Who is the current executor or personal representative of Jeffrey Epstein's estate as of 2025?
Executive summary
Available public records and reporting in 2025 show Jeffrey Epstein’s estate has been administered by longtime lawyer Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn, who have been identified repeatedly as co-executors/co‑trustees; recent releases to Congress list them as co-executors and the House Oversight Committee has received documents from the estate under their custody [1] [2] [3]. Some newly released files show draft wills naming other names (e.g., Kathryn Ruemmler as a backup in a January 2019 draft and Boris Nikolic in a later draft), but reporting and court materials indicate the practical executors running the estate have been Indyke and Kahn [4] [1] [2].
1. Who the public record names as executors: Indyke and Kahn
Multiple authoritative documents and longstanding reporting identify Darren Indyke, a lawyer, and Richard Kahn, an accountant, as co‑executors (and co‑trustees) of Epstein’s estate; the executors publicly proposed a victim compensation fund in 2019, and congressional materials in 2025 list the estate as “in custody and control of Darren Indyke and Mr. Richard Kahn — Co‑Executors” [2] [1]. Coverage of estate finances and court fights likewise treats Indyke and Kahn as the fiduciaries managing claims, asset sales, tax filings and document productions to government bodies [5] [6].
2. Draft wills and named back‑ups: other names in the files
The large trove of estate files released or produced to Congress includes draft wills and documents that name other individuals in estate‑related roles at various times. Reporting from Business Insider and tabloids notes a January 2019 draft that listed Kathryn Ruemmler as a backup executor and later drafts that named Boris Nikolic — but those draft nominations do not, in the available reporting, appear to have supplanted Indyke and Kahn as the acting co‑executors running the estate [4] [7].
3. What “executor” can mean here — legal title vs. practical control
Legal documents may list alternate or backup executors in wills, while courts and settlement processes, practical control of assets, and the party producing estate records to investigators often reflect who is actually administering the estate. In Epstein’s case, contemporaneous actions — filings creating a victims’ compensation fund, interactions with courts and the House Oversight Committee, and management of asset sales and tax matters — have been conducted under the auspices of Indyke and Kahn as co‑executors/co‑trustees [2] [1] [5].
4. Congressional subpoenas and document releases point to Indyke/Kahn custody
The House Oversight Committee’s subpoena and the committee’s public release materials refer to records received “from the estate” and identify Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn as co‑executors, with communications routed c/o the estate’s counsel — demonstrating that congressional investigators treat those two as the executors with custody of estate documents [1] [3] [8].
5. Conflicting items in the files and public denials
Some media outlets reported that a draft will named Kathryn Ruemmler as an executor, prompting headlines; Ruemmler subsequently told The Wall Street Journal she “has nothing to do with the estate and have never served in any capacity relating to the estate,” underscoring a discrepancy between draft document contents and who actually functions as executor [7]. Business Insider and other outlets note redactions and unclear privilege questions in the released email threads, which complicates a simple read of the paper trail [4].
6. Estate management, value and continuing scrutiny
Beyond executor identity, the estate has been the subject of litigation, victim settlements, IRS adjustments and congressional interest; reporting tracks large fluctuations in estate valuation (significant payouts and later tax refunds), and continued public scrutiny — all activities that have been administered through the executors and their counsel [5] [6] [8]. That context matters because executor authority governs what documents and assets are produced or withheld.
7. Limits of available reporting and what is not said
Available sources do not provide a contemporaneous 2025 court order explicitly transferring or replacing Indyke and Kahn as executors; they also do not show an official filing in 2025 declaring a different person as the acting executor of record [1] [2]. If you need a formal court filing or will with an unambiguous probate clerk’s stamp naming a current executor as of a specific 2025 date, available reporting does not mention that precise document.
Bottom line: reporting and official materials from 2019 through 2025 consistently treat Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn as the estate’s co‑executors/co‑trustees who have custody of Epstein’s files and have managed settlements and communications with Congress [2] [1] [3]. Draft wills in the estate files named other backup executors at times, but available sources show those drafts did not translate into replacing the executors who conducted estate business [4] [7].