Susan Williams, Robin Williams’ widow, opens up about a legal battle over her estate. A little more than a year after his death, she also finally explained some of the things that Robin was going through towards the end before he took his own life.
Susan explained that she was basically “forced” into a legal battle over her and her late husband’s estate after Robin’s children, Zelda (26), Cody (23), and Zachary (32), got involved. They claimed that Susan was trying to keep things that were meant for them.
According to Susan, the children’s lawyers and William’s trustees came to her house and explained that everything would be removed and sifted through. She reported their words to ABC News.
“While you’re out of the house, we need to come in and take everything out. Eventually once we’ve gone through it all tell us which items are yours and we’ll tell you if that’s true. And I’ll never forget being on the phone with one of the trustees and saying ‘what is this? I know Robin Williams is famous, but he’s my husband. He’s my husband. If we’re talking that you guys think everything is memorabilia then take me, he’s touched me! Where does this end?’ “
The battle for custody of the home and its belongings went on for nearly a year, but it finally settled out of court. Susan explained that out of the proceedings, she got “basically just what my husband wanted, which is that I could live in the home until I died, that it would be taken care of.”
She was allowed to keep the home, and the children were able to gain a few important memorabilia to remember their father by. When asked how they felt about the court proceedings, they said that they were happy it was over.
Susan, who had only been married to Robin for four years before his death, explained that’s just what she wanted. “Every inch of that home has our laughter, our playfulness, our joy, our tears,” she says. She also said that the wounds would never go away, and the pain would never go away, but she is stronger after his death, making it easier to handle the situation.
Robin’s widow also opened up about the real cause of his suicide, saying that it was only a small part of the story.
‘It was not depression that killed Robin,” she reported. “Depression was one of let’s call it 50 symptoms, and it was a small one.”
She also mentioned that he would suffer from anxiety attacks and a number of inner demons for years before he decided to take his own life.
After his death, an autopsy was performed, and it was discovered that he suffered from undiagnosed Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) , which is the second most common neurodegenerative dementia. Some of the symptoms include hallucinations, frequent shifts in mental state, and impaired motor function. When undiagnosed, this illness can be devastating, as evidenced by his decision to take his own life.
It was also discovered shortly after his death that he was in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease, which he didn’t share with the media just yet for privacy reasons. Susan revealed that Robin was seeing doctors about his illness, but they were unable to pinpoint the exact cause of the illness.
She says she doesn’t blame the doctors for Robin’s death.
“I know now the doctors, the whole team was doing exactly the right things. It’s just that this disease was faster than us and bigger than us. We would have gotten there eventually.”
Ultimately, Susan claims that his decision to end his life came down to an inability to control his own situation. It must have been extremely frustrating and difficult for him to have such a strong mental and physical illness, and not be able to do a thing about it.
“I’ve spent this last year trying to find out what killed Robin,” Susan explained a little tearfully. “To understand what we were fighting, what we were in the trenches fighting and one of the doctors said, ‘Robin was very aware that he was losing his mind and there was nothing he could do about it.’ ”
After Robin Williams’ widow opened up about the debilitating illness that took his life and the legal repercussions that followed, the world is a little more aware of many of the mental and physical disorders that threaten the world and its citizens.
[Image via Kevin Winter / Getty Images]