If you followed the televised collapse of the Murdaugh dynasty, you probably remember the red-haired young man sitting stoically behind the defense table. That’s Buster Murdaugh. While his father, Alex Murdaugh, is busy serving two life sentences in a South Carolina maximum-security prison, people are naturally asking: what is Buster Murdaugh doing now? Life doesn’t just stop when your family becomes the subject of three different Netflix documentaries and a global true-crime obsession.
Honestly, the transition from "heir to a legal empire" to "surviving son of a convicted murderer" has been anything but smooth. Buster has spent the last few years trying to outrun a shadow that is frankly inescapable in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Between getting married, fighting off defamation, and settling massive wrongful death lawsuits, he’s basically trying to build a normal life on top of a very messy foundation.
Marriage and a New Home in Bluffton
The biggest update in Buster’s life happened recently. On May 3, 2025, Buster Murdaugh married his longtime girlfriend, Brooklynn White.
They didn't go for a flashy, high-profile gala. Given the circumstances, they kept it intimate, exchanging vows in Beaufort, South Carolina. Brooklynn has been the "ride or die" through this entire saga. She was with him the night he found out his mother, Maggie, and brother, Paul, were murdered. She sat behind him through every grueling day of Alex's trial.
Today, the couple is living in Bluffton, South Carolina. They bought a three-bedroom, three-bathroom house for around $445,000. It’s a nice place, but let’s be real—it’s a far cry from the 1,700-acre Moselle estate where he grew up. They’ve reportedly been working on a "House Project," even asking wedding guests to contribute to a renovation fund rather than buying traditional kitchen appliances. It feels like a conscious effort to start fresh in a space that doesn’t have the "Murdaugh" history baked into the walls.
The Lawsuit Landscape: Fighting the "Stephen Smith" Narrative
One of the main things occupying Buster’s time lately is a legal battle of his own making. He’s filed a defamation lawsuit against major media players like Netflix and Warner Bros.
💡 You might also like: Why the Jordan Is My Lawyer Bikini Still Breaks the Internet
Why? Because of how they handled the death of Stephen Smith.
If you’ve watched the documentaries, you know the rumors. Stephen was a former classmate of Buster’s who was found dead on a rural road in 2015. For years, local gossip tied Buster to the case, despite the fact that he was never charged or even named as a suspect by police.
Buster is clearly fed up. In a 2023 statement, he called the rumors "baseless" and "vicious." By suing the producers of Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, he’s trying to legally scrub his name. He claims these shows portrayed him as a murderer with zero evidence, and he's looking for a jury to agree that his reputation was unfairly trashed for the sake of "bingeable" content.
What Happened to Law School?
A lot of people wonder if Buster is going to follow in the family footsteps and become a lawyer.
The short answer: probably not.
📖 Related: Pat Lalama Journalist Age: Why Experience Still Rules the Newsroom
Buster was kicked out of the University of South Carolina School of Law back in 2019 for a plagiarism incident. There was a lot of talk during Alex's trial about the family trying to pay $60,000 to get him readmitted, but that never seemed to pan out. As of early 2026, there is no public record of him being enrolled in law school or working in the legal field.
His wife, Brooklynn, is the one carrying the legal torch now. She’s a practicing attorney who passed the South Carolina bar in 2022. It’s an interesting dynamic—the son of the state’s most famous disgraced lawyer is now married to a rising star in the same profession.
Settling the Mallory Beach Case
You can’t talk about what is Buster Murdaugh doing now without mentioning the 2019 boat crash. That tragedy, which killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach, was the first domino to fall in the Murdaugh collapse.
For years, Buster was a defendant in a massive wrongful death lawsuit because he had allegedly given his ID to his younger brother, Paul, to buy alcohol before the crash.
In early 2023, Buster finally reached a settlement with the Beach family. While the exact numbers are often kept quiet, reports indicate he received about $530,000 from his mother Maggie’s estate after the sale of Moselle, much of which likely went toward legal fees and settlement costs. Settling that case was a huge hurdle. It allowed him to finally step out of the courtroom—at least as a defendant—and stop the bleeding of his remaining inheritance.
👉 See also: Why Sexy Pictures of Mariah Carey Are Actually a Masterclass in Branding
A Quick Reality Check on the Murdaugh Finances
- Moselle Estate: Sold for nearly $4 million; proceeds went to creditors and victims.
- Edisto Beach House: Sold to help cover Alex's legal defense and victim claims.
- Buster's Cut: He received a portion of Maggie’s estate, but he isn't living like a millionaire.
Does He Still Support His Father?
This is the part that boggles most people’s minds. Despite the mountain of evidence, the blood spatter, and the "kennel video" that placed Alex at the scene of the crime, Buster has publicly stood by his dad.
In the Fox Nation series The Fall of the House of Murdaugh, Buster admitted that his father is a "manipulator" and a "liar" when it comes to money, but he refuses to believe Alex killed Maggie and Paul. He’s gone on record saying he fears the "real killer" is still out there.
It’s a complicated psychological spot to be in. To the rest of the world, Alex is a monster. To Buster, he’s the only immediate family member he has left. He reportedly still takes calls from Alex from prison, though their relationship is undoubtedly strained by the fact that Alex's actions essentially vaporized Buster’s entire future.
Moving Forward in 2026
So, what does a typical day look like for him now? He’s mostly keeping his head down. You won't find him on public social media, and he’s rarely spotted at local events in Bluffton. He seems to be leaning into the role of a private citizen, supported by his wife’s income and whatever is left of his inheritance.
He’s 32 now. Most of his 20s were consumed by death, trials, and public shaming. Whether he can ever truly move on depends largely on the outcome of his defamation lawsuits and whether the Stephen Smith investigation (which was reopened in 2021) eventually points toward someone else.
Next Steps to Stay Informed:
- Check the South Carolina judicial portal for updates on the Murdaugh vs. Netflix defamation trial dates.
- Follow local South Carolina news outlets like The State for any new developments in the reopened Stephen Smith homicide investigation, which remains the final "loose end" involving the Murdaugh name.