Chapter 10 - THE DEPENDENCY FILE
L DEPENDENCY CASE contained years of notes.
Missed therapy.
Medication refusal.
Arguments.
Falls.
Damaged equipment.
Late bills.
But beside some entries were instructions.
Delay repair until Monday—document inability to manage without chair.
Do not remind re appointment—see if missed.
Let Diane handle meds, note confusion if pills misplaced.
Ava read the file in silence.
Then one line made Lily cover her mouth.
Need 6–9 months pattern before capacity filing.
This was not concern.
It was construction.
Garrett had spent months manufacturing the conditions he later cited.
Then Diane found another file.
REFI PATH.
It showed the farmhouse refinance strategy.
Step 1:
Establish reimbursement balance.
Step 2:
Capacity review.
Step 3:
Diane protective manager.
Step 4:
Approve secured reimbursement note.
Step 5:
Refinance.
The money would flow partly to Garrett.
Enough to stabilize his business debt.
Ava wanted to take it directly to prosecutors.
Rachel said:
“We do. But copies go to the trust court too. Different issues.”
Again separation.
Then Garrett’s attorney attacked the spreadsheet authenticity.
He claimed Diane could have altered it after leaving.
Forensic metadata became critical.
The files had been created on Garrett’s office computer over eighteen months.
No alteration after Diane copied them.
That hurt him.
Then one more problem appeared.
Diane had participated.
Several notes included:
Diane aware.
One:
Diane agrees missed appointment helps case.
Lily stared at her mother’s involvement.
When confronted, Diane admitted it.
“I thought if the court gave me authority, I could protect you from Garrett.”
Lily looked almost amused.
“By helping him prove I needed authority?”
Diane covered her face.
“I know how it sounds.”
“No,” Lily said. “You know what it was.”
Then Lily made a decision nobody expected.
She refused to ask the prosecutor to treat Diane as if she were equivalent to Garrett.
“She lied. She helped. But he drove it.”
Ruiz nodded.
“That distinction belongs to evidence, not forgiveness.”
Exactly.
Diane would still face consequences in the trust proceeding.
But the criminal focus remained where the evidence supported it.
Then the independent medical evaluator issued Lily’s report.
Conclusion:
Lily Morgan possesses capacity to make financial, medical, residential, and legal decisions with reasonable accommodations.
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Garrett’s incapacity case was effectively dead.
His refinance plan died with it.
