The children of the late Robbie Robertson allege the former rocker’s widow took advantage of him for monetary gain during his declining health, People reported Friday.
They sued Janet Zuccarini, alleging she married Robertson five months before he died and knowingly asked him to sign documents when he wasn’t fit to do so, resulting in the transfer of a portion of his estate and trust to her name, according to People. Robertson, known best as the guitarist for Bob Dylan and The Band, died in August 2023 after a battle with cancer.
His children, Delphine, Sebastian and Alexandra Robertson, along with trustees of Robertson’s estate and trust, reportedly filed a lawsuit May 22 in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. They accused Zuccarini of “financial elder abuse” and “tortious interference with inheritance,” according to People.
TORONTO, ON – MAY 09: Musician Robbie Robertson receives the Lifetime Achievement Honor at the 2019 Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards during Canadian Music Week 2019 at Rebel Entertainment Complex on May 9, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Isaiah Trickey/FilmMagic)
Robertson’s family alleged Zuccarini convinced the rock star to sell his former home so that they could buy a $6 million property together in 2021. The documents indicate they would both be “equal owners and equal contributors to expenses,” according to People. They claim Robertson’s “mental and physical health” began to “decline” at that time, and he became unable to “work, or even read.”
They claim she convinced their father to elope in a private wedding March 11, 2023, that was “kept secret” from his entire family, according to People.
SAN FRANCISCO – NOVEMBER 25: Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson perform on stage for The Band’s ‘The Last Waltz’ concert at the Winterland Ballroom on November 25, 1976 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
The lawsuit also questions the prenup Zuccarini had Robertson sign, presumably knowing he “was no longer able to read and would not comprehend the true import of what he was signing,” according to People.
The rocker’s children said Zuccarini “lawyered up” when their father died five months after their wedding. Zuccarini told the family that the estate and trust were “liable to her for one-half of all her living expenses at the Property for so long as she wanted to live there,” the children allege.
The complaint states that “given her actuarial life expectancy, measured in decades, Robertson’s modest estate and trust would be drained dry unless Zuccarini decided to give up this sinecure and find a new place to live that she could pay for on her own,” according to People.
Robertson’s children and trustees say they approached Zuccarini and told her their father “repeatedly said that his estate would be theirs” and that he would “never have agreed to this had he understood it and had he been of sound mind.”
The lawsuit references text messages allegedly showing that Zuccarini was aware that Robertson wasn’t able to read and understand the documents she asked him to sign, according to People. (RELATED: Blanket Jackson Attempts To Block His Own Grandmother From Using Michael Jackson’s Estate Money)
“Zuccarini, using her confidential position, and during a time when she knew that Robertson was physically and mentally compromised, exerted her influence over Robertson to coerce him into executing documents that were oppressive, abusive, and contrary to his expressly stated intentions …” the complaint reads, according to People.
