Nearly a year after well-known real estate investor Brandon Miller took his life at his $12 million mansion in the Hamptons, his family was devastated when his widow decided not to attend the tombstone unveiling.

Influencer Candice Miller, aged 43, missed the small family gathering with her late husband’s relatives in Long Island last weekend. A friend explained to the Daily Mail that she was overwhelmed with grief, considering how drastically her life had changed recently.

The once popular mommy blogger relocated to Miami after her spouse’s death in July 2024. During that period, Miller was dealing with significant financial debts and multiple legal battles.

While she received a $15 million life insurance payout, friends said that she was still struggling financially. 

A friend in Florida told the Daily Mail: ‘This whole ordeal is so painful to her that she’s protecting her own mental health. A tombstone unveiling is not what she needs right now as she heals.

‘She talks about her money woes,’ the friend added. ‘She is very proud, and it’s embarrassing to her that her finances are so shaky. It’s not her fault but she feels like it reflects on her.’ 

But a member of Miller’s family said they were shocked by the decision to snub the gathering.

‘It was disappointing and disheartening that she didn’t come to honor her former life partner, whatever her reasons were,’ the relative said. ‘He deserved better.’ 

Until last year, Candice was living what appeared to be an idyllic life with her husband and their two preteen daughters. She and her sister, Jenna Crespi, ran the luxury lifestyle blog Mama & Tata, which chronicled their family’s opulent habits. 

The blog – as well as her Instagram page – detailed Candice’s designer wardrobe, shopping sprees and international travel.

Much of her time was spent in the Hamptons in the company of various celebrities, including Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and Ivanka Trump. 

But her charmed life came crashing down on July 3 last year when she and her daughters were vacationing in Italy. Back in Southampton, Miller, 43, died of carbon monoxide poisoning in the garage of their home. His death was ruled a suicide.

The businessman left a note apologizing for his actions and lamenting a failed deal he had hoped would turn his financial situation around. Miller had just $8,000 in the bank but owed millions of dollars in loans and judgments. 

Candice soon found herself under a mountain of debt totaling more than $33.6million – a crushing burden that blindsided the influencer, who told friends she had never paid attention to her husband’s business dealings or finances. 

In a 2024 statement to the New York Times, Candice, who married Miller in 2009, expressed her sadness at his death.

‘Candice is devastated by the loss of her soul mate,’ her spokesman said last August, ‘and her two young daughters’ lives are forever impacted by the loss of their beloved daddy.’

Since then, she has sold the family’s Hamptons estate and has moved to a rented oceanfront condo in Miami. 

The financial strain became so severe that she auctioned off furniture and kitchenware at steep discounts online. 

Earlier this month, Candice took to Instagram to announce her new career as a certified professional life coach.

Along with a picture of a sunrise, she quoted the French philosopher Albert Camus. ‘In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.

‘And that makes me happy,’ she added in a commonly used but, scholars say, misattributed extension of the original line.

‘For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.’