Under California Community Property law, one half of all assets acquired during the marriage belonged to Fay. Charley, in his will, could not dispose of that. But the stocks and bonds no longer belonged to either him or Fay; they belonged to the children. So he had gotten most of his assets out of his and Fay’s hands, and into the girls’. In addition, he had instructed that the bulk of his estate be put into a fund to be administered by Mr. Sipe for the girls’ benefit, and that at their twenty-first birthday the fund be turned over to them.
So not only did the girls own the stocks and bonds but they also got his share of the plant in Petaluma. The stocks and bonds, although belonging to them, were to be kept in trust by his brother, who had flown out from Chicago. He was to make funds available to the children according to their need. The children were to be allowed to live with their mother, and about that Charley had a lot to say.
All he had left to Fay was the Buick — that is, his half, since the other half already belonged to her. She, of course, already owned one half of the house under California law, and one half of all the personal property in the house. Charley could not dispose of that. But here is what he had done with his half. He had willed his half of the house to me.
To me. Of all the people in the world. So Fay owned one half and I owned the other.
As to the personal property that was his, he had willed that to the children direct.
He had left as much to me as to Fay, unless you include the Buick, which was not worth much.
In the will was a long stipulation regarding tenancy of the house. Neither Fay nor I could forcibly exclude the other from the premises. We could, however, come to an agreement regarding sale of the house or use of the house. Each of us could sell his share to the other, for instance. Or rent it to the other for a sum to be named by the Bank of America at Point Reyes as reasonable. He had also set aside various small sums, derived from their joint bank account, half of which was his to will. He had left almost a thousand dollars to be used for psychiatric help for me, if! chose to use it, and, if not, it was to be turned over to the girls. And he had left money for funeral expenses.
His having committed suicide had voided his insurance policies, so Fay got nothing out of them.
When it came down to it, he had left everything to the girls and nothing to Fay. And her property under California law consisted only of her half of the house –on which there was a large mortgage to be paid off– and her half of the plant, which did not amount to anything like she had expected, since the plant had been bled over a number of years. Of course, she could get an attorney and go to court and claim that a good deal of the stocks and bonds actually belonged to her, since they had been bought with her money as well as Charley’s. And she could challenge the will in other ways, claiming, for instance, that he had willed her the Buick which was not his to will, since she had actually bought it before the marriage. A will which contains provisions of that sort can be tossed out, I understand. But Charley had written a clause in concerning her contesting the will. If she did so, the administrator of the children’s share of the estate –that is, his brother Sam– was to take action against her in court on the grounds that she was an unfit mother, and the girls were to be taken away from her, and his family appointed guardians. Now possibly that provision could not hold up, it being punitive. But even by investigating it she risked having it enacted, and evidently Sam declared himself willing to go through with the requirements of the clause. Charley had gone to some lengths in the will to describe –although vaguely– her relationship with Nat, and he also mentioned me specifically as a witness to this. There was no doubt that the house and funds left to me were in the nature of an inducement to me to cooperate fully in the “unfit mother” clause if Fay did challenge the will; at least I so construed it.
She did not contest the will, although for a time she and Nat discussed it. I know they discussed it, because I was present. How could I not be? Almost at once, as soon as I had transportation, I moved back into the house with Fay and the children, and, of course, with Nat Anteil, to the extent that he was staying there. And this time they could not throw me out, because it was as much my house as hers. And it was not Nat Anteil’s at all; he had no legal right to be there, as I had.
So when Claudia Hambro drove me back there in her station wagon, along with my possessions, she was driving me back to my own house.
When I walked in the front door, Fay and Nat were flabbergasted to see me. Without saying a word –they were that affected– they stood around while I unloaded the station wagon and said good-bye to Claudia. In a voice loud enough for them to hear I took pains to invite Claudia and her husband and the rest of the group over, to use the house as a meeting place or just to visit. Then, waving to me, she drove off.
Fay said, “You mean you’d just walk right in? Without discussing this whole business first?”
“What is there to discuss?” I said, feeling wonderful. “I have a legal right to be here, as much as you.” And this time, I didn’t have to take up residence in the utility room, like a servant. Nor did I have to do their unpleasant tasks for them, such as emptying the trash or mopping the bathroom floors.
I felt on top of the world.
The two of them remained in the living room while I began fixing up the study; that was the room I had elected as my bedroom. Neither of them made a move to interfere, but I could hear them talking in low, grumpy tones.
While I was hanging my clothes up in the study closet, Nat approached me. “Come on into the living room and we’ll discuss this,” he said.
Enjoying myself, yet wanting to be at the job of getting my stuff arranged, I followed him. It was nice to seat myself there on the couch and not have to retire off somewhere in the rear while others conducted their affairs.
Fay said, “How the hell do you plan to make your payments on the house? There’s two hundred and forty dollars due a month on this place, including interest. Half of that is yours to pay. One hundred and twenty a month. And that doesn’t include taxes or fire insurance. How can you pay that?” Her voice shrilled with outrage at me.
Actually, I hadn’t given much thought to that. The realization diminished my pleasure somewhat.
“By acquiring half the title to this place,” Nathan said, “you acquire half the indebtedness. You’re responsible for maintenance costs, utility costs, as much as Fay is. Do you know what it costs to heat this place? She’s not going to pay them; that’s a cinch.”
“Fifty dollars a month,” Fay said. “That’s what your share of the heating bill is going to be. My god, it’ll cost you another hundred a month for utilities — it’ll cost you three hundred a month to own half this house. At least three hundred.”
“Oh come on,” I said. “It doesn’t cost six hundred a month to maintain this house.”
At that, Nat whipped out the big cardboard carton in which Fay kept incoming bills; he had also the checkbook and past stubs and bills. “That’s what it comes out to,” Nat said. “You know you have no money. Your part is going to lapse. How can it not lapse? You can’t live here. It’s impossible.”
All I could think to do was smile at them, to show my lack of anxiety.
“You horse’s ass,” Fay said, her voice continuing to rise in accusation. To Nat she said, “This is just to pay him so he’ll go into court and tell a lot of lies about you and me — good god, Charley must have been out of his mind; he must have been a paranoid at the last, there, in the hospital, believing all that crap.”
“Take it easy,” Nat said to her. Of the two of them he seemed to me the more rational. “You better sell your equity right now,” he said to me. “Before it’s encumbered with indemnities.” On a piece of paper he made out figures. “You’ve got approximately a seven thousand dollar equity,” he said. “And you’ll have to pay inheritance tax on that — did you realize that?”