Chapter 19 - WHAT EDWIN PAID HIMSELF
The $6,300 became clearer.
Three categories.
$1,800 labeled:
Administrative reconciliation.
No actual expense.
$2,400:
Family support recapture.
No trust basis.
$2,100:
Therapy contribution repayment.
Edwin argued this offset premiums he paid? No record.
The accountant concluded:
Unsupported personal receipt.
Then separate legitimate $2,100 payments from me corresponded to hotel, gas and meal advances during Nora’s treatment.
No issue.
That distinction mattered.
Edwin had started with real reimbursements.
Then expanded the practice.
Maybe he convinced himself.
The first unsupported payment happened after he paid a $600 school fee before Northstar reimbursement.
He later received reimbursement from trust.
Then I also paid him $600.
Double reimbursement.
Did he notice?
Bank records showed yes? Need evidence.
Email:
ME:
Did Northstar already repay you for field trip?
EDWIN:
That reimbursement goes back into family pool. Keep your payment scheduled.
False.
He knew.
Then why?
He said in deposition:
“I thought my reimbursement should stay with me because I had advanced the cash, and Shepherd’s payment represented his responsibility.”
That is double collection by design.
Then trust counsel asked:
“Where did Shepherd’s payment go into family pool?”
“It didn’t.”
There.
No defense.
Then bigger moral issue:
He did not steal from trust directly.
He misled me into paying him personally.
Potential civil fraud/unjust enrichment.
Could prosecutor charge?
Maybe small-dollar fraud.
Authorities reviewed.
Likely civil handling given restitution and broader fiduciary case.
No need melodramatic felony.
Then Northstar considered surcharge.
As co-trustee/adviser, if Edwin breached fiduciary duty causing audit/legal expense, court could allocate some cost to him.
Audit cost:
$38,000.
Northstar already paid.
Would they seek half?
Maybe.
Edwin objected.
Final hearing.
Then his own estate remained separate.
He sent formal notice through counsel:
“I reserve the right to revise my estate plan.”
Naomi laughed.
“He can.”
I nodded.
Did it scare me?
Yes.
I had expected some inheritance.
Maybe not huge relative to trust, but meaningful.
House.
Rental business interests.
Lake cabin.
If Edwin disinherited me personally, I could lose future value.
He knew.
This time the threat was real.
Not Miriam’s trust.
His estate.
I sat with that.
Then told Naomi:
“Do not ask him to promise anything.”
Good.
We could not demand emotional independence while bargaining over future inheritance.
If he cut me off, he cut me off.
I would grieve.
Calloway would still be my son.
Therapy would still happen.
May you like
Dinner would still be on plates.
That needed to be enough.
