Robin Williams Divorce Settlement

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Introduction to Robin Williams Divorce Settlement

Robin McLaurim Williams is a comedian and actor in the United States. He has won the following awards.

• 3 Grammy Awards
• 2 Screen Actors Guild Awards
• 3 Golden Globe Awards
• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in the film Good Will Hunting in 1997

He came in the limelight after his role in the TV series Mork and Mindy as an alien Mork.

On 4^th June 1978, Robin Williams married Valerie Velardi. Their son, Zachary Pym was born on 11^th April 1983. During this marital life, he had an extramarital relation with a cocktail waitress, Michelle Tish Carter. In 1986, Michelle claimed that Robin was infected with the herpes simplex virus. He did not reveal this fact to Michelle prior to starting sexual relations with her in the mid 80s. During these sexual relations, he transmitted the virus to her. For this reason, Michelle sued Robin and further the case was settled out of court.

Background of Robin Williams Divorce Settlement

Marsha Garces was Zachary's nanny and during 1989 had sexual relations with Robin. She was several months pregnant with his child and hence on 30^th April 1989, Williams married her. Presently, they have 2 children as follows.

• Zelda Rae, a daughter (Birth date: 31^st July 1989)
• Cody Alan, a son (Birth date:25^th November 1991)

In March 2008, Marsha submitted a divorce petition mentioning irreconcilable differences as the grounds of divorce. Their marital life had continued for 19 years. Marsha demanded the following points in the divorce settlement.

• Joint legal custody of Cody should be with Marsha
• Physical custody of Cody should be with Marsha
• Visitation rights of Cody may be awarded to Robin

After about 2 months of filing the divorce petition, the divorcing couple declared that they had opted for a Collaborative divorce. This was a relatively new manner of alternative dispute resolution that had the following features.

• The divorcing partners and their specially trained divorce lawyers would draft a divorce settlement in private
• The divorce settlement would be prepared outside the classroom
• There would be a written agreement between the parties that they are not willing for litigation

The process of Collaborative Divorce between Williams and Garces

On 6^th May 2008, the couple declared the following in their divorce papers.

"We will strive to be honest, cooperative and respectful as we work in this process to achieve the future well being of our families. We commit ourselves to the collaborative law process and agree to seek a positive way to resolve our differences justly and equitably."

The Collaborative Divorce between Williams and Garces had the following usual characteristics of a collaborative divorce.

• Both divorcing partners and their divorce lawyers admitted that if they fail in their negotiations and cannot draft a divorce settlement due to which the divorcing couple has to litigate, then these lawyers must resign from the case
• Due to the above clause, everybody involved in the case gets motivated to draft a divorce settlement
• While drafting the settlement, the expertise of neutral professionals like a child specialist and / or financial advisor is used as an assistance
• The process aims at the following
  • Full disclosure
  • Aiming at the best interests of the children
  • Reaching win-win solutions
• The process discourages any attempts of competing and attempting to defeat the other party

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