…a letter from your daughter, agreeing to be removed from your estate.”
My daughter, Claire, has lived in Australia for twelve years. We talk every Sunday. She had never mentioned any letter.
My attorney, Ms. Hart, sent me a copy. It was typed, with a signature at the bottom: “Claire Foster.” My daughter’s married name is Claire Bennett. She changed it eight years ago.
I called Claire that night, Australian time. She was furious. She’d never written any such letter. She had no idea her brother had been asking me to cut her out.
My son, Paul, and his wife, Vanessa, had planned to create an irrevocable trust in my name, leaving everything to them, and to use Claire’s “letter” to prove that the family agreed. Once signed, an irrevocable trust is very hard to undo. That was the point.
Claire flew home the following week. She, my son and I sat in Ms. Hart’s office. Paul admitted that Vanessa had written the letter. He said he’d known about it but convinced himself Claire wouldn’t care because she was “so far away.”
“I’m far away,” Claire said quietly. “I’m not gone.”
I didn’t change my will to cut anyone out. I left it exactly as it was, dividing everything equally between my two children. Ms. Hart filed a report about the forged letter.
Paul and Vanessa stopped inviting me to Sunday dinners after that. I suppose the investment wasn’t paying off.
But Claire calls every Sunday, as she always has. This Christmas, she flew me to Sydney. We had Christmas lunch on the beach. It was ninety degrees. It was the best “return” I’ve ever had.
