"Yes, please."
Hurd got up and went to a table across his office and picked up a stack of a dozen folders. "Here you go."
Holly went back to her office, sat down and opened the first folder.
9
Holly arrived at the law offices of Oxenhandler amp; Ames at five-thirty. The staff had left for the day, and Fred Ames was alone in his office.
He gave her a big hug. "I'm sorry," he said, "and I won't say anything else."
She hugged him back. "Thanks, Fred."
He waved her to a chair. "Have a seat, and I'll make this as quick as possible."
"You make it sound like a trip to the dentist."
"It's not all bad news, but it's not all good, either."
"Shoot."
"Jackson's affairs were in excellent order. He'd seen to that in anticipation of the marriage."
"I'm glad to hear it."
"He left everything to you, except his half of the practice, which he left to me, and a few small bequests. He appointed you and me as his executors; he figured you'd need some help."
"Not only will I need your help, Fred, but I want you to do all the work, at your usual fee. I'm going to be busy."
Fred waved a hand. "Don't talk to me about fees again, all right?"
"All right, I'm sorry."
"The problem with the estate is the law that allows a spouse to leave everything to a spouse with no estate taxes."
"Why is that a problem? It sounds like good news."
"It's a problem, because you weren't Jackson's spouse."
Holly blinked. "Oh."
"You were an hour short of spouse, I guess, and I think it's worth having Jackson's accountant try to make a case to the IRS that you qualify. After all, you'd been living together for a while, and common-law wife might count."
"Common-law wife sounds like a broken-down trailer and a couple of old cars up on blocks in the front yard."
"If it works, don't knock it. Jackson was worth something over three million dollars, including the beach house, his belongings and his investments, so if you have to pay the estate taxes, it's going to bite."
"Listen, Fred, that's so much more money than I ever expected to have in my life that Uncle Sam can have his cut without any bitching from me."
"Still…"
"I know, save what you can."
"Right. Now the good news. A couple of weeks ago, Jackson and I took out life insurance policies. We each insured ourselves for a million dollars, and we each had a survivor's policy for another million that would go to the other in the event one of us died. This was to ensure the survival of the practice, since losing a partner means losing a lot of business."
"That's fine with me, but are you saying he left a policy for another million?"
"Yes, and it's payable to you, by name, not to his estate or spouse. What's great about that is that, if you do have to pay the estate taxes, you'll have cash without having to sell assets."