Patricia had agreed to facilitate the meeting as the estate administrator, which gave it a structure and a purpose. She sat at the head of the table. Daniel brought a folder of his own — I noticed it and noted it without comment. I brought the full accordion file.
We spent almost three hours in that conference room.
Daniel started by saying he had “recalibrated his position” on the invoice, which was the most Daniel-shaped way possible to say he was backing down from it. He did not say he’d been wrong. He said the amount might not “reflect the full picture of the arrangement.” Patricia noted for the record that the invoice had no basis in any existing contract or agreement and that it would not be treated as an estate obligation.
I acknowledged Daniel’s contributions. I walked through the timeline and identified the years and amounts he’d sent. I made sure it was in the record.
He acknowledged the transfers from Mom. He said they had been loans, which he said Mom had always called loans, which meant there was no documentation of their being loans. Patricia noted that absent documentation, they would be treated as gifts. He looked like he wanted to argue about this and didn’t.
The roof advance was the most significant item. I presented the invoices, the check copies, and Ruth’s handwritten note. Daniel read the note again, more carefully than he had in the coffee shop. He was quiet for a minute.
“She wrote this herself,” he said.