Chapter 12 - MOM’S MONEY
Our mother, Evelyn Mercer, died twelve years earlier.
Cancer.
Quiet.
Nothing like Dad’s long public illness.
She had been a pediatric surgeon.
She earned well.
Invested quietly.
After her death, Dad rarely discussed her money.
I assumed it merged into household assets.
It did not.
Mom created the Evelyn Mercer Family Trust.
Purpose:
Education.
Medical emergencies.
Support for descendants.
She named Dad trustee.
Elena and Julian beneficiaries.
Dad was not beneficial owner.
Account 7712 had served as operating cash account for the trust.
That changed the legal picture.
Julian had not simply taken Dad’s money.
He had diverted trust funds partly belonging to both of us and future beneficiaries.
I looked at him.
“You were stealing from Mom’s trust.”
He stared.
“I didn’t know.”
Samuel nodded.
“That may be true.”
“Dad never told me.”
“The account title on online banking displayed Arthur Mercer Trustee.”
“I thought it was his.”
Possible.
But the limited power of attorney still did not authorize transfers.
Ignorance of ownership did not authorize taking.
Then Dad’s letter continued.
I kept Evelyn’s trust separate because she feared one of our children might someday need protection from the other.
That hurt.
Did Mom anticipate Julian?
Maybe not.
Dad wrote:
She did not name you, Julian. Do not let him turn this into another accusation. She wrote the trust when you were both teenagers.
Again, Dad prevented dramatic interpretation before it started.
Mom wanted protection.
Not prophecy.
Then current value of trust before withdrawals:
Nine million dollars.
Account 7712 was only liquid portion.
The rest:
Investments.
Municipal bonds.
Medical property partnership.
Dad had moved most assets into institutional custody after discovering theft.
Protected.
Julian had not emptied nine million.
He emptied visible cash.
Two million.
Still serious.
Then Dad added:
There is a second reason I did not report Julian immediately.
I looked at Samuel.
He did not know?
His expression said no.
Dad:
Evelyn left each child a separate emergency subtrust. Elena’s remains intact. Julian’s does not.
Julian whispered:
“What?”
His subtrust should have held approximately three million dollars.
Current value:
Four hundred twelve thousand.
Where did the rest go?
Not recent theft.
Withdrawals began eight years earlier.
After Mom died.
Authorized by Dad?
Some.
Tuition support.
House down payment.
Medical costs? No.
Then large distributions.
Investment rescue.
Business loans.
Debt payments.
Dad had repeatedly advanced Julian money from his own subtrust.
Legally permitted within broad support standard if trustee approved.
Dad approved.
Why?
Because Julian asked.
The total:
Two million, three hundred thousand dollars.
Julian had already consumed most of his maternal trust before touching shared Account 7712.
He had spent his inheritance in pieces.
That explained his obsession with Dad’s safe.
He needed another fortune because the first one was already gone.
He looked physically ill.
“I didn’t know it was Mom’s.”
Samuel said:
“You signed distribution receipts.”
Julian shook his head.
“They said family support.”
“Correct.”
“Dad never said the balance.”
“Did you ask?”
No answer.
Dad may have protected him too much.
By hiding how much he was consuming, he let Julian believe the well was infinite.
Then my own subtrust.
I had taken almost nothing.
Not because I was morally superior.
I earned enough.
My balance had grown.
Now worth five million.
Julian stared.
“You have five million from Mom?”
“Apparently.”
His expression changed before he could hide it.
Calculation.
Even now.
That hurt more than anger.
Samuel noticed.
Dad had anticipated.
The trust terms prohibited one sibling from controlling the other’s subtrust.
My money remained mine.
Then a new document.
Mom’s trust had one asset nobody knew about.
A twenty five percent interest in Mercer Medical Properties.
A partnership holding three outpatient buildings.
Current estimated value:
Eighteen million.
Trust share:
Four and a half million.
Dad had not included it in family summaries because valuations were pending.
Julian whispered:
“So there is more.”
Samuel looked at him.
“That is what you heard?”
Julian closed his eyes.
He knew how it sounded.
Then Dad’s letter:
Before either child receives control of Evelyn’s remaining trust, reconcile the account labeled MED 4.
Samuel frowned.
“I don’t know that account.”
Bank investigators searched.
MED 4 appeared in old trust statements.
It should contain proceeds from sale of one medical building five years earlier.
Sale share:
Three million, six hundred thousand dollars.
Current trust records showed only one million.
Two point six million missing.
Withdrawal authorization:
Arthur Mercer.
Dad’s signature.
This was before Julian’s recent schemes.
Before Blue Meridian.
Before Northstar fraud became large.
Where did money go?
Recipient:
Price Fiduciary Services.
Every person in the bank room turned toward Samuel Price.
May you like
He went completely still.
Continue to the next part: An older trust statement shows millions from Evelyn’s trust were transferred years earlier to an account carrying attorney Samuel Price’s name.
