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Grief Book Author Accused of Murdering Husband Sues His Estate
In a civil lawsuit filed against her late husband's estate, Kouri Richins says she's "entitled" to money from the home he died in and the sale of a business he co-owned.
A Utah woman who is accused of killing her husband with a fatal dose of fentanyl filed a civil lawsuit against her late spouse’s estate, claiming she is due proceeds from his business and the family home.
Kouri Richins, 33, is being held in the Summit County Jail in Park City without bail for allegedly murdering her husband, Eric Richins, 39, by poisoning his Moscow Mule with a lethal dose of fentanyl.
Eric was found dead on March 4, 2022, after deputies responded to a 911 call made by his wife. An autopsy report determined that Eric had five times the lethal dosage of fentanyl in his system at the time of his death.
A year after her husband’s death, Kouri's children’s book, “Are You With Me?,” was published. It's about coping with grief after the loss of a loved one.
In the lawsuit filed June 9, Kouri is seeking half of all equity in the family home, where Eric was allegedly murdered, which is estimated to be worth “at least $1.9 million,” according to the filing, published in full by Law & Crime. The couple purchased the Utah home in 2012 for $400,000.
While the legal title to the home is in Eric’s name, the couple “jointly purchased the Family Home, jointly paid down the mortgage, jointly paid the Utilities, and otherwise agreed and acted in all respects as if the 4 Family Home was a joint marital asset,” the lawsuit said.
“Kouri is entitled to ½ of all equity in the Family Home,” the suit claimed. “Alternatively, if she is not entitled to ½ of all the equity, she is at least entitled to ½ of the increase in equity value that occurred after her marriage to Eric.”
Kouri also claimed that she is entitled to $2 million in proceeds from the sale of her husband’s company, C&E Stone Masonry, LLC, which he shares with his business partner, Cody Wright, according to the filing.
A pre-nuptial agreement signed by the couple outlines various financial agreements, including that Eric’s business “shall nevertheless remain the sole separate property of the Husband,” except that “if Husband should die prior to Wife while the two are lawfully married, Husband’s partnership interest in said business shall transfer to the Wife,” the civil suit stated.
Before his death, Eric set up a trust to “provide for both my wife and our children during any time that I am incapacitated and after my death,” according to the document, of which he made his sister, Katie , the trustee after him.
Kouri alleged that her husband placed their family home in the trust without her authorization or knowledge, according to the document.
The lawsuit also claimed that the prenup remains “in full force and effect,” due to terms in the trust that state “We executed a prenuptial agreement on June 15, 2013, which has not been revoked or amended.”
There is a “continuing controversy” between Richins-Benson and Kouri concerning the assets detailed in the lawsuit, the filing said.
