father’s company would remain fully under the trust’s control, his right to continue operating the business there subject to separate review by the trustee. The unauthorized transfers would be pursued for recovery through whatever legal channels applied. And Grandma would retain complete,
unrestricted control over her remaining assets, going forward, without any of the pressure or manipulation that had apparently been quietly building around her for the better part of a year.
My father stared down at the table for a long time after the trustee finished. Aunt Monica cried quietly beside her attorney.
Then my father asked the question that, more than anything else that day, changed the entire room.
“Mom, are you cutting us out forever?”
Grandma looked at him for a long moment. “I don’t know.”
He looked up, something like hope flickering across his face.
She continued, her voice measured. “That depends on what you do when you no longer expect money from me.”
