Lines Blur in Many Way

Joe Smith’s assumptions about having a role in his brother’s estate or Betty DiAngelo in her first husband’s show that the “ubiquitous change” in the social meaning of family isn’t only about falling apart. It’s also about non-traditional coming together. In a time of less certainty, some people will assume family ties that don’t exist. The February 2000 Delaware state court decision Susan Wagner v. Gordon Hendry involved yet another variation of assumed familial ties. Briefly stated, the parents of a young man decided to help out and facilitate the purchase of a home for their son and soon-to-be daughter-in-law. They made several business arrangements under the assumption that Susan Wagner, their son’s fiancé, would be a part of the family. But when Susan called the engagement off and moved out, those business transaction became a source of legal trouble. Susan wanted her share of the down payment back, and had to drag her case to court. She eventually got some of the money back, but it wasn’t easy. The deal had simply been too complicated and too conditional to do anyone involved good. Susan Wagner and her potential in-laws had agreed to a business deal that would have required a lot from family members and they weren’t family.

C O N C L U S I O N
The purpose of this chapter has been to offer you some tools for thinking clearly about what your family is...and who belongs in it. We’ve also tried to show how strict and conservative a view most financial institutions, laws and courts take in defining “family.”

Again, it’s important to stress that the law’s strict constructions aren’t just part of some political agenda. They go deeper than that. More than most people would like to admit, families exist to channel resources (cultural, intellectual and financial) smoothly from one generation to another. It serves little purpose to rant against hard rules. The strict constructions of “family” in money matters are facts of financial life that must be recognized and dealt with effectively. The rest of this book will concentrate on strategies and tactics for doing so.

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