E. Gary Gygax Sr. May Have Had Another, More Recent Will?

I still want to know her motivation for withholding everything.
Let's be honest - it's none of your business. I'm starting to find this thread a bit ghoulish. This is family drama being aired here only because of the identity of the deceased. If Gygax had owned a successful flooring company that the family was now squabbling over, no one here would be pushing their noses into the goings-on.

I think we should do a better job minding our own business.
 

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Guest 7042500

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Let's be honest - it's none of your business. I'm starting to find this thread a bit ghoulish. This is family drama being aired here only because of the identity of the deceased. If Gygax had owned a successful flooring company that the family was now squabbling over, no one here would be pushing their noses into the goings-on.

I think we should do a better job minding our own business.
AMEN!

Speaking as someone who's known Gary and his kids since 1971 (except Alex).
 


DarkCrisis

Reeks of Jedi
Let's be honest - it's none of your business. I'm starting to find this thread a bit ghoulish. This is family drama being aired here only because of the identity of the deceased. If Gygax had owned a successful flooring company that the family was now squabbling over, no one here would be pushing their noses into the goings-on.

I think we should do a better job minding our own business.

And I'm sure she'd be enthralled by the tawdry details of your personal life, too. But let's not get entitled, eh? This is not your thing to know.
I’m more than aware it’s “none of my business.” Doesn’t mean one can’t be curious.
 



MGibster

Legend
The court systems here in the United States are pretty transparent even when it comes to litigation or other proceedings involving private parties in a civil dispute. I don't know if the courts are so transparent in Canada, the United Kingdom, or in the EU. If any one person is being ghoulish in this thread then everyone is. And quite frankly, yeah, I kind of want to know why Gail Gygax decided to submit a will knowing it wasn't the latest one. If that makes me ghoulish, well, call me a ghoulie.
 

Alzrius

The EN World kitten
A few new developments over the last two months, the most notable being the rise and fall of Rob Kuntz's notice of claim re: the Gygax estate. But before we get to that, there are a few unrelated entries.
  • There's a brief notice on September 6th that Elise Gygax-Cousino has changed addresses.
  • October 5th saw the issue of a stipulation and order regarding the payment of fees for attorneys, including for the personal representative. No details are listed in the summary.
  • On September 29th, the court received a letter from attorney Stephen Koch (the personal representative (i.e. the executor) for the Gygax estate), regarding a proposed order using a trust account. Subsequently, on October 9th, the court issued an order dispensing with a previous order that the personal representative for the Gygax estate had to open an "estate account" (presumably relating to the estate's finances) and instead allowing him to use his IOLTA account.
With regard to Rob Kuntz's claims, there's a lot more to take note of:
  • In anticipation of the motion hearing, Kuntz submits a considerable amount of evidence, entering exhibits on September 5th, 11th, 18th, 22nd, and 25th; all considered, ten different documents are entered into evidence.
  • Starting with the second item entered, on September 11th, Kuntz files a motion that the evidence he's entering should be sealed. While Judge Koss initially grants the motion to seal them ahead of the motion hearing (after noting that the initial request wasn't filed in the proper format), an objection is filed by attorney Gorn (i.e. Luke's attorney) on September 21st, after attorney Koch had written a letter on September 12th asking for access to the documents. Judge Koss subsequently unseals them, allowing the attorneys (as well as the public) access to the evidence submitted by Kuntz.
  • Shortly afterward, on September 25th, Kuntz sends a letter to the court regarding the last exhibit he submitted, and also notifying them that Paul Stormberg will be appearing in person at the motion hearing. (As I recall, Stormberg has a business relationship with TLB Games, Kuntz's company.)
  • The motion hearing took place on September 26th, with the following entry on the docket:
11:15am Court in session

Attorney Jennifer M Gorn in court for Lucion Gygax.
Attorney Theodore Nathan Johnson in court for Gail Carpenter Gygax.
Attorney Steven A. Koch in court.

Record by Atty Koch as to money received thus far.
Atty Gorn & Atty Johnson are in agreement with how Atty Koch has handled the funds so far

Record as to notice of claim filed by Robert Kuntz.
Discussion regarding statute of limitations.

Robert Kuntz appears via zoom & responds to Court's questions.
Record & argument by Atty Johnson as to claim by Mr. Kuntz
Record & argument by Atty Gorn as to claim by Mr. Kuntz
Response by Atty Koch

Further record by Mr. Kuntz
Response by Atty Gorn & Atty Koch regarding publication
Record by Atty Johnson

Further record & discussion regarding Judge Reddy's order for deadlines for filing claims.

Court makes record & denies the notice of claim by Robert Kuntz as not being timely.
Atty Koch to prepare order & will send to Mr. Kuntz

11:53am Court in recess

Let's unpack that as follows:
  • The court initially hears a report from attorney Koch about "money received thus far." My personal speculation is that this has something to do with the recent re-release of Yggsburgh, but I can't say for certain. Either way, both Gail and Luke's attorneys agree that there's no problems where this issue is concerned.
  • There's then a discussion over whether or not Rob Kuntz's motion regarding having a claim to the Gygax estate was issued too late to be allowed or not. Kuntz himself answers several questions by the court, and then is questioned by attorneys for both Luke and Gail, before Koch (the estate's executor) makes a statement.
  • After a subsequent statement by Rob Kuntz, attorney Gorn (i.e. Luke's attorney) and attorney Koch both make a response regarding "publication," though publication of what remains unclear.
  • There's then a discussion regarding the orders issued by Judge Reddy (who that is I'm not sure) regarding the deadline for filing claims.
  • Ultimately, Kuntz's claim is rejected for not being submitted in a timely manner.
Finally, we have a few items issued in the wake of the motion hearing:
  • On September 29th, three days after the hearing, a proposed order is issued to the court regarding the denial of Rob Kuntz's claim. A letter from attorney Koch in response is also submitted on the same day (suggesting that the proposed order was his).
  • On October 9th, the order formally denying Rob Kuntz's claim is issued by the court. A notice of entry regarding the order is given the next day, and an affidavit that the order is being mailed to Rob Kuntz is entered on the 11th.
As of right now, the case status is still listed as "Open - Electronic filing," suggesting that there could still be more to come before the book is closed on this.
 


JohnRTroy

Adventurer
I still want to know her motivation for withholding everything. Just holding a good price would come along someday seems dumb after a certain amount of time had passed. Im sure she got good offers…
Unfortunately, that's not really something you will get a clear answer for, unless she decides to share it. You can analyze these documents over and over, but you'll never be able to read the minds of the people involved. You can only speculate that part.

Let's be honest - it's none of your business. I'm starting to find this thread a bit ghoulish. This is family drama being aired here only because of the identity of the deceased. If Gygax had owned a successful flooring company that the family was now squabbling over, no one here would be pushing their noses into the goings-on.

I think we should do a better job minding our own business.
To be honest, this thread is a lot better than others I've seen on the forum, particularly that large one about NuTSR, which seems a lot more invasive even if there's a lot of criticism about the individuals involved.

But you are right, the key reason people are interested in this is mostly the hope that material that has been locked away will be published, I doubt it would matter otherwise. Which I've accepted, but it does bother me people seem more concerned about that than anything else.

  • Shortly afterward, on September 25th, Kuntz sends a letter to the court regarding the last exhibit he submitted, and also notifying them that Paul Stormberg will be appearing in person at the motion hearing. (As I recall, Stormberg has a business relationship with TLB Games, Kuntz's company.)
Paul Stromberg also does work for the Gygax Memorial now, and is also doing the current auctions. I think he's more of a witness for RJK as he was a historian of Greyhawk and he's worked with him on his auctions.

Let's unpack that as follows:
  • The court initially hears a report from attorney Koch about "money received thus far." My personal speculation is that this has something to do with the recent re-release of Yggsburgh, but I can't say for certain. Either way, both Gail and Luke's attorneys agree that there's no problems where this issue is concerned.

The court orders for this is based on the fact that the whole point of this is to pay off the debts and the legal fees. So that's the primary goals here. This is probably also involving the auctions to pay the debts that are going on. One thing to remember is Koch is a temporary representative, so at some point the Estate will get distributed, at that time Koch will be out of the picture. I've attached the order...you can see that the Estate can't enter into any agreements to license or sell property other than what is allowed in that order.

The court systems here in the United States are pretty transparent even when it comes to litigation or other proceedings involving private parties in a civil dispute. I don't know if the courts are so transparent in Canada, the United Kingdom, or in the EU.
The one good thing about Transparency is that it allows you to get to the facts, rather than people's speculation, which works on both sides. Of which will be helpful in an argument.

Highly unlike, given the current ruling includes
"9. Gail Carpenter Gygax is disqualified from acting as personal representative of the Estate of Ernest Gary Gygax, Sr."

Plus, the way TriGee is voided in this order implies it to have been unlawful; that's a great reason to bar her.

She was a witness on the new will yet submitted the old - possible perjury or forsworn falsification. Also a good reason to bar her.

That the effect of the older will was to deprive others of their leally due share is also grounds to disqualify her.

She'll be lucky if she doesn't get referred for prosecution.
Just a few notes about this.

Trigee was a legit company, everything Gary published from it was done through that, so it wasn't "unlawful". I am curious why they saw it as being "disbanded in California", as it was used up until his death and after. I think the only thing they decided here was that is was a licensing arrangement and not a permanent condition.

There's not a lot of penalty for "will fraud" -- it's a misdemeanor $500 fine and up to 1 year in Jail. I doubt that is happening. The judge is probably taking a few other things into account.

To clarify this, I am going to post both Wills. Considering that there is more personal information like addresses on the court record, that the NuTSR thread gets a lot more personal with information shared, and that the two wills don't reveal anything deeply personal like addresses or financials, I'm not sure why Alzrius considered them private, and to make a few points I need to share these documents which I paid the fees for.

First of all, both wills declare Gail to get priority. There are only a few major differences between the Wills.

The 1999 will has a statement saying he excludes his Children -- that means he's letting the court know that it is his attempt to override what they might go to a judge about, making it clear he wrote the will as he had it.

The 2006 will mostly allows the IP to be passed on to the kids only after Gail is dead. It also allows a few select items to be given over to the Children, mostly gifts that have more sentimental meaning, but note that anything else of value in the Estate is not given to the kids, that includes most of the auctionable property.

It's also something the court will look at -- but something that can be revealed is Gary did not want any of his Children other than Alex as a backup as executor, nor is any one child favored above another. In 1999, Alex wasn't of legal age, so Gail's sister is designated. This implies he did not trust his other children to execute the will.

Despite Gail's actions, the court is going to keep this in mind and probably limit anybody like Luke or the other kids from asking for too much power, to make sure this isn't some sort of coup-d'eat. I'm not sure what the judge's final decisions will be, but this will be taken into account. (We don't know what the judge is thinking -- considering how the 2006 will is worded, I think he might be more surprised at why Gail chose to not file the will after death -- but rather than malice he could consider diminished capacity or something else).

This is why I think it's good decisions like that they become part of the record, because there's too many people thinking up their own ideas of what Gary wanted, or they just listen to one side and believe everything said. At least having some form of objective documentation prevents people from adding too much narrative spin.
 

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