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| Robin Williams, son Zachary and wife Susan Schneider attend The Comedy Awards in New York City in 2012. The late comedian's family is currently feuding over many of Williams' possessions |
Robin Williams'
widow and his three children from previous marriages are currently
engaged in a legal battle over everything from his clothing to his
action figures, months after the actor and comic's death.
Williams' third wife, Susan Schneider Williams, whom he married in
2011, filed court documents making her case in December, while his
children – Zak, born to his first wife Valerie Velardi, and Zelda and
Cody, born to second wife Marsha Garces Williams – submitted their
papers in January. The New York Times
reports that a number of items are at stake, including photographs,
bicycles, fossils, toys and his awards and that the children would like
to see the matter resolved "as quickly and efficiently as possible."
The actor's will left his estate to his children in a trust, but it
also called for the creation of provisions to benefit his wife, who has
two teenage sons of her own. This included the couple's home in Tiburon,
California and "the contents thereof." In her filing, Williams' wife
alleged that within days of the actor's death, items were "unilaterally
removed" from her home. Moreover, when she hired a lawyer, she found
that home services like newspaper delivery were canceled. All of this,
she claimed, has interfered with the grieving process.
For their part, the children said they are "heartbroken" in their
petition and underscored their feelings about Susan Williams by
mentioning that she was married to the actor for "less than three
years." In their opinion, the widow's filing "adds insult to terrible
injury" and is a means to "prevent them from receiving what their father
wanted them to receive." They allege that she "acted against [their
father's] wishes by challenging the plans he so carefully made for his
estate."
The most hotly debated items are Williams' personal effects, including his awards – an Oscar for Good Will Hunting,
six Golden Globes, two Emmys and five Grammys. An updated version of
Williams' trust said that the actor's clothing, jewelry and photos taken
prior to the actor and Susan's marriage, as well as his second home in
Napa, California and its contents, should go to his children.
Susan explicitly said that she was not seeking items related to the
actor's career in entertainment, but wanted items like the tux he wore
to their wedding along with his "personal collections of knickknacks and
other items that are not associated with his famous persona." (The word
"knickknacks" did not sit well with Williams' children, who thought it
was an off-color way of describing the actor's extensive collections of
graphic novels, action figures, theater masks and movie posters.)
Susan claimed that the children gave her only three days' notice,
following Williams death, before they wanted to come to the Tiburon home
and take what the trust promised them. She said that she "became
frightened of the co-trustees invading her home" and subsequently
blocked them. The children took issue with that move since she allowed
to have others into her home, including appraisers who placed a value on
items said to belong to the children, as well as construction workers
who completed a $30,000 renovation on the home.
Within days of the actor's death, Susan and the three children each released statements about how the actor's passing had affected them. His widow spoke on behalf of the family
and asked for privacy while it grieved. The three children each wrote
personal notes. Zak called the comedian his "a best friend," while Zelda
said she felt "stripped bare." Cody said, "The world will never be the
same without him."
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