Robin Williams dead

[faithanne]

“Compared to what the Williams children were set to receive from their father, this is a bucket of water in a lake.”

Well duh, of course the children should receive much more than the wife of 3 years, especially if that's what his will dictates. She gets no sympathy from me.

[sluce]

It doesn't sound like she is asking for anything out of line.

[sputnik]

^^^
yeah, his widow doesn't sound like she's asking for anything unreasonable. i think the kids are taking memorabilia to mean all of their father's material possessions, and that's bullshit. and they have no right to just go into that house because their father once lived there. i hope mediation works but honestly it kind of comes off as if the kids ran to the press to make this widow look like the quintessential evil stepmother and hoped public sympathy would force her into giving them everything they asked for.

[faithanne]

It sounded like the kids haven't really done anything - it's the trustees (his? theirs?) that have gone into the house, and I agree that most of what she's asking for sounds legit (like the suit he wore to their wedding) but by the same token, it's not unreasonable for the kids to get everything he had before he married her in 2011.

[czb]

i guess i look at it differently.

the tiburon home (yeah, i know where it is) is much more modest than his napa estate. that's probably why her attorney called it a 'bucket of water'. i don't think she's being unreasonable.

[Clubber Lang]

It seems as though the kids maybe subconsciously blame her for his suicide. I can understand the anger that comes with losing someone that you love unexpectedly but its very unfair to place blame on someone who may have had nothing to do with it, and who's also grieving.

[Kathie_Moffett]

the kids should get what is rightfully willed to them but they have no right to enter a house that doesn't belong to them, whether they plan on taking things or not. we just take for granted that we can walk in & out of our parents' house.

Seriously. If this has all blown up, it could be because the kids/trustees pushed too hard and too fast, and didn't give her a little time to recover. If anybody tried to come into my home that I'd shared with my husband just a few days after his death and take his stuff, I'd *cough* lose my temper. That shit is way out of line.

I have to say that although I don't know her at all (or any of them) I know a local artist who knows her well, and she says Susan is kind and normal, not a moneygrubbing freak. Apparently she really loved Robin and this hit her hard. It seems people think she's some 25 year old gold digging tart, but she's almost 50 and had her own business in SF when she met Robin--which, by the way, was around 2008, not just three years ago. She, not his kids, nursed him through his heart surgery in 2009, and they lived together for a couple of years before they married. Doesn't sound like a fly-by-night, exploitative relationship to me.

It might be useful to remember that it's not uncommon for kids from previous marriages to be less than friendly to new wives...whether or not the new wife has done anything to deserve censure.

^^^
yeah, his widow doesn't sound like she's asking for anything unreasonable. i think the kids are taking memorabilia to mean all of their father's material possessions, and that's bullshit. and they have no right to just go into that house because their father once lived there. i hope mediation works but honestly it kind of comes off as if the kids ran to the press to make this widow look like the quintessential evil stepmother and hoped public sympathy would force her into giving them everything they asked for.

That first article totally did that, yep. It's hard not to read negative intent into their statements, which don't seem to reflect the actual goings-on.

It occurred to me while reading this that the villain behind the scenes here could be the second wife, Marsha. You remember her...the nanny who homewrecked his well-liked first wife and son? She walked off with a huge divorce settlement in the end, which is a big part of why Robin was so stressed about money, so fearful of not being able to work and so devastated at the cancellation of his last show...and also why he was living in the simple house in Tiburon and trying like crazy to sell the Napa estate he'd shared with Marsha.

Even though Marsha was the one who dumped Robin and not the other way around, it's probably wise not to underestimate the territoriality she may feel about him. Wouldn't be surprising if she's had her knives out for Susan Schneider from day one. I don't think his kids are assholes at all, but Marsha might be.

i guess i look at it differently.

the tiburon home (yeah, i know where it is) is much more modest than his napa estate. that's probably why her attorney called it a 'bucket of water'. i don't think she's being unreasonable.

I know where it is too. Amazing view, but it's a very modest house (if you have the address, there are real estate pics online from when it was briefly up for sale a while back, possibly during some trust-trustee switch...and I THINK, not sure, but I think it was his late parents' last home.)

Whereas, the house in Napa is a true mansion. It's fucking huge. He was trying to sell it for $40 million, marked down to $35 million. Far as I've heard, that's the kids' property now. You could certainly store Robin's life's possessions and collections there, but not in the Tiburon house (which is worth about $4 million, mostly for the view and location.) Pretty much, the last wife basically is trying to keep a comparative pittance, probably much of it day to day stuff that reminds her of their life together. Grief takes a while, and losing your husband isn't less important or meaningful than losing your father.

[nwgirl]

Seriously. If this has all blown up, it could be because the kids/trustees pushed too hard and too fast, and didn't give her a little time to recover. If anybody tried to come into my home that I'd shared with my husband just a few days after his death and take his stuff, I'd *cough* lose my temper. That shit is way out of line.

Me too! Not saying the kids are vultures, but man, death sure brings out the worst in people especially if there's something worth anything. I just can't imagine going into someone's home and being like "pack that up, and that, and that too" days after their spouse dies. Even if it is legally yours.

I could understand if the step-mom was removing stuff or selling it, but to just start doing it cause it's yours...I guess I don't understand that mentality. "Hey...I know you don't have your daily partner around anymore, so here, lemme just take these paintings off the walls too. Oh ya, and these knick-knacks. Now your house can be as empty as your life." Yuck.

[sluce]

There is also another issue - lawyers and settling the estate. The estate attorneys are probably pushing too so they can get a final valuation of the estate. file the taxes, and distribute the proceeds. To the grieving it may seem "too soon", but to the attorneys it is a business transaction. He has been gone for almost 8 months.

[nwgirl]

Ehhh...good points Sluce. (That's my half hearted concession that you have a point. Lol!) It just seems like there's gotta be a better way. It seems like you see stuff like this all the time.

[fgg]

Robin Williams’ image can’t be exploited for 25 years

Robin Williams‘ family may be fighting over his personal property, but one thing they have no claim to are his rights of publicity.

The late comedian left his rights to his name, signature, photograph and likeness to the Windfall Foundation, a charitable organization set up by his lawyers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The move restricts the authorized use of Williams’ image for 25 years following his death, meaning that you won’t see the “Mrs. Doubtfire” star’s visage used in a commercial, film or as a digital hologram until at least Aug. 11, 2039.

In case the IRS deems the Windfall Foundation ineligible for charitable deduction, Williams’ publicity rights would be distributed to established charitable organizations with a similar purpose.

Sources told the magazine that the move was made by Williams in response to an ongoing battle between Michael Jackson’s estate and the IRS over how to tax the late singer’s publicity rights. (The federal government claims Jackson’s estate owes more than half a billion dollars in taxes, plus over $200 million in penalties.)

As The Hollywood Reporter points out, assigning the rights to the Windfall Foundation controls how his image can be used while also limiting his family’s tax liability.

Williams took his life at his home outside San Francisco last August. His wife, Susan Williams, said the comedian had been struggling with depression, anxiety and a recent diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.

Robin Williams’ image can’t be exploited for 25 years | Page Six

[llamamama]

Under the terms of the updated trust, Mrs. Williams was to be provided her own separate trust, the Susan Trust, which included the Tiburon home and “the contents thereof,” subject to certain restrictions. She would also be given enough cash or property to cover, for her lifetime, “all costs related to the residence.”
Mrs. Williams’s petition states that this should include “all expenses associated with daily upkeep as well as unexpected renovations and improvements.”
In their response, the Williams children faulted Mrs. Williams for appearing to be arguing for additional funds before the Susan Trust had even been funded. They cite this as an illustration of “the greed that appears to be driving petitioner’s actions.” Jim Wagstaffe, a lawyer for Mrs. Williams, said in a telephone interview on Monday that his client was “not somebody who has any sticky fingers.” “Mr. Williams wanted his wife to be able to stay in her home and not be disrupted in her life with her children,” he added. “Compared to what the Williams children were set to receive from their father, this is a bucket of water in a lake.”

The bolded parts from the article that czb posted irked me. I am really siding with the new wife. The kids (or their lawyers) are out to lunch. The will said that she's entitled to money to cover all costs related to the residence. She wanted it to include unexpected renovations and improvements. He provided for her to live in the house for the rest of her life, like there won't be repairs and improvments needed? This is considered greed? I think those kids had to look pretty hard to find any examples of their stepmother acting greedily. I think the kids are the greedy ones.

[Trixie]

Not really sure what to think. It certainly sounds like he left the bulk to his children (as it should be) but also wanted to make sure his wife was provided for (as it also should be).

I've read a few things about this in the past few months and his watch collection is mentioned, in that his wife argued the collection wasn't "jewelry" and should belong to her. Made me wonder how much these watches are worth, not sure how many there were but I'm guessing quite a bit of $$.

Also found this, presumably from the investigative report released with the coroner's determination. Struck me as a little weird, yes I know he wasn't in his right mind so to speak but it seems he was very concerned about these watches in the days prior to his suicide. Hiding them in a sock and taking them to a friend's house for safekeeping?


“Mrs. Williams said the subject seemed okay when he arrived home last night,” the report states, before noting that Williams’s wife remembered that her husband had rummaged through their bedroom closet. “She said he grabbed his iPad and she recalled thinking it was good thing [sic] he grabbed it, because she assumed he was in a good mood and was going to take time to do some reading; he hadn’t read or watched TV in about 6 months.”

The couple — who had been sleeping in separate bedrooms because Williams sometimes talked loudly or moved around — hadn’t been fighting, but Williams’s wife told authorities that she did recently notice signs of paranoia.

“Yesterday the subject reportedly became concerned about several of his wrist watches, which Mrs. Williams and [redacted] attributed to the typical signs of paranoia he had been displaying,” the report states. “The subject secured several watches in a sock and drove them to [redacted] house. [Redacted] received the watches and said the subject asked [Redacted] to take care of them.”

Robin Williams coroner’s report: Paranoia, depression and Parkinson’s, but no alcohol or illegal drugs - The Washington Post

[Clubber Lang]

Odd. I wonder if he was off the wagon at the time of his death?

[czb]

i don't know about his watch collection, but i do know he was an avid collector of custom bikes (like high-end serottas, sevens, colnago, etc). he had over 50 of them, so those are probably worth a load.