Chapter 10 - The House He Couldn’t Sell
My Asheville house was not in Henry’s trust.
It was mine.
Deed:
Margaret Collins.
No mortgage.
Bought by Henry and me thirty four years earlier.
After his death, title passed entirely to me.
Derek had no ownership.
Allison none.
Northbridge none.
The unsigned listing agreement meant nothing legally.
Still, its existence told a story.
Realtor:
Piedmont Legacy Realty.
Proposed list price:
$865,000.
Seller:
Margaret Collins, by attorney-in-fact.
Attorney-in-fact:
Blank.
Someone planned to fill.
No power existed.
Then warehouse documents.
Copies of:
My deed.
Tax bill.
Home insurance.
Utility statements.
Hospital discharge.
Medication list.
Photos of interior from before pneumonia.
How did Derek get interior photos?
Allison said:
He took them during Christmas visit.
Maybe innocently at time.
Then a draft durable power of attorney.
Principal:
Margaret Collins.
Agent:
Allison Collins.
Successor:
Derek Collins.
I had never seen.
Unsigned.
No effect.
Then notes:
Need physician certification if existing Northbridge POA activated. Easier new POA if M signs during recovery.
He never got signature.
Good.
Then:
Asheville sale proceeds approx 800 net. Could fund care reserve outside trust restrictions.
Whose care?
Mine supposedly.
Then beneath:
A/C household stabilization 250.
Allison/Colin?
Two hundred fifty thousand.
There.
He had planned to divert part of hypothetical sale proceeds to “household stabilization.”
No completed theft.
No transfer.
No sale.
Drafts.
Intent evidence maybe.
Not loss.
Then mail.
Northbridge's first age seventy preview letter.
Opened.
In warehouse.
My name.
My address.
It had disappeared from my mailbox.
Did Derek personally take?
No direct evidence.
Allison said he visited house while I was hospitalized and said he collected mail.
If he took a letter addressed to me, potential mail theft.
Federal investigators included.
Then commercial lease.
How had CSD obtained trust-owned warehouse?
Blue Ridge property manager treated Derek as approved family-related vendor based prior condo relationship.
Another conflict failure.
Lease market rate.
No financial loss.
But access created proximity to my home.
Northbridge immediately terminated at expiration/under lease breach if permitted.
Investigators secured evidence.
Then I stood in my garden.
Roses overgrown.
Neighbor Mrs. Hollis came with soup.
“You’re finally back.”
“Yes.”
“Your son-in-law came by twice while you were in hospital.”
I looked.
“Twice?”
“Once with a man in a suit.”
“Did they enter?”
“Second time, yes. Had a key.”
My emergency key.
Allison had one.
Derek could access.
Not burglary if authority ambiguous? I had not authorized him, but key given to Allison. We let investigators decide.
“What did man do?”
“Walked around taking pictures.”
Realtor?
She identified him later:
Miles Gentry? No, attorney? Better realtor associate Paul Tanner.
He had believed Derek was preparing estate planning.
He never listed.
No conspiracy.
Then I changed locks.
Perfectly lawful.
My house.
Then I checked documents.
Nothing obvious missing:
Jewelry.
Bank records.
Henry letters.
But home office file cabinet had been rearranged.
I had no inventory.
Then one missing object became obvious.
Henry’s original trust binder.
I had kept an old blue binder in bottom drawer.
Gone.
That explained Derek’s knowledge of age seventy governance.
He had not merely seen Allison’s beneficiary summary.
He had my full old trust copy.
Not current amendments.
Enough.
I called Allison.
“Did you give him my trust binder?”
“No.”
“Did you know he took it?”
“No.”
Then:
“Mom…”
“What?”
“At Christmas last year, he was in your office a long time.”
There.
No proof he took then.
But likely.
Then law enforcement searched his electronic files.
A scanned PDF of my trust binder had been created December 27.
Laptop metadata.
Christmas visit.
He had copied it.
Then Derek’s counsel made offer.
He would plead assault to a misdemeanor if prosecutors agreed not to use “elder abuse” language publicly.
Prosecutor refused to negotiate public vocabulary.
Case based facts.
Then Granite Peak fraud grand jury progressed.
Fake letter.
Fake email domain.
Fake Allison statement.
False trust protector verification.
Then CSD trust overbilling.
Potential charges.
Derek's world was narrowing.
Still, he filed a motion in Allison’s separation case claiming Unit 14B should be considered marital property because he had contributed “substantial sweat equity and improvements.”
Northbridge responded with:
Deed.
Occupancy agreement.
Paid invoices to Derek’s own company.
The judge looked at record and asked:
“Mr. Collins was paid by the owner to coordinate improvements, and now he claims the improvements gave him ownership in the owner’s property?”
His lawyer:
“That is not precisely our position.”
It was close.
The claim failed at preliminary stage.
But the occupancy termination still required process.
Then Derek voluntarily removed remaining belongings under supervision rather than fight eviction further.
Unit 14B became vacant.
Northbridge asked me:
“Reserve for your use?”
“No.”
“Permit Allison to return later?”
I looked at my daughter.
She shook her head.
“No.”
Then:
“Sell?”
“Yes.”
No sentimental revenge.
The trust listed Unit 14B at market.
And the day before the first showing, investigators found another hidden CSD account.
Balance:
$286,000.
The source was not the trust.
May you like
It was Granite Peak’s loan.
And half of it had been transferred to an account in Allison’s name without her knowledge.
