Difficulties have arisen within a family trust due to the undependable behavior of an elder daughter and the subsequent estrangement. The situation has escalated due to the recent health problems of the family’s 96-year-old matriarch, necessitating a caregiver and sparking financial and emotional struggles that reveal vulnerabilities in familial relationships.
The elder daughter, Jennifer, abandoned her trustee duties and familial ties by moving 2,000 miles away to the West Coast. This move followed an incident involving attempted theft of her mother’s jewelry, leading to additional suspicious financial activities. Despite these actions, emotional ties to Jennifer remained within the family, signaling Jennifer’s considerable fall from grace as a once loving and caring sister.
Further adding to the difficulties, Jennifer showed a pattern of neglecting her maternal duties. She exploited her mother’s property for personal storage, trashing her mother’s personal items, and persistently avoided assisting with domestic chores and medical visits.
In response to Jennifer’s behavior, her mother resolved to appoint the younger daughter as the trustee of her estate.
Managing familial discord amid estate issues
The mother, however, withheld this news from Jennifer, fearing it might prompt Jennifer to fully withdraw from the familial circle.
Four years post trustee amendment, Jennifer remains oblivious to the situation. The new trustee, the younger daughter, finds herself in a predicament whether to disclose the new arrangements to her sister or to respect their mother’s desire for patience. The dominant apprehension halting her is the potential of instigating a familial confrontation.
However, the recommendation is to respect the mother’s wishes by not revealing her new status to Jennifer, thereby avoiding potential family discord. The younger daughter should continue to discreetly handle the trust and follow the wishes of her mother. She should seek to placate any of Jennifer’s possible anxieties by assuring her of fair management and mutual benefit, aiming for an amelioration in family dynamics.
