But a trust established by a woman with dementia, naming a beneficiary who can’t be conclusively identified, is not a valid legal instrument.”
“Your grandmother didn’t have dementia when she set it up,” I said.
“She was sixty-four.
The medical records from that year show no cognitive impairment.”
His expression didn’t change.
“Medical records can be interpreted in different ways.”
“So can motives,” I said.
“Your grandmother set up that trust because she knew what your father did.
What your family did.
She was trying to correct it.”
“My grandmother was a generous woman who was sometimes taken advantage of by people who recognized that generosity.”
“Is that what Eleanor was?
Someone who took advantage?”
He picked up his water glass.
“Eleanor was a woman who spent forty years nursing a grievance.
I’m sorry she suffered.
I genuinely am.
But suffering doesn’t create a legal entitlement.”
I looked at him across the table.
At the careful composure.
At the water glass he was holding slightly too tightly.
“She recorded everything,” I said.
“Every conversation she had about this trust.
Every letter.
Every phone call.” I watched his hand.
“Including the one your attorney made to the hospice administrator fourteen months ago.
Asking whether Eleanor had any visitors who might have a claim on her estate.”
The water glass went back to the table.
“That call was routine due diligence,” he said.
“It was made four days after Eleanor’s volunteer application — with my birthday on it — was accessed from the hospice’s administrative system.” I kept my voice level.
“Someone told you she had found me.
And you started preparing.”
He was quiet for three full seconds.
“You should talk to your lawyer,” he said finally.
“Not to me.”
“I am talking to you.” I leaned forward slightly.
“I’m talking to you because I want you to understand something before this goes any further.
Eleanor spent forty years looking for me.
She found me.
She spent two years sitting across from me twice a week, knowing who I was, choosing to let me know her as a person before any of this.” I held his gaze.
