Robin Williams' family members returned to court on Monday to hash out the dispute between Williams' widow Susan and his children. As a result, Williams' will was filed with the court as an exhibit. Williams had the foresight to add two very important and unique clauses to his will:
1) The trust restricts the exploitation of Robin Williams' publicity rights for 25 years after his death. No unauthorized uses of his image can be used until 2039. This means that there will be no hologram version of Robin Williams doing a stand-up tour, and no one can posthumously digitally add his image into a movie.
2) According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Williams bequeathed rights to his name, signature, photograph and likeness to the Windfall Foundation, a charitable organization set up by Williams' legal reps." In the event that the Windfall foundation is not eligible for receiving a charitable deduction according to the IRS, the trust dictates that Williams' publicity rights be distributed to a list of charities contained within the trust. This move was most likely made in response to what has happened to Michael Jackson's estate: The IRS claims that his estate owes $500 million in taxes from Jackson's publicity rights. The language of Williams' trust removes this tax burden from his estate.
Read the full trust at The Hollywood Reporter.
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