The children of Robin Williams are donating his bicycles as ways for charities to receive support.
Ambiguities in some of Williams’ plans led to a dispute between the children and their stepmother about who was to receive some of Williams' personal property. That dispute was eventually resolved and it appears his children were not acting for purely selfish reasons. They recently donated some of Williams' bicycles to a charity auction that raised $600,000 for two of his favorite charities.
It is always good to see a difficult estate end well, especially if one of the results is that well-deserving charities receive funding. However, there is still a lesson to be learned from Robin Williams' estate, which is that it is extremely important to be as clear as possible in an estate plan.
Any possible dispute should be anticipated, especially for people in blended families.
An estate planning attorney can advise you on options that meet your wishes to provide for your loved ones.
Reference: TMZ (Oct. 27, 2016) "Robin Williams Fave Bicycles Are Gold… Haul in over $600K For Charity."