If an autopsy confirms Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide, it could lead to a legal win for his estate

According to the New York Times , Chief Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson is "confident the cause of death is suicide by hanging," but she has not yet released an official ruling on the manner or cause of Epstein's death.
If Epstein's manner of death is ruled a suicide, his estate could file a claim of wrongful death while he was in the custody of the state, The Daily Beast reported .
A document filed last month by Epstein's lawyers listed his total assets at about $559 million . If his estate successfully wins a wrongful death suit over Epstein's death, the disgraced financier could be worth more.
What happens next with his assets remains unclear.
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The coroner who performed an autopsy on Jeffrey Epstein has not yet ruled that the 66-year-old died by suicide but such a ruling could be a big win for the disgraced financier's estate.

Epstein was found unresponsive on Saturday morning while being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.

According to the New York Times , Chief Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson is "confident the cause of death is suicide by hanging," but she has not yet released an official ruling on the manner or cause of Epstein's death.

If Epstein's manner of death is ruled a suicide, his estate could file a claim of wrongful death while he was in the custody of the state, The Daily Beast reported .

Epstein was not on suicide watch when he died, though he had previously been put on suicide watch in July. In the weeks after being removed from suicide watch, authorities were required to check on Epstein every 30 minutes, but the protocol was not met the night before he was found dead, The New York Times reported . He was also housed alone, going against another facility procedure, according to The Times.

Officials told NBC News that no sign of foul play has emerged, and suicide remains the presumed manner of death.

Epstein had no children and wasn't married. It's unclear if he had a will, and the details of what will happen to his multi-million dollar estate remain unknown. According to CBS News , his brother Mark identified his body.

A document filed last month by Epstein's lawyers listed his total assets at about $559 million . If his estate successfully wins a wrongful death suit, the disgraced financier could be worth even more.

What happens next with his assets, however, could be "incredibly complicated," David Ring, a Los Angeles-based attorney who represents victims of sexual abuse, told Bloomberg .

"It's going to be a lot of different folks who are going to be battling over this estate and these assets and I hope the victims come out on top. I think they deserve it," he said. "But I don't think the estate is just going to hand it over to them."