Maggie Murdaugh left Alex Murdaugh all of her property when she died, her will shows

Maggie Murdaugh, whose murder in June, along with her son’s, sparked a maelstrom of misconduct allegations and media attention for husband Alex Murdaugh, left all of her property to her husband when she died, according to a copy of her last will and testament.

The S.C. Law Enforcement Division has announced no arrests or suspects in the murders of Maggie, 52, and Paul Murdaugh, 22. But Maggie Murdaugh’s will, signed in 2005, and her estate records provide a few details about the prominent Hampton family.

The family, already well known in the Lowcountry legal community both for its clout and for a 2019 fatal boating accident that implicated Paul as the drunk driver, was thrust back into the spotlight this year following the murders.

Alex Murdaugh, 53, a suspended attorney, has seen a dizzying fall from grace since then and is now in jail facing criminal charges that allege he orchestrated his own botched murder in September and stole money from clients for years.

It’s unclear what property Maggie Murdaugh owned when she died. However, her will, signed Aug. 15, 2005, appears to indicate that Alex Murdaugh is entitled to the family’s 1,770-acre property that straddles Hampton and Colleton counties.

He had owned the property, known as “Moselle,” since 2013 but transferred it to his wife in 2016, property records show.

One of Alex Murdaugh’s attorneys, Jim Griffin, previously acknowledged to FOX Carolina News in October that his client has been a person of interest in the murders of his wife and son “from the get go.” However, he said that Murdaugh had no motive to kill them.

Reached by phone Tuesday, Griffin said he had seen Maggie’s will and did not believe “in any form or fashion” that it would be a motive for his client to be involved in her death.

“I think her untimely death actually works harm to his financial planning by having the (Moselle) property conveyed back to him through probate,” he said. “It opens it up to creditors’ claims and, before, it was protected.”

Asked if Alex Murdaugh, who called 911 to report the deaths of his wife and son, still maintains his innocence, Griffin said: “Of course.”

Griffin, with Murdaugh’s other lawyer, Dick Harpootlian, asked a judge to reconsider his decision in November to freeze Murdaugh’s assets and appoint financial overseers. Griffin said he did not know how the receivership affects the transfer of Maggie’s property to her husband, calling it “uncharted waters.”

One oddity in Maggie’s last will and testament is that it listed her sister, Marian Proctor, as the person who would handle her estate. But the sister’s name was crossed out in pen, and over it was written Randolph Murdaugh III — Maggie’s father-in-law, who died after a long illness three days after Maggie was killed.

Griffin said he did not know why or when the name was crossed out.

“My understanding is that the will that is probated is the original will, so that would have been something [Maggie] did during her lifetime,” he said. “It was not done after her death, I can tell you that ... No one did that after her death, so that would have been done during her lifetime by her.”

Records show that on Dec. 9, Colleton County Probate Judge Ashley Amundson appointed John Marvin Murdaugh, Alex’s brother and Maggie’s brother-in-law, as the personal representative for Maggie’s estate.

John Marvin Murdaugh, reached by phone Wednesday, said he did not know when Marian Proctor’s name was crossed off the will.

The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette on Thursday obtained an affidavit, signed Dec. 9 by Marian Proctor, saying she did not know until Dec. 7 that her sister had previously listed her as the personal representative of the estate.

A document attached to the affidavit, dated Dec. 13, shows that Marian Proctor renounced her right to handle Maggie Murdaugh’s estate. Proctor, in the affidavit, said she did not receive any money for signing away her right to handle her sister’s estate.

Both documents were filed in Colleton County Probate Court on Thursday — a day after a reporter’s conversation with John Marvin Murdaugh.

“I think that affidavit kind of clarifies any question that may arise — whether [Marian Proctor] got pushed out — if you’re somebody speculating,” he said.

The affidavit, John Marvin Murdaugh said, is intended to show that there is no issue between Maggie’s and Alex’s families.

“We’re all on very good terms,” he said. “Maggie certainly is very innocent in all this, and I just want to serve her the best that I can.”

Marian Proctor did not return a call for comment Wednesday.

Among the other records in Maggie Murdaugh’s estate, filed in probate court this month:

▪ Documents that show Alex Murdaugh and Buster Murdaugh, 25, (Alex and Maggie’s remaining son) separately renounced their rights to handle Maggie’s estate. Alex did so on Oct. 29; Buster, on Nov. 8.

▪ A letter from the judge urging John Marvin Murdaugh to notify a Summerville-based interior design company that Maggie’s estate is open for creditor’s claims. The company had filed a demand for notice in September. Demands for notice are filed in court when someone wants to be notified of new filings in a deceased person’s estate.

▪ An affidavit from John Marvin Murdaugh, signed Dec. 13, that says he will resolve the estate’s debts before distributing anything to brother Alex or nephew Buster.

Maggie Murdaugh’s will

Maggie Murdaugh’s last will and testament makes clear that all of her property should be left to her husband at her death.

When it was signed and notarized on Aug. 15, 2005, Maggie’s two sons — Buster and Paul — were children.

The will said that if both Maggie and Alex died, all of her property would go to her two sons, and Maggie’s sister would get full custody of her kids.

If the couple were to die before her kids turned 22 years old, all of Maggie’s property would go into a trust. That trust dissolved when Buster and Paul turned 22, according to the will.

Probate records show that two lawyers, Everett W. Bennett Jr. from Walterboro, and William G. Newsome from Columbia, are overseeing Maggie’s estate.

Neither lawyer returned a call for comment Tuesday.

The murders

News of the killings of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh shocked South Carolina’s Lowcountry. At the time, Paul was facing felony charges, accused of driving a boat while drunk in 2019, resulting in a crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach.

In the six months since Paul and Maggie died, Alex Murdaugh has become the personification of a fall from grace.

He faces 48 criminal charges alleging financial crimes against former clients dating back to 2015, as well as fraud charges stemming from his botched suicide attempt.

But police have remained light-lipped about their investigation into the double homicide.