all in the family
The last time I posted anything here was on the 10th of November. The reason is that for the last few weeks I have been running a trial in the Supreme Court of our state and haven’t had time to do anything, let alone blog.
I am not a family lawyer, but as part of a side effect of my work, I occasionally get to witness the break-down of families. This case concerned a wealthy aunt who had given some assistance to a long term unemployed relative, advancing monies to buy properties, teaching her the business of property development and so on. In the end the relationship was in tatters and the aunt was $300K in the hole with none of it to be paid back.
That family will never be the same. One of them (fortunately not my client) was effectively branded a liar and a conniver by a judge of the Supreme Court. One family member broke down in tears when the verdict was read. Another mouthed death threats to my client.
Unfortunately, fights between family and friends over money are ugly. Often valuable commercial deals are entered into with little documentation, little consideration and a lot of trust. When the trust evaporates, it often comes down to a verbal argument conducted in the witness box under oath.
In the middle of my preparation for this trial, I spent a day in a mediation trying to settle another dispute between family members, this time over their father’s will. An estranged son was disputing the amount that had been left to him, and seeking more. The other two beneficiaries, the deceased’s daughters, were trying to protect their inheritance from the brother, whose net worth was more than both or theirs combined. I don’t foresee any joint christmas celebrations in that family.
Most of the time, the catalyst is money, but the fight is really about something else - recognition, love, respect, gratefulness. The problem is that all that any litigation can deliver is money. It won’t deliver recognition, love, respect or gratefulness.
And the really scary thing? We are just thinking about entering into a major property transaction with other members of our family.
November 26th, 2003 at 2:05 pm
In this case I think it was all about the money. If there was a semblance of recognition, love, respect, gratefulness then it could have been sorted out without sharing a great chunk of it with laywers, (with the greatest respect to your kind self of course)
November 26th, 2003 at 2:08 pm
Maybe, but normally I seem to see people equating success in the court as somehow vindicating old hurts and arguments. Some people, at least in part, see this sort of procedure as an option to “earn” respect, honour, recognition - as if a court’s judgment will make any difference.