Hannegan's Cove Chapter 13
| Hannegan's Cove | |
|---|---|
| Chapter 13 of 30 | |
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| Time frame | January 2004 |
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Locations
- Spearfish Lake
- Matthew Schindenwulfe's office conference room
- Spearfish Lake Inn
- Clark Construction machinery shop
Characters
- Randy and Nicole Clark
- Ryan Clark, Randy's father
- Carlos Gutierrez
- Joel Lancaster and Rachel Clark Lancaster, Randy's sister
- Dave Griswold and Ruth Clark Griswold, Randy's sister
- Regina Lawrence, office manager at Clark Construction
Summary
The next morning there is a meeting in Matt Schindenwulfe's office conference room to go over the details of Brent’s estate. Present were Randy and Nicole, Ryan, Joel and Rachel, Dave and Ruth.
Matt explained that Brent didn't have a Will, but instead a Trust, which would assure that his legacy would be disposed of as he wanted. Matt describes some of the advantages of a Trust, inclusing the fact that it doesn’t have to go through probate, or require freezing assets for a period of time. It also allows rapid distribution of assets, which happens at the end of the meeting.
Matt then comments that Brent set up the major structure of the distribution, and Ryan assisted in fleshing out the details. Brent owned ninety-six percent of Clark Construction, the other four percent is held by his parents. He left all of his shares, valued at $2.7 million to Randy. The tax bill will be covered by sufficient funds in the estate. Matt stated that compared to your sisters you’re getting a share of his assets that is somewhat disproportional to the assets your sisters are receiving. You put your time and interest here, Randy, and you’re being rewarded for it.
Rachel gets about fourteen hundred acres and Ruth get a little less but it includes Brent’s hunting cabin. Both are worth an assessed valuation of about a thousand dollars an acre plus an ongoing income of a hundred to two hundred dollars an acre in perpetuity. Again, the transfer fees and taxes are covered by the estate.
Brent left his house and the sum of a hundred and fifty thousand dollars to Alma Johansen, his housekeeper. Everything else goes to Ryan Clark.
Rachel requests that Clark Plywood continue to handle the land management, as they've been doing it for Brent for years.
When they are done Ryan invites everyone to the Spearfish Lake Inn for lunch. Matt decliens, as he has other plans. During lunch Ruth asks about her land and Ryan explains that right now it’s pretty much ass deep in snow and it would take snowmobiles or a dog team to get in there. Rachel's property is even more isolated. Ruth thinks that a dogsled tour sounds like fun, Joel has had enough snow on this trip to last him a long time. Ryan states that the cabin needs some work before it can be used.
After lunch Randy headed back to the office. The first thing he did was to reassure Regina and Carlos that All the transfer paperwork has been signed, so we’re no longer in limbo. In response to Randy's request for an update Carlos says that the Phase III lodge paperwork is ready to go to Norm Eaglebeak. Randy asks if any changes? and it sold no, and Randy says to run it up to Norm.
They discuss relocating the drafting office into what is now Brents office, then relocating Randy's office and Carlos's office. They decide to do nothing until the contenst of Brent's office is gone through and determining what changes the drafting group needs before and as they move.
A couple of hours later there is the meeting of all Clark Construction employees that Randy had asked Regina to set up a couple days before. Randy hops up on one of the tires of the Bobcat so he can be seen and heard. After some words of appreciation for the expressions of sympathy and support he shared that from their point of view nothing much changes from the way we’ve done things the past couple years. There are jobs on the books and they are working on getting more. Brent left a good running system in place and it continues to run.
Randy continues by saying that he's now the majority owner, it's still a family business, and he has an open door policy. Beyond that, I would hope that you will give me the same quality of support that you’ve always given my grandfather. If you have concerns, if you think I’m messing something up, you’re welcome to come to me the same way you always came to him. I know I’m still young for the job, but I think I’m as ready to handle it as I can be under the circumstances. I’ll try to do my best, and if you’ll try to do your best, we’ll continue along. Like my grandfather, I’m concerned that we get our jobs done quickly, but it’s more important that they get done right the first time.
In other words, we will keep on keeping on. Any questions?
Also Mentioned
- Brent Clark the deceased
- Clark Construction and Clark Plywood
- Alma Johansen, Brent's housekeeper
- Robert Dieball, the local court Judge
- Josh and Tiffany Archer, dogsled tours
- Ken Halpern, draftsman at Clark Construction
- Linda Clark, Ryan's wife and the mother of Rachel, Ruth and Randy
- Norm Eaglebeak, primary point of contact with the Three Pines Indian Reservation
