Then, after the inheritance had been depleted, Vivian began asking Harper for monthly assistance with the same mortgage that had already benefited from Harper’s stolen share.
The cruelty of it was almost elegant.
Vivian had taken Harper’s money, hidden the theft, and then convinced Harper that refusing additional support would make
her selfish.
At the hearing, Vivian wore navy blue and carried a handkerchief.
She looked less like the woman who had pounded on Harper’s door and more like a wounded parent forced into court by an ungrateful child.
Her attorney argued that Vivian had made imperfect decisions under pressure but had always acted for the family’s welfare.
Mara stood and placed the bank records before the judge.
“A trustee’s duty is not to the family as an abstract idea,” she said.
“It is to the named beneficiary.
Ms.
Collins treated one daughter’s inheritance as a household resource while requiring that same daughter to subsidize the household from her wages.”
