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

[Alzrius]

A minor update: on January 5th, attorney Stephen Koch, who has been assigned as the personal representative (i.e. executor) of Gary's estate, filed a motion for sanctions for failure to comply with his request for discovery, filed back in late November.

While there's no indication of who this motion was filed against, my guess (and I want to stress that this is just a guess) is that it's against Gail, as she was person in charge of Gary's estate before the court appointed attorney Koch to handle it.

 

[Alzrius]

A few small updates:

On January 19th, a "Notice of Motion and Motion for Protective Order and Response to Personal Representative's Motion for Sanctions" was filed with the court, along with brief in support of that motion by Gail Gygax, and an affidavit in support of it from her attorney, Theodore Johnson. This seems to confirm that the motion for sanctions filed by Stephen Koch, currently acting as the personal representative (i.e. executor) of Gary's estate, was made against Gail.

On January 25th, Luke Gygax registered a new address with the court.

On January 26th, a motion hearing was held by the various attorneys for the parties involved (Koch was also present):

Parties have reached an agreement.
Attorney Johnson will provide information to Attorney Koch regarding largest item sold. Other issues will be held in abeyance. Mediation date has been scheduled.
Future court dates remain as scheduled.

Presuming I'm reading this right, it seems to suggest that Koch's motion was with regard to Gail having sold some portion of Gary's estate (when is unclear), and his wanting to ascertain what was sold and for how much. Presumably, with the agreement that information about the largest item sold will be turned over to Koch, that resolves his motion.

 

[Alzrius]

As a very minor note, both parties are now preparing for the trial, now less than a month away:

• On February 24th, the respondent (i.e. Gail) submitted a witness list for the trial. The petitioner (i.e. Luke) submitted their own on March 1st.
• On March 22nd, both the petitioner and the respondent submitted trial briefs. Luke's attorney, Jennifer Gorn, also submitted an exhibit list.
• On March 23rd, the personal representative (i.e. executor) for Gary's estate (that is, Stephen Koch), submitted a report to the court. Presumably this was with regard to the contents of the estate itself.

Currently, the pre-trial conference remains scheduled for April 5th, with the trial itself set for April 19th through 21st.

 

[the Jester]

Thanks for the updates. You're a good cat.

 

[Maxperson]

You're a good cat.

Is there such a thing?

 

[Warpiglet-7]

Is there such a thing?

Yes

 

[the Jester]

Is there such a thing?

Hey now!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Three years of throat clearing and preparation to actually discussing anything meaningful is sadly pretty common, in my experience.

I hope this can be resolved by D&D's 75th anniversary.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

Three years of throat clearing and preparation to actually discussing anything meaningful is sadly pretty common, in my experience.

It may have been even longer than that since the last news in the dispute between the Dille Family Trust and the Nolan Family Trust (which, if we are very lucky, could end with the Dilles losing control over Buck Rogers).

 

[Alzrius]

We're now at two weeks from the proposed trial date, and things are gearing up for that. Interestingly, on April 4th, one day before the pre-trail conference, Joseph Kromholz (one of Luke's attorneys) filed to withdraw from the case. There was no reason listed, and the motion was accepted by the court the next day.

This was one of several motions put before the court in the days leading up to April 5th. Jennifer Gorn (Luke's other attorney) submitted a motion, and an affidavit in support of that motion, on March 31st, along with an exhibit in support of it on April 3rd; while no details were given, my guess (and I want to stress that this is just a guess) would be that it was to allow video testimony of a witness (as discussed below). Steven Koch, who has been the court-appointed personal representative (i.e. executor) for Gary's estate, also submitted a letter to the court on April 4th, with no details as to its contents given.

Then we come to yesterday's conference itself:

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

Parties are confirming for trial
Video testimony request by Atty Gorn, response by Atty Johnson, he does not object to video testimony as a fact witness. No objection by Atty Koch
Court grants Atty Gorn's request, Clerk to set up zoom & send information to Atty Gorn.

Record by Atty Johnson as to matters to be tried, response by Atty Gorn
All witnesses are available
Court orders exclusion of all witnesses subject to parties involved.
Atty Gorn to pre-mark exhibits

Nothing further from the parties

While I imagine that there's more for the lawyers to do in the next two weeks, this sets the stage for the trial starting on the 19th.