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

[Rob Kuntz]

As long as @Rob Kuntz is on board; he said somewhere in here recently that he still owns something like 40% of it which means not much can really be done without his OK.

True. And Gary's sons have no stake and no part in the Castle and are not involved with Gail on positive terms, besides. Gail holds Gary's entire Literary Estate and I hold mine; where we cross with the Castle is her sticking point; but yet there are many, many sticking points with her treatment of Gary's Literary Estate. There are many angles converging here that are not my own, as well, such as the contract between her and Producer Tom DeSanto, the latter who I have communicated with at length about the situation, the Castle, et al. As I stated up-thread, don't hold your breath on seeing the final true/updated rendition of the Castle in my life time. It's just the aggregated reality of the past attempts, all of which I have pursued since 1982 and that I could now write a truly gloomy novel-length story about.

 

[Rob Kuntz]

There remain some un-sourced points here.
I will say only this: There are four sides in this conundrum: Gail's, the Gygax Kids, Tom DeSanto and where this stands in relation to the Castle, which has been judged as the most valuable and developable property of the estate, myself. All parties involved are well-informed of what the other's points are. This could all be resolved amicably but one party insists to dictate to the others and in terms that are not consistent with IP rights. legal instruments and good will, enforceable contracts. Thus a stalemate has ensued that has caused monetary loss to 3 of the 4 parties, which now has been added to the bottom sum and has strained all trust in the matter.

 

[Nikosandros]

There remain some un-sourced points here.
I will say only this: There are four sides in this conundrum: Gail's, the Gygax Kids, Tom DeSanto and where this stands in relation to the Castle, which has been judged as the most valuable and developable property of the estate, myself. All parties involved are well-informed of what the other's points are. This could all be resolved amicably but one party insists to dictate to the others and in terms that are not consistent with IP rights. legal instruments and good will, enforceable contracts. Thus a stalemate has ensued that has caused monetary loss to 3 of the 4 parties, which now has been added to the bottom sum and has strained all trust in the matter.

Thanks for all the clarifications. I did not choose the word "dream" randomly. Even with an extremely limited knowledge, I'm aware that the chances of it ever happening are basically nil.

 

[Alzrius]

There was a motion hearing yesterday, which notes the following:

10:58 AM Case called. Attorney Jennifer M Gorn in court for Petitioner Lucion Gygax. Petitioner Lucion Gygax appeared by phone means. Attorney Theodore Nathan Johnson in court for Beneficiary Gail Carpenter Gygax.

Motion to Compel.

Court has reviewed the filings.

Atty Johnson gives summary of the requests in the motion and argument.

Atty Gorn gives response and references Exhibit A and Exhibit B.

Atty Gorn gives argument.

Court gives findings.

Court grants the Motion to Compel in it's entirety.

Atty Johnson to prepare order.

Atty Johnson would stipulate to adjourning the trial so that discovery can be completed.

Court will adjourn the trial.

Court questions if Atty Gorn objects to setting a status.

Atty Gorn would like the trial dates reset.

Court will give 30 days for discovery to be completed.

Court questions if Lucion Gygax is wanting to be removed as PR.

Atty Gorn states he is wanting to be removed and Atty Koch is willing to being the PR and she has spoken to another attorney.

Atty Johnson objects to both as the Will names Gail Gygax as PR and the lack of assets.

Court questions if Lucion Gygax is willing to pay the bill for an attorney to be the PR.

Mr. Gygax would like time to speak to his attorney about this.

Court orders Lucion Gygax remain on the case as PR.

Atty Johnson states there hasn't been any PR appointed on this case.

Court will not make any decision as to the appointment of the PR.

Atty Gorn would like to reserve the trial date so a PR can be appointed.

Court will leave on for a short hearing on the trial date to appoint a PR.

Court would like a neutral person be appointed as PR.

Court questions a scheduling order being updated.

Scheduling order will be updated for the new trial dates.

Pretrial on September 2, 2021 @ 9am, by phone. CT on September 7, 2021 @ 8:30am, in person.

Discussion on IRS claiming there is income earned after the decedent passed.

Court orders due to discovery issues and congestion on the Court's calendar that the June trial be removed completely.

Court will leave the pretrial on for Sept 2, 2021 @ 9am, CT set for September 13, 2021 @ 8:30am, 2 days in person.

Experts and lay witnesses due July 30, 2021.

14 days prior to pretrial, witness list and motion in Limine due.

Exhibits to be premarked.

Discovery due 14 days prior to pretrial.

Atty Johnson confirms the court will hold open the issue of atty fees and costs.

11:39am Case adjourned.

 

[Alzrius]

Another entry from May 19th is that the court trial has been moved to September 13, 2021 at 08:30 am, with the pre-trial conference being September 2.

 

[Nikosandros]

There was a motion hearing yesterday, which notes the following:

This seems quite technical. What does that mean?

 

[QuentinGeorge]

True. And Gary's sons have no stake and no part in the Castle and are not involved with Gail on positive terms, besides. Gail holds Gary's entire Literary Estate and I hold mine; where we cross with the Castle is her sticking point; but yet there are many, many sticking points with her treatment of Gary's Literary Estate. There are many angles converging here that are not my own, as well, such as the contract between her and Producer Tom DeSanto, the latter who I have communicated with at length about the situation, the Castle, et al. As I stated up-thread, don't hold your breath on seeing the final true/updated rendition of the Castle in my life time. It's just the aggregated reality of the past attempts, all of which I have pursued since 1982 and that I could now write a truly gloomy novel-length story about.

I think there's still a connection to the Castle though. The Castle is the most valuable IP. Gail owns some, you own some, and Luke Gygax is the Gygax with the relationship with WoTC, which is the requirement for it to be released as "Greyhawk". I suspect there's an underlying WoTC shadow lurking on the edge...

 

[Alzrius]

This seems quite technical. What does that mean?

I'm no lawyer (and if someone else here is, please jump in to correct me), so take this with a grain of salt, but from what I can tell, it's outlining the following developments (leaving aside minor procedural issues such as when witness lists must be submitted, issues of attorney fees, etc.):

• Gail Gygax's lawyer filed a motion to compel (typically either testimony and/or documents) from Luke Gygax. After some wrangling, the court granted the motion. Luke now has to produce whatever it is that the motion outlines.
• There's a confusing back-and-forth about who's the personal representative (PR), i.e. the executor, of Gary's estate. The judge asks if Luke wants to be removed as the executor. Luke's attorney says that he does, in favor of some lawyers he'd rather handle it. Gail's lawyer objects, saying that Gary's will says she's the executor (and mentioning a lack of assets; I think with regard to Gail not being able to pay for a lawyer to be executor). The judge then asks if Luke is willing to pay the fee for a lawyer to act as the executor; Luke says he'll need to speak to his attorney about that. The judge then orders Luke to stay on as the executor, at which point Gail's lawyer says no executor was appointed to begin with. The judge then elects not to make any decision regarding appointing an executor. Luke's attorney then asks for a trial date to be reserved so an executor can be appointed. The judge briefly checks on when the trial date can be set, subsequently saying they want a neutral party appointed as executor.
• The new trial date is subsequently set.

 

[JohnRTroy]

This seems quite technical. What does that mean?

Basically, discovery is a process in the legal term that means each side asks questions and the other side must answer those questions. What happened is the motion to compel means that one side (Luke and his siblings) were not providing answers to the other side's questions in time. The judge granting a motion to compel means that the judge feels that the plaintiff was not being cooperative enough, as you normally don't have to force a compel motion.

When it comes to the executor, the court is trying to figure it out. It sounds like Luke's attorney is stepping down. One of the issues is on both Wills (see my quote from Luke Gygax above in the thread), Gail is executor in both Wills. While it's a bit hard to follow, I think the court now wants a neutral party to be involved to figure things out. Assets could mean what is listed on the Will itself, and "lack of assets" could be things like a house or major properties.

Honestly, when it comes to the IP--I don't even think this is about that. Based on what I've read online from various communications made on social media and elsewhere -- this is about money. I suspect if the Will is changed, Luke and his siblings will be allowed to get a percentage of anything Gail makes, which is likely relevant in two areas -- if Gail sells old collectables they could get some of that money, or maybe they want some of the money from the DeSanto agreement or anything if DeSanto is successful in doing something with the property. I highly doubt control of the actual IP will change at all.

 

[Maxperson]

Honestly, when it comes to the IP--I don't even think this is about that. Based on what I've read online from various communications made on social media and elsewhere -- this is about money. I suspect if the Will is changed, Luke and his siblings will be allowed to get a percentage of anything Gail makes, which is likely relevant in two areas -- if Gail sells old collectables they could get some of that money, or maybe they want some of the money from the DeSanto agreement or anything if DeSanto is successful in doing something with the property. I highly doubt control of the actual IP will change at all.

According to Luke, Gail knew about this will and never filed it. The kids only found out about it recently. If that is true, the kids could also be entitled to a portion of money that she made from the time Gary died until this is issue resolved.