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

[darjr]

On Facebook, Luke wrote that the new will "was ruled as valid" (his words).

He’s said about the rights to his name “We have that again”

 

[Maxperson]

Luke posted this, "this auction is approved by the estate rep and the judge. So no it is for the estate which Gail doesn’t represent at this point. It’s complicated but essentially after a long court battle the Will my dad left that was hidden and not discovered until 2019 was ruled as valid. The estate is being probated and expenses need to be paid. Hence this auction."

 

[JohnRTroy]

• Luke is claiming he got the right to use the Gygax name in commerce.

I don't doubt that Luke believes he's got the right to use the name in commerce; I do have minor doubts about him being correct. Hence claiming. And I hope he's right.

I think to also be clear, this statement is vague.

• He already had rights to use his own name. Gail never concerned herself with his recent product, or Ernie's as well. It was using the surname by itself and attempting to trademark it.
• If he made this statement, perhaps he believes Gail won't challenge him. Both parties are going to be stuck with legal fees and I doubt they want to make more challenges.
• This is about use of the Trademarks, which is its own thing and not really part of the probate.

This is also a very separate issue from the Intellectual Property. While a Trademark might be part of that, that was established after Gary's death, the IP is a much more complex issue and I really doubt that has been finalized by probate yet. It also depends on what the will says -- but I sincerely doubt Luke was the primary successor and going to take over on Gary's death -- it makes logical sense that it would have gone to his wife first unless she had died.

 

[aramis erak]

I think to also be clear, this statement is vague.

• He already had rights to use his own name. Gail never concerned herself with his recent product, or Ernie's as well. It was using the surname by itself and attempting to trademark it.
• If he made this statement, perhaps he believes Gail won't challenge him. Both parties are going to be stuck with legal fees and I doubt they want to make more challenges.
• This is about use of the Trademarks, which is its own thing and not really part of the probate.

This is also a very separate issue from the Intellectual Property. While a Trademark might be part of that, that was established after Gary's death, the IP is a much more complex issue and I really doubt that has been finalized by probate yet. It also depends on what the will says -- but I sincerely doubt Luke was the primary successor and going to take over on Gary's death -- it makes logical sense that it would have gone to his wife first unless she had died.

He couldn't use it in commerce in the gaming industry for a product trademark. Specifically, Gygax Magazine.
Gail was proactive (as is required by Trademark law), and Trademarks and Copyrights, while distinct things, are explicitly things that are part of an estate and get handled by probate courts.

Trademark cannot make someone not use their name as an identifier of person, but it sure can (and has, many times) required not using one's name in one's trademark or service mark.

The one coming most to mind (due to a video I watched 12 hours ago), Racine watches vs Enicar watches. The ownership of both in the mid 20th C, by folks related to each other, all with the surname Racine. Turning the order around to avoid the confusion of marks is a nifty dodge...

 

[Nikosandros]

If the IP stays with Gail, as seems to be the case, I wonder if she'll start doing something with it after the estate has been finally settled.

 

[Alzrius]

Wills are public documents and anyone here can pull it to see the contents if you go through the steps that the court where the will was filed sets forth.

This is a salient point, and being reminded of that inspired me to go through the process, which as it turned out was incredibly easy and only required a nominal fee. The result being that I now have copies of the two wills that Gary wrote (one from March 28th, 1990, and the other from July 11th, 2006; both were filed as of May 5th, 2020, as outlined in the court docket for this case).

While the court clerk that I spoke to confirmed that both wills are in the public record, I'm not sure if that means that I'm allowed to repost them online. That said, I'm fairly confident that I'm allowed to speak with regard to their contents, so I'll add that the 1990 will is much more generous to Gail than the 2006 will is (though she's still favored in that one as well).

Most notably, the 2006 will specifically cites that – notwithstanding several items Gary set aside for his children – Gail gets the rest of his estate, "save for" Gary's intellectual property, "as well as interest" in his name and any pen names or anagrams of his name (he specifically calls out "Yrag" and "Zagyg/Zagig" as examples of this), which Gary bequeaths to Gail for "her use and enjoyment" during her lifetime, after which his IP is to be evenly divided among his six children.

All of this is broadly in line with what was reported on by Kotaku several years ago, though I'll say that this will certainly looks like it's signed correctly to me (the only potential irregularity I can see is that, where he should have written the month and day, Gary only wrote the day, so it says he signed it on the "11th" of 2006; the witness signatures, which look to be Gail Gygax and Alex Gygax (Gail's son with Gary), both have the listed date as being 7/11/2006).

 

[Maxperson]

This is a salient point, and being reminded of that inspired me to go through the process, which as it turned out was incredibly easy and only required a nominal fee. The result being that I now have copies of the two wills that Gary wrote (one from March 28th, 1990, and the other from July 11th, 2006; both were filed as of May 5th, 2020, as outlined in the court docket for this case).

While the court clerk that I spoke to confirmed that both wills are in the public record, I'm not sure if that means that I'm allowed to repost them online. That said, I'm fairly confident that I'm allowed to speak with regard to their contents, so I'll add that the 1990 will is much more generous to Gail than the 2006 will is (though she's still favored in that one as well).

Most notably, the 2006 will specifically cites that – notwithstanding several items Gary set aside for his children – Gail gets the rest of his estate, "save for" Gary's intellectual property, "as well as interest" in his name and any pen names or anagrams of his name (he specifically calls out "Yrag" and "Zagyg/Zagig" as examples of this), which Gary bequeaths to Gail for "her use and enjoyment" during her lifetime, after which his IP is to be evenly divided among his six children.

All of this is broadly in line with what was reported on by Kotaku several years ago, though I'll say that this will certainly looks like it's signed correctly to me (the only potential irregularity I can see is that, where he should have written the month and day, Gary only wrote the day, so it says he signed it on the "11th" of 2006; the witness signatures, which look to be Gail Gygax and Alex Gygax (Gail's son with Gary), both have the listed date as being 7/11/2006).

I don't think there's a legal issue with posting it, though it might be a bit of an invasion from a personal viewpoint. I found this site that has wills from famous people on it. I'd be interested in seeing it privately if you're okay with that. If not, then no worries!

Famous Wills — Do Your Own Will - Free On-line Will

Famous Wills

www.doyourownwill.com

 

[Guest 7042500]

An elephant is warm and mushy.

 

[Maxperson]

An elephant is warm and mushy.

So are humans after they get in the way of one.

 

[aramis erak]

All of this is broadly in line with what was reported on by Kotaku several years ago, though I'll say that this will certainly looks like it's signed correctly to me (the only potential irregularity I can see is that, where he should have written the month and day, Gary only wrote the day, so it says he signed it on the "11th" of 2006; the witness signatures, which look to be Gail Gygax and Alex Gygax (Gail's son with Gary), both have the listed date as being 7/11/2006).

That Gail is a witness on the 2006 really opens her up to serious legal issues. She apparently knew she was using the wrong will... She had to submit, under oath, that the will she was submitting was the most recent to her knowledge. That she was witness to the later one is just about a slam dunk for a perjury charge.

That makes the shortness of the proceedings really understandable.