Robin Williams’ Children and Widow in Stalemate over Comedian’s Estate
Talks over Robin Williams’ estate are at a stalemate, with his widow and adult children unable to reach an agreement, court records show. Cody, Zelda and Zachary Williams assert in court documents that Susan Schneider Williams is trying to negotiate more money and is seeking a guaranteed income stream.
Under contention is the value of Williams’ Tiburon, Calif., property, where he wanted his wife to live after his death. She will never own the property, which will later be inherited by his children.
According to the documents, Schneider Williams says that trustees overseeing the estate have calculated the value of the property and its associated expenses — which she would be responsible for — but have not explained how they came up with those numbers. She is asking the court to rule on the issue.
The Williams children say she is seeking more than what was discussed as part of the trustee agreement. In documents filed last week in San Francisco Superior Court, they said that Schneider Williams was “seeking to increase her share of the trust assets at the expense of the Williams children.”
Kevin Clune, an attorney for Schneider Williams, said Wednesday that she “only wants to ensure that the funds Robin left behind are properly managed and distributed as he wished” and “has never asked for anything other than what the law requires or what Robin wanted.”
The parties have been meeting to try to resolve the estate’s issues, but the talks have been unsuccessful, documents say. Schneider Williams has said that she hasn’t received any income from a trust Williams created for her to pay for her cost of living, and that some personal items of sentimental value are under dispute.
But the Williams children say in the documents that the trustees already determined the personal property belongs to them. They say that Schneider Williams has “erroneously asserted to the media” and in documents that they are receiving a majority of assets in the estate.
“In fact, about half of the trust’s net assets will be placed in Susan’s trust for her benefit for her lifetime, while at her death, her two children and the three Williams children will share the remainder of those assets, if any, one-fifth each,” they say in the documents.
At a hearing in June, a judge allowed until July 29 to come to a resolution. That was extended to Aug. 28.
Williams committed suicide last year.