Page 61 of The Best Lawyer
“Sure. About a year after that, Tom came back to me wanting to do a new will. He’d just gotten married to the accused, Katy Loomis.”
“And what did you do for him?”
“At that time, he took my advice and we prepared a more robust estate plan. Tom had taken out a small life insurance policy valued at five hundred thousand dollars. He also had me prepare a new will naming Katy as his sole beneficiary. Same on the life insurance. He declined a prenup. But he named Katy as his patient advocate on all his advanced directives. We also did a simple trust and a durable power of attorney, again naming Katy as the agent.”
“In layman’s terms, what does that all mean?”
“It means at the time he wanted to …”
“Objection,” I said. “This witness can’t testify to Tom Loomis’s internal wants and desires. Only what she actually did for him.”
“Sustained.”
“Fine,” Marcia said. “What I prepared for Tom essentially left everything to his wife. It put her in the position of making decisions for him in the event he couldn’t make them for himselfregarding his business and banking affairs and healthcare decisions.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you want me to tell you what I didn’t do?” Marcia said. This earned an eyebrow raise from me, the judge, and Addison.
“All right,” Addison said.
“He did not have me include Katy on the deed to his house or the title to any of his vehicles. Though in effect, with her as the main beneficiary of his trust, those items passed to her upon Tom’s death. I then instructed him on how to deal with his banks in terms of account ownership. Same with the life insurance, naming the trust as contingent beneficiary.”
“Okay,” Addison said. “That all happened when again?”
“About a month after he married Katy.”
“Thank you. Now, Ms. Murphy, wasthatthe last communication you had with Tom?”
“No, sir,” she said. “He made an appointment to see me last November. He instructed me … that is, at the conclusion of that meeting, I prepared new documents for him.”
“What were those?”
“I drafted a complaint for divorce, an amended trust, and a new will. Of note, Mr. Loomis had not yet, at that time, carried out some of my instructions from our previous meeting.”
“What instructions were those?”
“He never re-titled his bank accounts or his life insurance policies. The only thing that ended up properly titled in thetrust was his house. That’s because I was the one who took care of filing that deed on his behalf.”
“So what was the effect of that?”
“Well, it meant those items would have been distributed under the terms of his will, not his trust. So probate would have to be opened.”
“I see,” he said. “So if I’m clear. You discussed Mr. Loomis filing for divorce from Katy?”
“Yes. Well, I mean, notwithstanding discussions which might be hearsay as defense counsel pointed out … I prepared the divorce complaint as well as the changes to his estate plan.”
“What changes did he want to make to that estate plan?”
Marcia leaned closer to the microphone. “He wanted to disinherit Katy.”
There was a gasp from somewhere in the courtroom. Katy stayed rigid. It was at least better than an outburst.
“Again,” I said. “This witness cannot testify about Tom Loomis’s wants. Just what she did for him.”
“The witness’s last answer will be stricken,” Judge Castor said, becoming annoyed.
“What changes did you make?” Addison asked.
