This scenario and the questions it raises were reported recently in The New York Times in an article titled “Hospital Caring for an Heiress Pressed Her to Give Lavishly.” The article chronicles the last lonely years on Ms. Clark’s life.
Remember, she was only all-too-human. If manipulation was afoot, what should be done about it and, closer to home, how can such manipulation be prevented in our own estates or those of our already senior loved ones?
But then there is the reverse side of the coin: what if it was not manipulation at all? Then Ms. Clark’s wishes and last charitable actions are being drawn through the mud for not having been fully articulated.