Chapter 14 - Claire’s resentment had a number
Claire’s finances were not collapsing.
Her motive was different.
She had tracked lifetime distributions.
I did not know.
A spreadsheet on her laptop listed:
Victor approximate family support.
Claire approximate family support.
Eli approximate family support.
Then:
“Expected inheritance differential.”
She had estimated future trust value at $9 million.
Assumed Victor would receive 45 percent.
Claire 45.
Eli 10 because “he doesn’t want it.”
No document said that.
She had created a moral allocation.
Why ten for Eli?
Because he declined monthly distributions.
In Claire’s mind:
If you reject family money, you lose the right to later equality.
She told Victor in a message:
Mom will leave Eli more because she feels sorry for him. We need the POA before she starts changing things.
Victor:
Trust doesn’t work like that.
Claire:
You don’t know what she can change.
Ironically, Claire understood more than Victor.
I did hold a limited power of appointment over part of the remainder.
Not the entire trust.
Could I favor Eli?
Within certain bounds, potentially.
Had I?
No.
At that time my estate plan remained broadly equal among descendants, with separate charitable allocations.
Claire’s fear was imagined.
May you like
Then her conduct made the fear relevant.
That was tragic.
