After Robin Williams died in 2014, his widow, Susan Schneider Williams, and his children—Zachary (Zak), Zelda and Cody—disagreed over how his trust applied to personal belongings, memorabilia and costs tied to the Tiburon home. Each side offered a different account of the dispute. They settled out of court in early October 2015; the complete settlement terms were not made public in the sources cited here.
What the dispute was about
The disagreement was not simply a fight over cash. It concerned how estate and trust provisions applied to belongings in Williams’s homes, what counted as memorabilia rather than personal keepsakes, and expenses associated with the Tiburon residence. Contemporary accounts also described disagreements involving jewelry, awards and items kept at different properties.
In December 2014, Susan Schneider Williams filed a petition concerning personal property and the meaning of trust provisions. Reporting said she claimed some belongings had been taken without her permission and disputed how the trust applied to items in the Tiburon home. Those were her claims, not findings by a court. The Los Angeles Times’ 2015 account described the disagreement as involving personal property and the costs of maintaining the home.
What the children and widow said
The children’s position
According to reporting on court filings, the children argued that the trust entitled them to specified memorabilia and personal items. They said Schneider Williams was trying to increase her share of trust assets at their expense. The Associated Press reported that they characterized the dispute as “adding insult to a terrible injury.” These were the children’s allegations and characterization, not a court’s conclusion that anyone had acted improperly. The Guardian’s report on the filings covered their position.
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Schneider Williams’s account
Schneider Williams told ABC News she felt “forced into it, basically,” explaining that she had been told she might not be able to keep wedding gifts and that items could be removed before she was told which ones were hers. That is her account of why she went to court, not a judicial finding about what happened. ABC News reported her explanation.
Disputed claims about the home and belongings
Schneider Williams said some items had been taken without her permission. In a statement reported by CBS, the children denied visiting the Tiburon home or removing items. The accounts conflict; the reporting cited here does not establish that either allegation was proven in court. CBS News covered the children’s denial.
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What was at stake beyond ownership
The disagreement involved both who should receive particular objects and the practical costs of the Tiburon house where Schneider Williams wanted to continue living. A 2015 Los Angeles Times report said court documents listed 975 items in an inventory of Williams’s personal property at that home. That figure describes the reported Tiburon inventory, not every asset in the estate. The report attributed the number to court documents.
The trust attorney, Andrew Bassak, told the Los Angeles Times that Williams had been a private person who carefully constructed an estate plan to keep it out of public view. The court dispute nevertheless made some of the competing interpretations public. Bassak’s comment appeared in the paper’s 2015 coverage.
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How the dispute ended
The parties reached an out-of-court settlement in early October 2015. In a later interview, Schneider Williams described the arrangement as allowing her to live in the house until her death and ensuring it would be taken care of. That is her description of the agreement; the complete settlement document and all of its terms are not reproduced in the reporting cited here. ABC News reported her account of the settlement.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Were the children “blindsided”?
“Blindsided” is a framing of the story, not a reaction established as the children’s own wording in the sources cited here. The available reporting documents a painful, contested disagreement and quotes the children’s criticism, but it does not verify that they described themselves as blindsided or establish their private emotional state. It is more accurate to say that the family publicly disagreed over how the trust applied to belongings and home costs, then settled the case.
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