OJ Simpson: World's Most (In)Famous Debtor

After OJ Simpson was acquitted in his criminal trial, Fred Goldman and Sharon Rufo, the parents of Ron Goldman, filed a civil lawsuit against OJ Simpson for wrongful death in 1996.  The jury in the civil trial awarded $33.5 million in compensatory and punitive damagers to the victims' families, thereby finding Simpson accountable for the murders of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown.

Two decades later, OJ Simpson still has not paid back his debt.  After his brief imprisonment after a botched robbery, OJ Simpson's debt has now increased to a little under $70 million.  David Cook, the attorney for the Goldmans and the Brown family, has said that collecting any part of OJ Simpson's debt has been anything but easy.  In 2007, a federal bankruptcy judge in Florida awarded the Goldman family the rights to OJ Simpson's controversial memoir "If I Did It."  Apart from his book deal, OJ Simpson has been pretty much a retiree, thus there has not been any additional money that the Goldmans and Browns could get their hands on.  In addition to not working, OJ Simpson also lives in the state of Flordia, which grants its residents very beneficial "homestead" laws that protects their primary residence against creditors.

OJ Simpson has been very fortunate to continue to be able to live a life of great comfort while still in a massive amount of debt.  His living-expenses are funded by his estimated $20,000 monthly pension from the National Football League.  Unfortunately to the victims of him, federal law protects private pension plans from creditors, allowing the Juice to live on.