Comedian Robin Williams’ Wife, Susan Schneider, was provided for in a limited way in his estate planning. This left her financially devastated. She has now opened up about the painful ordeal of being betrayed by her husband’s will and fighting his children to retain her personal wedding gifts, says Fandom Wire’s recent article entitled, “I was still in shock”: $50M Rich Robin Williams Left No Money for Wife, Who Had to Fight His Kids to Keep Her Wedding Gifts from Being Snatched Away.”
Susan thought Robin had an unshakeable bond and ironclad estate planning. However, after his sudden death, she learned the harsh reality that she was cut out from his $50 million estate. As a result, she then had to endure his children trying to claim even her most personal items.
In an interview, Schneider talked of the painful realization that her husband had excluded her from his will. “I was still in shock. Three months after Robin’s death, I was still trying to figure out what had happened,” she said.
Schneider said Robin’s decision to omit her from the will “felt like the most hurtful kind of betrayal.” She was left trying to find why the man she trusted most had left her so vulnerable.
“[The deal is] “basically what my husband wanted, which was just that I could live in the home until I die. And that’s it. That it would be taken care of.”
Robin Williams’ Wife did receive lifetime use of their home and assets sufficient to maintain it for the rest of her life. The home at her death goes to his children.
While Williams’ decision not to include his wife otherwise in the will remains a mystery, it became clear that he’d made significant financial arrangements for his children but nothing for his spouse. To make matters worse, the comedian’s children from earlier marriages challenged Schneider in court in an attempt to seize the gifts she received on their wedding day. “Some of Robin’s kids were claiming that our wedding gifts belonged to them,” Schneider revealed. She ultimately prevailed in keeping her cherished items.
“I was forced into it, basically. And when I say that, here’s what happened. Two and a half weeks after Robin had left, I was still in shock. And not back in our home.”
Schneider continued, “After being in the trenches with my husband for so long and trying to solve this thing, after seven years together in love, I was told that I might not be able to keep our wedding gifts, that in fact, ‘While you’re out of the house … we need to come in and take everything out. ’Eventually once we’ve gone through it all, you can decide – tell us which items are yours. And we’ll decide whether or not that’s true.’”
In hindsight, Schneider feels Robin likely hid troubling issues during their marriage that led to her being cut from his will. Their happy union had secrets that blew up only after his passing. Schneider now believes Robin struggled privately with serious problems that caused him to decide to cut her out. Her story is a caution for partners who assume wealth will transfer to them.
An additional aspect of Robin Williams Trust planning and will was unique and ahead of their time protection of his image after death, prohibiting the use of his voice or image for years into the future. This forward-thinking estate plan is well ahead of it’s time, is especially well-placed in these early stages of planning for Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Reference: Fandom Wire (July 30, 2023) “I was still in shock”: $50M Rich Robin Williams Left No Money for Wife, Who Had to Fight His Kids to Keep Her Wedding Gifts from Being Snatched Away”
