, Sam was born in 1955 in Los Angeles, California. Growing up in Beverly Hills, Sam showed early artistic talent and ended up attending Stanford University, where he worked as a cartoonist for the school newspaper before entering the television industry. Sam’s career began with writing and producing for shows like "Taxi" and "Cheers," but his most significant contribution came when he joined Matt Groening and James L. Brooks to develop "The Simpsons" in 1989. Even though he left the show in 1993 after creative differences, his foundational work in establishing the show's tone, characters, and writing staff was crucial to its success. He remained credited as executive producer and continued to receive tens of millions in royalties annually from the show. After "The Simpsons," Sam worked on several other series, including "The George Carlin Show" and "The Drew Carey Show."
More personally speaking, Sam was married twice. His first marriage was to actress Jennifer Tilly from 1984 to 1991. He remained fairly close to Jennifer – until his death, which you’ll see as she “comes up” in something estate-related. He later married a lady named Jami Ferrell in 2000, though this marriage lasted only three weeks. After that, he had a relationship with a lady named Jenna Stewart and became engaged to her in 2011, but the engagement was called off sometime in 2012. Then, finally, in 2012, he started dating a lady named Kate Porter and was with Kate until his death in 2015. Most of these womens’ names will “come up” actually when we get to his estate stuff in a minute.
Sam was known for his philanthropy, particularly in animal rights causes through the establishment of his Sam Simon Foundation in 2003, which, according to Daily Mail, which rescued dogs and also trained them to support veterans and individuals who are hard-of-hearing. When the Foundation was first started and while Sam was alive, he oversaw the operations and actually fully funded the organization. Today, which is a really cool thing, the Sam Simon Foundation is 100% funded by Sam’s estate.
He was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2012 and passed away a few years later on March 8, 2015, at the age of 59, having pledged to donate most of his fortune to charitable causes. In fact, he said in an interview, “"The truth is, I have more money than I'm interested in spending. Everyone in my family is taken care of. And I enjoy this." So, on that, let’s talk about what ended up happening with his estate and whether he was able to fulfill that pledge…
After Sam’s death, his estate became the subject of significant attention. Where do we even start? As saying that may hint, there are a number of things I want to talk about on this episode about Sam’s estate – first up is about individual claims made on Sam’s estate by his first wife, Jennifer Tilly as well as his girlfriend at the time of his death, Kate Porter. Let’s talk about each of their claims starting with his ex-wife, Jennifer Tilly,. According to Daily Mail, Jennifer Tilly, as part of their divorce decree from 1993, it was guaranteed that she received an ongoing “community property interest” payments from Sam’s royalties (from all of his projects – The Simpsons, The Drew Carey Show, etc.). So, her request was that the payments continue. In fact, according to Yahoo Entertainment, Jennifer claimed that there was a provision added to the divorce settlement to ensure that she would continue to receive payments, even after Sam’s death, from his Trustee. According to that Yahoo Entertainment article, the Judge approved her request – so she continues to receive payments.
Shifting to the claim made by his girlfriend at the time of his death, Kate Porter… So, after Sam passed away, Kate’s claim on Sam’s estate was that she said he made verbal promises to provide for her financially after his death. Kate, like I mentioned earlier, was his girlfriend of three years (prior to his death) and had even served as his caretaker during his battle with cancer. In her pleadings to the Court, she claimed she was promised $5million tax free to make sure “she would not have to struggle financially or worry about her future” – according to Hollywood Reporter. So, after Sam’s death, it was discovered that Sam made no mention of Kate in his estate plan – hence her filing this claim. What was the outcome? Well, I searched and searched – and I found confirmation that a settlement was reached between Sam’s estate and Kate, but the terms of the settlement are private.
Another thing I wanted to talk about on this episode was about Sam’s rescue dog, Columbo, who, as Daily Mail suggested, became the “center of another ongoing dispute involving his estate.” So, what happened? Well, through Sam’s estate plan, he bequeathed, which is a fancy word for “distributed” his dog, Columbo, to his friend Tyson Kilmer, who was a dog trained. Columbo was to go to Tyson and his wife, Alison. What happened was that … Tyson Kilmer claimed they had not received the promised $140,000 allowance to care for Columbo. According to Tyson, Sam had covered Columbo's extensive treatments including bi-weekly acupuncture costing $3,640 monthly until his death, and had promised on his deathbed that Tyson would be "covered" for taking the dog. Tyson refuses to surrender Columbo despite financial concerns, stating the dog was "like Sam's son."
The Simon Trust, however, disputes Tyson’s account, claiming he demanded "ludicrous sums" including an initial $1.7 million—allegations Tyson calls "laughable." The trust states it allocated "reasonable resources" for Columbo's care within legal limitations, noting that another caretaker designated by Simon had offered to care for the dog at no cost. The Trustee accused Tyson of trying to "take advantage of Sam's generosity" rather than honoring Simon's wishes that his fortune go toward charitable causes. Annoyingly, I looked and looked to find out what happened with Columbo – as in whether Columbo stayed with the Kilmers, whether they ended up getting more money, etc. – and could not find a final outcome. So, if anyone knows, let me know because I could NOT find anything. The point of me bringing this up is to say 1) it happened, 2) it delayed things a bit because that was a bit of an unexpected hurdle that the Executor and Trustee had to deal with.
The legal challenges to Simon's estate took several years to resolve, with settlements eventually reached with various claimants – including some we discussed on this episode. Throughout the process, those in charge of Sam’s estate plan, including the Executor of his estate, the Trustee of his Trusts, and those that took charge of Simon's charitable foundations … they all worked to honor his intentions while navigating the legal complexities. Thankfully, it only took about three years to settle everything after Sam’s death, which is honestly too bad given the size of his estate, the claims that were made on his estate, etc. which ultimately allowed his vision to be philanthropic and support some of his nearest and dearest causes … proceeded largely as he had intended.
Today, about ten years following his death, Sam’s legacy lives on primarily through the work of the organizations he funded. The Sam Simon Foundation continues its mission of rescuing dogs and training them as service animals for veterans and the deaf. Other beneficiaries of his philanthropy include People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (or, PETA for short), which named its Norfolk, Virginia headquarters the Sam Simon Center, and various food banks and hunger relief programs. Sam’s estate continues to exemplify his belief in using wealth to alleviate suffering and improve animal welfare, causes that defined the latter part of his life as much as his creative contributions to television defined his career.
While Sam certainly has more wealth than most folks, there are still some takeaways that even regular ol’ people like us can learn and remember from an estate planning perspective. First, Sam thoughtfully aligned his estate plan with his deeply held values. As an animal rights advocate and humanitarian, he directed his fortune toward organizations like PETA, Sea Shepherd, and his own Sam Simon Foundation that reflected his lifelong passions. This was not like random giving - it was carefully structured to support causes he had championed throughout his life. Sam’s estate plan shows how someone’s estate plan can become an extension of personal values beyond one's lifetime. His giving wasn't just about tax advantages or fancy provisions - it was about ensuring that the causes he cared about would continue to benefit from his success for generations to come.
Second, Sam’s approach to estate planning after his terminal diagnosis represents a powerful lesson in taking control of one's legacy, even in the face of difficult circumstances. When diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2012, Sam didn't surrender to despair or leave the distribution of his substantial wealth to chance. Instead, he seized the opportunity to carefully craft his estate plan during his remaining years. While Simon's planning came after his terminal diagnosis rather than earlier in life, his case demonstrates that taking control of one's estate plan—even relatively late—is vastly preferable to leaving such important decisions unmade. His example reminds us that creating a thoughtful estate plan is a gift not only to the causes and people we care about but also to ourselves, as it provides peace of mind and a sense of purpose that extends beyond our lifetime.
Alrighty, let’s wrap this episode up and shift to a sneak peak at next week. Next week we’re back to a “cautionary tale” episode where we talk about real-life clients, real-life cases that I, or my office, have worked on -or- maybe they are just generally good things to know/be aware of so you don’t slip up and turn into a cautionary tale one day. Next week’s episode is going to be on the importance of proper business documentation and succession planning, especially for family-owned businesses. … so until then, Legal Tea Listeners…take care and be well!
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