It's Always Something - Part Two (Fuck Me)

My uncle called this past Tuesday and told me that the lease for drilling rights we signed back in 2011 was done, and the company wants to execute another lease. He asked me to contact the lawyer representing the company’s interests because he might not know that the oldest sister died and might need information from me.

I called him and, as lawyers go, he does a better job at pretending to be a real, caring human than most. He’d already found out about the death (“so sorry for your loss”) and did need help contacting her surviving husband and children. I gave him what information I could and also assured him I’d get the information to my brother-in-law so that he could call him.

Without having thought about it prior, I suddenly asked him if he knew about L. I explained her relationship to us and told him that we didn't do anything about it last time, but that I’d given her half of my share. I can only imagine what goes through a lawyer’s mind when they hear about someone giving someone else money when they have no legal obligation to do so, but he remained calm, and if his heart rate went up a good bit he did a good job of hiding it.

He told me that I’d done the right thing to tell him about it, but it was up in the air whether or not L had any legal claim. In the state of Texas, he said, normally she would certainly be entitled to an equal share of the inheritance. However, she was adopted, and since (as far as I can tell) it was a legal, valid adoption (as opposed to a family member “adopting” a child to raise as their own without any legal paperwork) it can be presumed that her biological mother (who was a minor at the time of L’s birth) and my father would have signed away parental rights. If that’s the case, then her legal claims to any of his property later would possibly also be forfeit*. He said he’d have to dig a little deeper to find out for sure and would let me know.

I was kind of disappointed in his answer, because I’d hoped that he would immediately say “Yes, she owns an equal share and there’s no question about it, and I’ll get out paperwork right away.” That way L would get what I consider her fair share without me having to try to convince the other sister or anyone else. It would be a fait accompli, and she would just have to deal with it. It would mean we’d each receive a little less money because the share would be in fours instead of threes.

Now with the likelihood that she would have no legal claim at all, it would again be up to me to do the right thing. It’s not that I don’t want to, but me giving up half is costing me a good bit more than if each of the three stakes (mine and my middle sister’s, and my oldest sister’s divided among her kids) gave up a quarter and did so legally. We’re not talking about life-altering sums of money here by any means, but the difference most of a house payment!

I got home and told the wife we were going out to eat instead of going to the gym. I waited until we’d been seated and had ordered before telling her that Uncle B called, and explained the lease proposal. I also said I talked to the lawyer about L and her legal status and was trying to explain where that stood, but she immediately started objecting and saying I shouldn't bring it up, and acted pissed when I pointed out that it’s too late. She asked if I’d said anything to L and I said I hadn't (I’d only known for a couple hours by this point myself) and she said “Well, don’t!” I told her what the lawyer said about L probably not having any legal claim, and she said something along the lines of “Just let it go then.” Frankly, her pushy, bossy attitude was pissing me off! I’m not going to act without talking to the wife about it, but I expect it to be a conversation between us, not her making commands about what I will say or do about it. It’s “our” money in the same sense that all of our money is “our” money, but this is one of the few times that I feel like the final decision is ultimately mine. I let it drop for the time being because I didn’t want to argue about it. I wanted to know what the lawyer found out before making a big issue out of it with the wife or anyone else.

The lawyer called back Thursday and, long story short, it’s up in the air. It depends on exactly what is written in the adoption papers, whether or not California law would trump Texas law (Dad lived in California at the time he died) and even then the law isn't exactly clear on the answer. We decided to table the issue for the time being, but we’ll have to look into it again if they do put some producing wells on the land. Then it becomes a matter of steady income versus a one-time payment.

For the moment, though, I’m stuck on what I should do. Or rather, I know what I should do, but everywhere I turn I have to deal with people who are hostile to the situation. This is how things break down:

1) Morally, I think L has the same legal claim to the land as we do. The three shares should become four equal shares. Without a clear interpretation of whatever laws are in play to force that to happen, it would require me to convince the older sister and the oldest sister’s family to agree to that split. If one or both say “no” (and I know the older sister would shut me out just because she won’t want to have any discussion that involves L) I have no leverage to force them to do it without causing a lot of animosity. There is the argument that they should agree to it because it would protect us all legally from potential problems down the road, but it’s not a very strong one because of the legal ambiguity.

2) The next option would be to have L sign what amounts to an agreement to the lease conditions without making a legal claim to the land, but also without relinquishing it should we determine down the road that she does have a legal claim. This would protect everyone from potential legal scenarios, and I would again just give her half of my share (minus federal taxes that I’d have to pay on the total.) I would prefer to do this for now, even though it’s really just a stop-gap measure. It would relieve my conscience and L would get some money I know she could use.

But that probably means an argument with the wife that would be less about the money than about her perception that once again I’d be bending over backwards sacrificing something of “ours” for L. I can’t deny that I haven’t done this, but in this case I think it’s different. But the wife won’t see it that way, and it will just build more of a wall between us.

And I can’t say for sure that L would go along with it quietly in any case. If I just told her a new lease is in the works and I'm giving her half of my share, like last time, that would most likely be fine with her. But asking her to sign some paperwork could be... tricky. She might simply refuse to sign anything, and be insulted that anyone would think she'd make trouble. She'd take it as a personal affront, not realizing (or caring) that it's as much for her protection as anyone else's.

3) Finally, I can not say anything to L and keep all the money for us. It keeps the peace with the older sister and with the wife, and if L doesn't know about it she won't miss it, right? Right.

Except I know, and I feel like shit about it. I'm betraying L by not standing up for her and making sure she gets what (in my mind) is rightfully hers. I really don't give a damn if the law says she has a valid claim or not, but I just don't know if I have the heart to face the shit storm from all sides if I try to fight it.

And yes, goddamn it, to my shame I have dollar signs in my eyes. If all of us agreed to share with L, it'd take a bite out of the amount we'd get. But giving up half would be a big chunk, and... well, fuck, why do I have to make all the god damned sacrifices? With this money, the wife and I can plan a vacation to the beach that won't put us deeper in the hole. Okay, L could use the money too, but her financial problems are largely the result from horribly bad decisions she's made over the past three years or so.

Fuck.

*I’m not a lawyer and I can’t vouch for the veracity of what the lawyer said; only that he said it. Please don’t jump in with your judgment of the legal situation unless you are a lawyer in Texas familiar with oil leasing, adoption and inheritance laws. Even then, unless you’re going to represent me or L for free, don’t bother. I mean no offense, but I don’t want to get in the middle of what you think should be the case versus what the lawyer in charge of the paperwork is saying. Besides, I’m not writing any of this in a bid to get legal advice from anyone.