Sticky fingers

We are nearing the end of a sad episode in my family's life. My mother's side of the family, to be specific.

It will play out next week in a county courtroom in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, when one of my aunt's nephews (from the other side of the family) will be sentenced on a charge of felony theft from her estate.

Let's clarify relationships. My mom had two brothers, and the oldest brother (my uncle) and his wife (my aunt) had no children. My uncle died over 10 years ago, and my aunt died in early 2007. Her will said the estate was to be divided among her nieces and nephews--I think there are 11 of us in all. One of her nephews was designated as the executor of the estate. This nephew is from my aunt's side of the family--not a blood relative of mine.

Some of the money was distributed, and I got my slice of the pie. But more pies were supposed to be divvied up. We waited and waited. And waited some more. We called each other, wondering what gives. We sent e-mails. Finally, as it became clear nothing was happening, we decided to take the executor to court; some of us (including me) paid money for an attorney. The cousins worked together, and so did my aunt's niece.

We were afraid we'd have to sue him in civil court, but we got lucky: One of the cousins had an "in" with her county's prosecutor's office. That office conducted an investigation and found the nephew had transferred some $214,000 from the estate into his business' account. It charged him with felony theft.

The defendant used every delaying tactic he could think of. He surprised us last July by pleading not guilty when officially charged. A court trial was scheduled for early March. Just before the trial was to start, he changed his plea to guilty. No trial.

Next Wednesday is the sentencing. We already know most of what is going to happen. As part of his sentence, the nephew will have to serve 120 days in jail followed by 10 years on probation. He has to repay the money he took plus interest through the sentencing date. (The interest rate is up to the judge.) Once he pays back the estate, he can serve the rest of the probation term without being monitored.

One of my cousins (who has been most involved in the matter, keeping the others up to date) recently wrote: "He [the defendant] does not have to pay all of the money by April 28, but if he does not make regular payments, the court can revoke his probation and place him back in jail."

The county attorney will file a separate civil order for restitution, requiring him to pay interest on the amount that remains unpaid after April 28 (the interest from before April 28 is covered by the sentence). If he doesn't pay that part of the interest, it would be a civil case--the rest of us would have to sue him in civil court.

"The $214,700 does not cover the personal property that [he] sold to himself. In theory, legal expenses incurred thus far come out of [his] share of the estate. I am not sure if [his] share of the $214,700 is enough to cover both the legal expenses and the cost of the personal property that [he] hasn't paid for (about $13,000 worth)."

So that's the situation, and next week we will see what we will see. I have no idea when ... or how much ... or even if ... I will get paid from my aunt's estate. Time will tell. Like many of those other uncertainties in my life, it is a situation that is completely out of my hands.

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I didn't get inside to see that quilt show in Green Bay early this month, but I'll get my chance on Saturday. This time, it's a much smaller show at a community college about 50 miles away. Yep, the camera comes along.

We've got more travels coming up in two weeks. This one is a three-day trip to southern Wisconsin. First stop is Milwaukee, where we will be looking at a Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum. My wife had been thinking we could go there this summer--but a week ago, when she looked at the museum's website, she was shocked to see the exhibit closes in early June. That meant some fast revisions to a trip we had already planned to Madison and Beloit, WI.

After Milwaukee, we're still heading to Beloit, WI, to see the Angel Museum there. My wife has wanted to see that museum for several years. After the angels are done with us, we take the interstate back north. About six hours and 310 miles later, we'll be back home.

A long day for the driver, certainly, but nothing I haven't done before.