Bob Dylan guitarist Robbie Robertson’s kids sue his widow for ‘elder abuse’ in ugly spat over inheritance

The children of a late guitarist who starred with Bob Dylan in the mid-1960s have sued his widow over allegations of alleged elder abuse.

The adult descendants of the famous Robbie Robertson filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court, naming Janet Zuccarini, a well-known Toronto restaurateur, as a defendant.

She married Robertson months before his death last August at age 80, and now the late musician’s child claims she took advantage of him in his declining years, especially when it came to owning a “trophy house” in Beverly Hills.

That home was once owned by Little Shop of Horrors producer David Geffen, and was purchased by the couple under an agreement that they would share ownership of the house equally.

However, the lawsuit claims that Robertson – a founding member of famed Americana group The Band – fully covered the $1.8 million deposit, and notes how Xuccarini allegedly convinced him to flee within two years.

Delphine, Alexandra and Sebastian Robertson filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court and named Zuccarini, a well-known Toronto restaurateur, as a defendant.

This, the lawsuit states, happened during a private ceremony “kept secret” from the artist’s children while Robertson’s health and mental capacity declined.

Prior to the 2023 wedding, Zuccarini, 58, allegedly had Robertson sign a prenup as well as an amended Tenant In Common agreement that stated that if either of them died, the deceased’s estate would continue to pay half of the mortgage.

This left the legacy and trust of the guitarist, Adriane Hibbert and David Jackel, on the hook and led them to pursue the current case against Zuccarini.

Robertson’s three children, fellow musician Sebastian, Delphine and Alexandra, are now part of the lawsuit, which claims Zuccarini financially abused their father to inherit part of his estate.

“A great time to get married,” the lawsuit says about Zuccarini’s alleged mentality at the time, which involved arranging a private wedding away from the musician’s family in March 2023.

She then had Robertson, who played with The Band from its inception until 1978, sign the prenuptial agreement, knowing he could “no longer read and would not understand the true meaning of what he was signing.”

She then saw an ‘opportunity to marry a sick and dying man’, before having Robinson spend some $175,957 on renovation work and $3,381.31 on ‘furniture and furnishings’ of the three bedrooms in Beverly Hills.

Robbie, a five-time Grammy nominee who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, is seen here shredding with Dylan in 1972, before becoming a founding member of The Band.

The lawsuit centers on the couple’s purchase of this Beverly Hills home, which they said was Zuccarini’s handiwork. The home was purchased less than two years before Zuccarini married Robertson in March 2023, a ceremony held months before his death last August.

The late musician’s children claim she took advantage of him in his declining years, unbeknownst to them, old friends like Dylan and the guitarist’s ex-wife, Dominique Bourgeois. The trio can be seen together in 2022

The lawsuit labels this “financial elder abuse” and “fraudulent interference with inheritance,” citing how Zuccarini pursued the prenuptial agreement in secret so that neither she nor his ex-wife, Dominique Bourgeois, “would be able to to review this’.

They claim they only learned about the nuptials hours after the wedding – reportedly attended only by Zuccarini’s sister and brother-in-law – and came to the new house for what they assumed was an anniversary party.

The trio further discovered it was a wedding party, after which Robertson’s children said they were told directly by their father that “nothing in his estate plan had changed.”

They were further told that they would “receive all of his assets upon death” – a promise that did not come to fruition following the five-time Grammy nominee’s death.

The lawsuit, which seeks to nullify the amended Tenancy In Common Agreement while seeking unspecified damages, is currently working its way through the California courts.

Robertson, who had a professional and personal relationship with Dylan for more than half a century, died on August 9 from complications caused by pancreatic cancer.

When Dylan controversially went electric in the mid-1960s, it was his The Band who provided his onstage support.

Two days after Robertson’s death, Dylan said Billboard: ‘This is shocking news. Robbie was a lifelong friend. His death leaves a vacancy in the world.”