Chapter 6 - The Trust Amendment
Naomi took the scanned amendment to a legal-aid office downtown. The attorney who met with her, Marisol Grant, did not promise to solve the case. She asked careful questions, made copies, and explained that a signature alone could not prove whether a document had been signed willingly.
“If Evelyn is being pressured or medicated without proper consent, that matters,” Marisol said. “But we need independent evidence. Don’t trespass again, don’t confront Celeste alone, and don’t alter anything you have.”
Naomi nodded. She had already risked too much to let anger make her careless.
Marisol searched public business records. Celeste had been appointed to a nonprofit board two years earlier, then resigned after an internal audit. The organization had never accused her of a crime, but its records showed a dispute over missing grant money. One company named in the audit was Vale Medical Consulting.
They found that Vale Medical Consulting had received regular payments from a subsidiary of the Vale family trust. The descriptions were vague: wellness services, care coordination, special assessment. The payments increased sharply after Evelyn began taking the new medication.
Naomi’s stomach tightened. “She’s paying the doctor who says she’s too confused to manage her own money.”
“Possibly. But we need records from the trust and medical consent forms.”
Marisol prepared a letter requesting that the trust administrator preserve all documents related to Evelyn’s capacity assessment and the proposed amendment. She also advised Naomi to report the medication concern to the appropriate medical licensing authority.
“Of course,” he said. “I’ll be there.”
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He hung up and looked at Naomi.
“My mother has been taken to a private clinic for observation. Celeste says she had another episode.”
