- Sep 16, 2012
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There is nothing more sleazy or scummy than taking advantage of an elderly parent to change his will to benefit yourself at the expense of your siblings. It is especially pernicious when that parent is showing signs of suffering from senility and the child who is doing this has already lost tens of millions of your money.
Today this conduct would be considered a crime called elder abuse.
So it is no surprise that this is what exactly Don the Con did to his own father:
Fred Trump had given careful thought to what would become of his empire after he died, and had hired one of the nation’s top estate lawyers to draft his will. But in December 1990, Donald Trump sent his father a document, drafted by one of his own lawyers, that sought to make significant changes to that will.
Fred Trump, then 85, had never before set eyes on the document, 12 pages of dense legalese. Nor had he authorized its preparation. Nor had he met the lawyer who drafted it.
Yet his son sent instructions that he needed to sign it immediately.
What happened next was described years later in sworn depositions by members of the Trump family during a dispute, later settled, over the inheritance Fred Trump left to Fred Jr.’s children. These depositions, obtained by The Times, reveal something startling: Fred Trump believed that the document potentially put his life’s work at risk.
The document, known as a codicil,
did many things. It protected Donald Trump’s portion of the inheritance from his creditors and from his impending divorce settlement with his first wife, Ivana Trump. It strengthened provisions in the existing will making him the sole executor of his father’s estate. But more than any of the particulars, it was the entirety of the codicil and its presentation as a fait accompli that alarmed Fred Trump, the depositions show. He confided to family members that he viewed the codicil as an attempt to go behind his back and give his son total control over his affairs. He said he feared that it could let Donald Trump denude his empire, even using it as collateral to rescue his failing businesses. (It was, in fact, the very month of the $3.5 million casino rescue.)
Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches From His Father
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Now what is telling is that Fred who did have some capacity left removed Donald as sole executor and made his other son Robert Power of Attorney and not his son.
Fred knew Donald was not trusted and he would squander what he left his children
Today this conduct would be considered a crime called elder abuse.
So it is no surprise that this is what exactly Don the Con did to his own father:
Fred Trump had given careful thought to what would become of his empire after he died, and had hired one of the nation’s top estate lawyers to draft his will. But in December 1990, Donald Trump sent his father a document, drafted by one of his own lawyers, that sought to make significant changes to that will.
Fred Trump, then 85, had never before set eyes on the document, 12 pages of dense legalese. Nor had he authorized its preparation. Nor had he met the lawyer who drafted it.
Yet his son sent instructions that he needed to sign it immediately.
What happened next was described years later in sworn depositions by members of the Trump family during a dispute, later settled, over the inheritance Fred Trump left to Fred Jr.’s children. These depositions, obtained by The Times, reveal something startling: Fred Trump believed that the document potentially put his life’s work at risk.
The document, known as a codicil,
Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches From His Father
*********************************************************
Now what is telling is that Fred who did have some capacity left removed Donald as sole executor and made his other son Robert Power of Attorney and not his son.
Fred knew Donald was not trusted and he would squander what he left his children
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