Peter sat quietly for a long time.
Then:
“I thought you were his unfinished business.”
“So did I.”
He looked at me.
“What were you?”
I thought about it.
“An unanswered question.”
Anne looked toward the porch swing.
“And he answered it?”
“Yes.”
“What was the answer?”
I smiled.
“That we were two very old idiots.”
She laughed.
Peter did too.
The estate did not become completely peaceful.
Life rarely gives you that kind of ending.
Their younger brother, David, challenged one small provision concerning the Bellweather land because he believed Walter lacked capacity when the trust amendment was made.
The documents showed otherwise.
Walter had undergone an independent capacity evaluation months before contacting me.
He had separate estate counsel.
I had never participated in the land purchase or trust planning.
After several months and a mediation session, David withdrew the challenge.
No courtroom humiliation.
No dramatic disinheritance.
No secret clause punishing anyone for questioning the will.
