Seymour Durst passed over his eldest son, the family bought Robert out for about $65 million, and Robert died a convicted murderer

Robert Durst, Seymour Durst's eldest son, was originally designated to manage the family's wealth, held in trusts that own extensive Manhattan real estate. His first wife, Kathie McCormack Durst, was last seen alive on 31 January 1982; her body was never found. Seymour chose the younger son, Douglas, to lead the Durst Organization, and Robert estranged himself from the family. In 2006 Robert sued over his trust share and was bought out of the company and the trusts, reported at $60 to $65 million. In Texas he was acquitted in the 2001 death of Morris Black and convicted of evidence tampering. At Robert's Los Angeles murder trial on 28 June 2021, Douglas testified that his brother would "like to murder me." In September 2021 a Los Angeles County jury convicted Robert of the first-degree murder of Susan Berman in 2000, and he was sentenced to life. New York charged him with Kathie's murder; he was not tried. He died in January 2022, aged 78. Prosecutors estimated his worth at about $100 million. His second wife, Debrah Charatan, is reported to be the sole or primary beneficiary of a trust worth tens of millions. On 11 January 2022 the McCormack family's lawyer said they would seek more than $100 million from the estate and his widow and alleged she married Durst to help him evade authorities; Charatan has not been charged and her lawyers deny responsibility. Kathie was declared legally dead in 2017.