Chapter 7 - THE DOCTOR DANIEL HIRED
Daniel’s “private physician” was Dr. Leonard Price.
Concierge psychiatrist.
He never examined Emily in person.
Daniel called him.
Said:
wife is sleep-deprived,
paranoid,
threatening to flee,
father has violent temperament,
possible acute stress episode.
Price advised emergency evaluation.
Reasonable from the information given.
Then Daniel asked:
“Can I keep her somewhere quiet until morning?”
Price answered:
“No. If she is unsafe, take her to an ER or call emergency services.”
Daniel did neither.
Later, Daniel emailed Price a draft letter:
Emily Mercer Voss is temporarily unable to manage complex financial decisions.
Price refused to sign.
Good.
Then Daniel wrote back:
Even for 48 hours?
No.
That email mattered.
Daniel knew he could not obtain legitimate incapacity certification.
So he tried something else.
He contacted a trust lawyer at his firm and asked a hypothetical question:
If a beneficiary is unavailable and the trustee is subject to a protective order, can an easement acknowledgment proceed through agent?
The lawyer answered:
depends on instrument, likely no.
Again:
barrier.
Daniel kept looking for ways around consent.
He also called a former military-law specialist who had once advised Richard’s veterans foundation.
Daniel asked a hypothetical:
“If a retired officer becomes threatening during a family financial dispute, what does a temporary protective order usually restrict?”
The lawyer answered generally:
contact, proximity, sometimes firearms depending on jurisdiction and facts.
Daniel asked:
“Could that affect fiduciary fitness?”
The lawyer said:
“Not automatically. Why?”
Daniel ended the call.
The specialist later contacted Richard voluntarily after learning about Emily.
“I thought he was preparing for a difficult father-in-law,” he said.
Richard answered:
“He was preparing me.”
That distinction stayed with him.
Daniel kept looking for ways around consent.
His intelligence made the pattern clearer.
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He did not misunderstand one document.
He searched until he found a structure that might let him bypass two people.
