Bleak House Redux

    Everyone thought Eleanor Ellingsworth would live forever. As a grand matriarch of incredible wealth, she led an eccentrically glamorous life filled with Texas oil, natural gas rights, diversified millions, and philanthropic endowments. Nothing she did was small. Even the slightest financial gesture elicited publicity and praise from her grateful minions. Beloved for her patronage, just about everyone in the city, county, and state had profited from Mrs. Ellinsworth’s largesse. Senescence granted Eleanor the wits to conduct her affairs well into her nineties. Not all, however, had an appreciation for her life well lived. Eleanor’s Bleak House relatives had waited impatiently for the date of their legacy lottery to arrive. When her date with destiny finally did arrive, her only son, Edward, feigned the requisite tears while his grieving sisters planned the dolorous event of the season. 

    Grass do not grow fast under her Edward’s feet. The day after his mother’s demise, he backed his truck into her ornamental manor house. Plundering her prized effects was his entitled right under the archaic delusions of being the only male heir. Edward’s egregious behavior was neither shocking nor unexpected to those who knew his history with his mother. After all, Eleanor spent years rescuing him from his bad business acumen, wanton spending, and insatiable drive for recognition only money could buy. Millions had been lost in his pursuit of power, pride, and possessions. From the outside, it appeared as though his mother could not refuse him. Many thought Eleanor was too lenient or too complacent to grasp his avaricious proclivities. So, addled by the tantalizing prospect of pilfering the best of her heirlooms, he dove into her treasure trove without guilt or fear. This while her body was being prepared for burial. 

    His sisters, Elaine and Edith were not so duplicitous. Their mother’s millions did not corrupt their aspirations to be educated and financially independent. Forays into art and interior design supplemented their already comfortable coffers. Since both sisters married well, they took pride in sustaining their families without taxing their mother’s generosity.  Never having to want, however, did not necessarily make them indignant doormats. They tolerated their mother’s financial solecism, reasoning one day their brother and his family’s many promissory notes would come due. Now that mother was no longer in the picture, they dreaded how they were going to deal with their brother’s unrequited rapaciousness. The disdain they felt at the pillaging of their mother’s estate pre-burial left them contemptuous and resolute. Hell hath no fury when it comes to inheritance, money, and family.

    Eleanor’s funeral was surprisingly modest. The crowded Christian church was inundated with perfunctory mourners. Homage to her majesty, the matron of money, was exceeded only by expectations of a gilded postmortem behest. To be seen at this memorial with appropriate condolences could make or break an impecunious non-profit or floundering charity. The family exhibited the appropriate affect greeting the throngs of mourners.

    The trust was two months in the making, requiring several attorneys, accountants, and trust officers. The deceased dowager was not as non-compos mentis as most had thought. Unbelievably, Eleanor’s advanced age remained remarkably unaffected by time, disease, or fragility. Her trust was completed well before she became debilitated by a stroke which led to her death. On the surface, the content of the trust seemed comprehensive, naming Edward, Edith, and a trust officer to oversee its execution.

    Though the sisters were still reeling over their brother’s marauding of their mother’s home, they suppressed their outrage to focus on the divestment at hand. “Why squabble over trinkets when millions are at stake”, they reasoned. First on the disbursement list was Eleanor’s jewelry, overseen by the trust officer. All were surprised by the mother’s concise listing of her precious baubles. There were white diamond tiaras, canary diamond necklaces, lustrous pearls, and gemstones of incomparable worth. Eleanor was exacting in how her lavish collection should be divided. One item, a glistening gold bracelet with many encrusted jewels had escaped the dedicated manifest. Puzzled as to how such an error of omission could have occurred, the heir to this bracelet would have to be negotiated. It didn’t matter. Almost immediately, a squabble between Edith and Edward ensued. A fierce rivalry erupted, escalating Edward’s covetous grasping. Elaine excused herself from the fray. Her erudite artistic sense appraised the bracelet as too garish for her refined taste. As the dispute over the bracelet became frenetic, Edward offered Edith a literal carat to loosen her grip. His quid pro quo: the bracelet for a nine carat canary diamond necklace (valued around $234,000) Eleanor had earmarked for he for his wife. The deal was struck, approved by the trust officer, and the gaudy trinket was bestowed to Edward. In a karmic twist of irony, Edward’s jeweler appraised his cherished bauble as worthless.

    When details of the trust were finally divulged, old Eleanor pulled out one last technical knockout. A provision included that any family member who had borrowed money and never repaid her would have this amount deducted from their share of the estate. For years crafty Eleanor kept all those promissory notes with the trust officer. Additionally, if any of the heirs fought the estate, they would be automatically excluded from any inheritance. Her daughters had not borrowed money without repaying their debts, so they remained unaffected. Edward, on the other hand, had borrowed millions. The trust officer estimated his grand multi-million inheritance to be worth slightly under $500,000.

    His dropped jaw was not suspended for long. Immediately a cadre of attorneys were assembled for the lengthy skirmish ahead. Court battle after court battled ensued. The attorneys, acting as professional codependents, were thrilled at the accumulation of the legal costs which unintentionally made them the true heirs of Eleanor’s estate. As of this date, the combat continues.