Lol, I think we all have!
As we are cleaning up Xmas debris, a few of us chatted about this case. Our convo’ quickly turned to WHY custody/control is so important to the Ws. It seems to us their eagerness to have custody of children is far beyond normal. It’s as if they don’t even care if the kids are related or not, just give us custody, at least partial custody. Totally abnormal. I have nothing against children but never felt entitled to DEMAND partial custody of someone’s child. (this did not happen but JW reportedly planned to demand partial custody of HR newborn)
So....as we scrubbed pots & pans, we all unanimously agreed: MONEY. Some of you might recall, a few of us discussed trusts & other financial instruments, recently.
FWF, IMO, is locked up in a trust. I believe I checked once & established this to be the case & I will check again, later. Any family attorney would be most remiss if this is not true.
A trust can be written how the grantor chooses. Maybe revocable during his lifetime only to become irrevocable at his passing.
I have a good friend in KY (one of three adult kids) that recently inherited a 5k acre working farm. Other than residing on it, raising cattle, horses or........., there’s really nothing they can do. There’s a bit of dissension amongst the three as 2 have children, one does not. The two with children feel most empowered to make decisions, the one with the most children (5), always getting his way. His siblings concur because one day the next generation will be the heirs. Seven children, total in the next generation. So, it’s likely when the time comes, the 5 will stick together & the other two will agree, when decisions are required. All 7 of the next generation are in college or working. None have any interest in agriculture. Too bad. It shall remain in the family forever. There’s no way it can be divided/sold, no heir can buy another out, etc. One day it will be a tenant farm.
I am probably wrong but under the opinion the 4 might possibly not understand this type of financial instrument and believe “the more the merrier”. Perhaps they’ve heard the word “trust” tossed around or even “the farm stays in the family forever” & think it includes their entire household. They may not even consider a trustee is in place that will oversee financial aspects of the farm & non-profits. If this is the case, I think it might have been fairly easy to seduce RN to forge custody papers. Considering the death of George “Bob” recently, it’s not far fetched to think a relative or two might feel one step closer to the “jackpot”.
MOO
ETA: what if FWF is in an irrevocable (upon Fred’s passing) skip-generation trust. An ever so popular instrument for the wealthy. They often feel they gave their kids a good life & want their grandkids to enjoy the same perks, but are not sure they can trust their kids to do so.
If they felt HR might be enriched thru S, MOTIVE, IMO.
