PEOPLE-ROBIN WILLIAMS Attorneys for Robin Williams' heirs spar in court over estate
Record ID:
858226
PEOPLE-ROBIN WILLIAMS Attorneys for Robin Williams' heirs spar in court over estate
- Title: PEOPLE-ROBIN WILLIAMS Attorneys for Robin Williams' heirs spar in court over estate
- Date: 31st March 2015
- Summary: **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** VARIOUS OF ROBIN WILLIAMS AT THE PREMIERE OF "HAPPY FEET TWO"
- Embargoed: 15th April 2015 13:00
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- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVACBX8NP4O1BHL360IBHHH88S8N
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- Story Text: A probate judge on Monday (March 30) instructed attorneys for the estate and heirs of Robin Williams to take eight weeks to work out disputes over property and money between the three adult children of the late comedian and his widow.
Susan Schneider Williams seeks items like the tuxedo her husband wore to their 2011 wedding and art and furniture from their home in Tiburon, California, where Williams committed suicide in August 2014. There is also a dispute over allowances to maintain that home, where she still lives.
Her attorney, James Wagstaffe, asked Judge Andrew Y.S. Cheng in San Francisco Superior Court to postpone the disposition of Williams' will for at least two more months, while a trustee for his estate and an attorney for his children lamented the will had gone to probate court.
The hearing dealt with a petition that Schneider Williams, the comedian's third wife, filed in December saying some property was removed from the house without her permission.
"This is a normal process, there's nothing at all unusual about it, it happens in probate court houses across the country every day. There's nothing unusual about this, this is simply asking court for guidance on items that are going to be worked out amicably," said Wagstaffe. " Mrs. Williams of course only gets to have the home and trust. The rest of the estate, the vast majority of the estate, as I've said before, if there's a lake we're talking about a bucket of water from that lake in this particular matter."
But one of the trustees for the estate, attorney Andrew A. Bassak, told the judge that Robin Williams made decisions to establish trusts for his heirs and never meant for a list of possessions to be at issue in public.
"Well the trustee's role is set out in the trust document and they are wanting to discharge their duties as Mr. Williams laid out. His intention was to not have this in the courts and so they are disturbed that this petition has been filed and that we're here because as an intensely private person Mr. Williams wouldn't have wanted this. So, that's troubling to the trustees as close confidants of Mr. Williams," Bassak said outside court.
The attorney for Williams' children - Zachary, Zelda and Cody Williams - agreed with the trustee.
Zelda Williams posted a correction on her tumblr account stating that she and her siblings have not removed anything from Williams' home.
"My brothers and I have not at any point since dad's death been invited to or visited his and Susan's house in Tiburon, nor have we removed anything from it. For reporters to twist Susan's court petition to imply that she believes my siblings and I did otherwise is to attempt to create drama where there is none and spread outright falsehoods," write Williams.
The probate judge called on the parties to convene to solve their remaining issues, through a private mediator if informal talks fail, and meet again in court on June 1. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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