Chapter 24 - I DO NOT CALL EVERYTHING THEFT
The second day, Felicia testified.
She was devastating because she was boring.
Official trust assets:
Accounted for.
No large missing principal.
Edwin did not siphon hundreds of thousands.
Some distributions were correctly charged.
Some debatable.
Some wrong.
Then the unsupported personal repayments:
$6,300.
“Do you call that theft?”
She answered:
“I am an accountant. I call it unsupported personal receipt tied to representations inconsistent with trust records.”
Perfect.
Then source corrections.
My share increased $31,400.
Calloway’s minor account decreased $18,200 to reflect proper child-welfare payments.
Family reserve adjustments.
No one “won” money from correction.
Accounting became accurate.
Then Northstar executive.
They admitted oversight failures.
Would Edwin have been able to maintain misleading categories if Northstar had enforced direct beneficiary communication?
“Less likely.”
Would fake penalties have affected official assets?
“No.”
Could Edwin remove my vested share?
“No.”
Could he reduce some discretionary distributions?
“Yes.”
Could he terminate all trust rights because he disliked my parenting choices?
“No.”
Then Edwin’s lawyer asked:
“Did Northstar ever tell Shepherd directly that Edwin could not disinherit him?”
“No.”
There.
Institutional failure contributed.
Then:
“Did Northstar approve some disputed categories?”
“Yes.”
“So Edwin was not acting alone.”
“Correct.”
Good.
No scapegoat.
Then I testified again.
Naomi asked:
“Do you still believe Edwin stole Calloway’s therapy money?”
“No.”
“Did you once say that?”
“Yes.”
“Was it wrong?”
“Yes.”
“What do you allege now?”
I gave exact version.
Misrepresentation.
Improper private penalty ledger.
Unsupported personal repayments.
Misclassification.
Coercive use of trust authority.
Then:
“Do you seek Edwin’s removal because he was strict?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I need future trust decisions made from the document and evidence, not from whether he thinks needing help should hurt.”
Then:
“Would you accept him having no fiduciary authority but still being Calloway’s grandfather if safety improves?”
“Yes.”
That mattered.
I was not trying to remove Edwin from family.
Only from power.
Then the judge asked me directly:
“Mr. Mercer, if Edwin cuts you out of his personal estate tomorrow, does that affect your request?”
My stomach tightened.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because his estate is his. Miriam’s trust is not.”
May you like
That might have been the most expensive sentence I ever said.
But it was true.
