In August 2014, I posted an article about Robin Williams’ estate plan. Now, 13 months after his death more details have been revealed regarding his estate plan and unfortunately, the court battles have begun.
So the good news. Robin did have an estate plan; an updated estate plan to boot. He was married in 2011, had a prenuptial agreement, and the trust (“Susan Trust”) that he set up for his wife Susan, was nearly identical to what was set forth in the prenuptial agreement. Robin wanted Susan to live in their house in Tiburon for the rest of her life, expense free. However, the other trust was for the benefit of his three children. His trust detailed that he wanted all of his “clothing, jewelry, personal photos taken prior to his marriage to Susan,” as well as his “memorabilia and awards in the entertainment industry and the tangible personal property located” in the Napa Valley property to pass to his three children. Robin was also very specific as to who he wanted to act as his trustees – both his estate planning attorney and his accountant, two people that Robin had known for years.
So what is the problem? A short 5 months after his death, Robin’s wife filed court documents challenging some of the provisions in his trusts and refused to let the trustees into the Tiburon property. Even though Robin was quite specific, especially regarding the discretion afforded to his trustees, Susan decided to bring this matter into the public eye and ask for the Court to decipher the language. Susan is asking for the court to give meaning to words like “memorabilia” and “jewelry,” as she argues the words are not very specific. Susan is arguing “jewelry” and personal property should not include Robin’s watches or his expensive bicycles. The children disagree. The parties have appeared in Court on at least two occasions and the Judge is declining to intervene, as of now. The Judge has ordered both sides to participate in mediation and to attempt to resolve these issues amongst themselves.
Moreover, Susan also asked the Court to determine how the expenses for her Tiburon home would be paid and how the trust fund would be set up. On both issues, the Court has asked for additional information to be disclosed by September 9, 2015. Hopefully with a couple good rounds of mediation and more information, both sides can allow the trustees to utilize their discretion and abide by Robin Williams’ wishes.
So lesson learned: estate planning is necessary, but without specificity, it can unravel all plans and leave the beneficiaries back at square one.
