When It All Comes Crashing Down

Ch. 3 Deeds

A lovely, tall, brunette about the same age as her, the two women shook hands warmly.

     "Hello Ms. Gilder, thank you for making time for me today." Chloe said smiling.

     "Of course! Mr. Morningstar was my best client. I would do anything to ensure that his wishes and affairs were seen to properly settled." The lawyer said grinning. "Here, why don't we move this to my office to discuss things. Can I get you anything? Water, coffee, bourbon?" She asked as they started walking.

     "Yes, thank you. I have some questions and plans I'd like to discuss. A coffee would be wonderful, thank you." Chloe said as she followed the other woman. Anita stopped at her assistant's desk.

     "Jenna, could you bring in coffee please?" The assistant nodded and hurried away. "Jenna will be back with a tray in just a moment, why don't we get ourselves settled."

     Chloe nodded and followed the lawyer into a large, office lined with windows. The lawyer gestured to a padded chair at a larger round table. There were several files stacked neatly on the table.

     Jenna returned with a tray holding coffee, cream, sugar and a small plate of cookies. Chloe smiled her thanks. The tiny woman smiled back at her as she set down the tray and exited the room, closing the door behind her. Chloe sat down and helped herself to the coffee. The lawyer sat opposite her.

     "Alrighty. Let's get the formalities out of the way first. I just need to see some ID to ensure that you are in fact Chloe Decker."

     "Oh, of course." Chloe said. She dug into her purse and pulled out her badge and her license. She handed them to the lawyer. Ms. Gilder jotted down the numbers from both onto her note pad.

     "Perfect." She said handing them back to Chloe. "Now then, we have the deeding of the properties and businesses, the registration of the vehicles and the transfer of the back accounts." She said pulling the files closer to her. "Where would you like to start?"

     Chloe's head was starting to spin a bit. She took a sip of her coffee and then refocused her brain and thoughts.

     "Have you got photos and descriptions of the residential properties?"  She asked. "Ideally, my plan is to keep the penthouse, Lux and depending on the other residential holdings, at least one other home. As well as the business holdings. I'd like to sell the residential holdings that we'll not be using."

     "Of course." The lawyer shifted through the file folders. "This file contains the residential holdings." She said as she slid the file across the table to Chloe.

     Chloe flipped the file open. There were ten total properties for her to choose from. She sorted them into two piles. Those that she would keep, and those that she would sell. Her "keep" pile consisted of three properties. The penthouse, a beach house, and one other in Santa Monica with a large pool.

     "These are the holdings that I'd like to keep. The rest I'd like to sell. The profits from the sales, I'd like to place in trust for my daughter. I'd also like to deed the house with the pool in my daughters name, under the care of her father and I." Chloe said. Indicating to the three properties.

     "Of course Ms. Decker." Anita said making more notes on her note pad. "Here are the deeds for those three properties, you'll have to sign on your daughter's behalf as she is a minor." She said handing the deeds to Chloe. Chloe signed the papers and handed them back to her.

     "I'll contact Mr. Morningstar's preferred realtor this afternoon and get everything set up for the sale of these properties. Would you like to transfer the funds into the trust that Mr. Morningstar already set up for Miss Beatrice or would you like to start your own." Chloe was dumbfounded for several minutes.

     "Lucifer set up a trust fund for Trixie?" She breathed in disbelief.

     "Yes. His exact words to me were, 'I've grown quite fond of the little urchin.'" Anita replied with a soft smile. Chloe laughed in shock.

     "Wow!" Her heart could nearly burst. "Um, alright, well there's no sense in having two, so just add the funds from the sales to the one that Lucifer set up for her." Chloe said.

     "Very good." Ms. Gilder made another quick note.

     "Um,just out of curiosity, how much did Lucifer set aside for Trixie?" Chloeasked, she was almost afraid of what the answer might be.