EFTA02643618

From: Noam Chomsky Sent: Tuesday, June 5, 2018 6:50 PM To: jeffrey E.; Valeria Chomsky Subject: Fwd: your advice Another one. what should =e be doing? -- Forwarded message From: Harry Chomsky Date: Tue, Jun 5, 2018 at 9:37 AM<=r>Sub'ect: Re: our advice To: Noam Chomsky You've asked me to send you my specific suggestions. I made six=suggestions already, in my long message of March 29th. Let me add on= more suggestion now. Negotiate a package of c=anges You may want to make some changes to th= terms or administration of the trust. I'm open to doing so, pro=ided we can agree on a package of changes to implement. We would need to undertake a negotiation process to settle on a mutu=lly acceptable package. You can start that process at any time by ha=ing your lawyer contact Jillian. I'm not willing to carry out th=s kind of negotiation by e-mail between you and me — our disagreem=nts and misunderstandings run too deep for us to reach agreement this way.=/div> You've made a number of proposals in your rec=nt messages. I'm not going to accept or reject any of them in ex=ctly the way you've stated them. Some of the proposals have elem=nts that seem promising and that might become part of a final package we a=ree to. I hope our lawyers can help us make that happen. =div class="HOEnZb"> On Mon, May 28, 2018 at 3:07 PM, Noam Chomsky < > wrote: <=iv dir="ltr"> I am re-sending the=letter below, since it wasn't answered, and I would like to clear up t=is very painful affair -- which I do not understand -- as quickly as possi=le. To repeat the essentials, concerning the marital trust, there are severa= options discussed in earlier letters. I won't again review the =act that the marital trust was set up so that funds would be available to =he survivor, with what remains going to the children. Though that is=a fact, it seems that your interpretation is different, though you have no= responded to my repeated inquiries about that. But let's put th=t side. On the basis of our letters, the options seem to be these:</=iv> 1.0=A0 You can resign and then you will have no further obligations and no fea=s about further liabilities from which you have to be protected. We =an then return to the situation before I appointed you as trustee in my pl=ce. I EFTA_R1_01879029 EFTA02643618 will be the trustee. As before, there will be no problem= about fiduciary responsibility, no concern about liability, no problem ab=ut funds that are needed, no lawyers or intrusive inquiries into finances.=/div> Furth=rmore, you can be assured that after I die most of the trust will be added=to your inheritance. Now that the radical depletion of my IRA has be=n overcome, and I have responsible financial advisers, there will be limit=d occasion to access the Trust, and my advisers will ensure that there are=no distributions from it without my knowledge and that other requirements =ill be honored with regard to interest and other matters. 2. We can adopt your suggestion, leaving you in charge, i= which case you will ensure that the entire Trust will go to you. To=repeat the very simple logic, a few years ago, before I found out about it= my IRA was being very seriously depleted. Half of the mandatory wit=drawal was being distributed to family, the other half was being used to p=y management fees and taxes for the entire estate. Therefore, in ord=r to pay Alex's medical bills and expenses for Wellfleet, I had to mak= extra withdrawals with an onerous tax payment. And since I also nee=ed something to live on, I had to make still more withdrawals, with even f=rther onerous tax payments. At that point I asked Max to release som= funds from the marital trust for tax relief. You refused, demanding=an intrusive and insulting financial accounting that no one with a shred o= dignity would accept -- particularly under these remarkable circumstances= It follows that any request without such very clear justification w=ll also be refused. So you can be assured of receiving the entire Tr=st. I also suggested an improvement: you can take all of it right no= and we can dissolve the Trust. <=pan style="font-size:12.8px">3. We can pursue my suggestion: divid= the Trust right now and dissolve it. To repeat, there are some arca=e tax issues, but can easily be resolved, as your lawyer can explai= to you, with common consent among the beneficiaries -- which means your c=nsent. These appear to be the options. I hope we can settle this quickly.=C24> As I have repeatedly explained with no response, I cannot expect wha= my father was able to enjoy, but at least I would like to end this partic=lar horror as quickly as possible. Could you please, then, send me y=ur specific suggestions. Earlier letter below. D </=iv> As usua=, you ignored everything I wrote and and are pursuing your own agenda.4>=A0 But this letter is nevertheless very helpful. I've been askin= you repeatedly to clear the air and say exactly what you want instead of =vading it in one way or another, and this does come close to that. 1= also finally explains clearly what I did not want to believe about your r=fusing my request for some funds for taxes a few years ago You no doubt re=all the circumstances. Unknown to me, my financial advisers had arra=ged to rapidly deplete my main source of support, my IRA, by distributing =alf of the mandatory withdrawal to family members and to use the rest for =aying management fees and taxes for the entire estate. That meant th=t when I paid Alex's expenses, I had to withdraw over the limit, with =xorbitant taxes. Same with any other funds for any family matters, and wit= Wellfleet payments well after I stopped using the house, again with exorb=tant taxes. Of course I also needed to live, so that meant more with=rawals with exorbitant taxes. Under those conditions I requested som= tax relief from the marital trust -- which, of course, was established on=the understanding that it would be available to the survivor. 2 EFTA_R1_01879030 EFTA02643619 Your reaction, to my amazement, was to refuse, even und=r these remarkable circumstances, by imposing4e=A0absurd conditions that no one with a shred of dignity could accept, no c=ncern of yours. Of course, no such questions ever were on even the remote =orizon when I was trustee, before choosing you to replace me, or on any ot=er occasion when I arranged for funds to go to you, either as an ample inh=ritance or for regular expenses. Your letter now mak=s your reasoning very clear. Your proposal is that you should remain=in total control, evidently a matter of great importance for you. An= following your principles, as exhibited with crystal clarity under even t=e extreme circumstances just described, you can ensure that the funds in t=eir entirety will go to you, though I suppose in your kindness you might r=lax your strict regimen slightly when the day comes, as it must, when I am=no longer in a position to retain a shred of dignity and to refuse an intr=sive and humiliating interrogation. However, there is a si=pler way to realize your objectives, even more fully. You can resign=as trustee -- of course possible, just as I did when I appointed you.Q=A0 We can then agree that you receive the entire funds right now, instead =f waiting until I die, so that you can use them right now for whatever pur=oses you like. Plainly that's more efficient, and even more lucr=tive for you than your suggestion. It's true that this=is one possible proposal, as you suggest. Another proposal=is the one I suggested. True, there are some arcane tax issues, but =hese can easily be resolved, as your lawyer can explain to you, with commo= consent among the beneficiaries -- which means your consent. =div> There are, of course, other possibilities. I could pursue legal m=asures to have the trust used in the manner in which it was intended.4>=A0 I could also look into the disbursements that have been made to family =embers (so I have learned) without informing me, and could look into why l=haven't been receiving any income from the trust for years (until I fi=ally raised the question), and why investments were made the way they were=done, yielding long-term returns that would be of no use for me, highly ir=egular for an elderly person -- which, as I wrote you, greatly surprised f=nancial advisers I consulted when I finally began to pay attention. =nd, furthermore, why I never received any statements about what was going =n for years, until I finally asked what is going on with the trust. =nd perhaps other matters that evidently concern you, as shown by your requ=st for protection for past actions. But I haven't ye= shifted to your domain and still retain some illusions about family relat=ons. There are other matters that l&=39;ve written to you about several times, with no response, which means I =resume that you do not want to hear them. They don't specificall= have to do with this matter, so if you have gotten this far in the letter= you can stop here. But they are on my mind, and I want to clear the=air -- if anyone wishes to look. My father could =ie in peace, knowing his children would ensure that his wife would be take= care of. I don't have that luxury. No lawyers or words were necessary.40=A0 It was simply obvious that we would hand over to her what there was of =n inheritance, the house and everything in it. And of course we were=very pleased that he had joy and companionship in his last years. 3 EFTA_R1_01879031 EFTA02643620 Valeria and I are very happy together, apart from w=at you are doing, which is naturally extremely painful. She left her=friends and family, and a professional life. I have almost no pensio=, as I described, and it terminates when I die. Accordingly, I have =o deal with concerns that my father, luckily for him, never had to conside=. The situation is not only extremely painful, bu= in fact surreal. I could never have imagined that anything like thi= would happen in my last years. <=pan> Forwarded message From: Harry Chomsky Date: Tue,=May 22, 2018 at 2:32 PM Subject: Re: Marital Trust To: Noam Chomsky =- I'd like to put together a proposal =hat I think would address some of your needs and ease our communications.=C2* The proposal would give you some additional access to the trust asse=s. It would also include appointing a new independent trustee to rep=ace Max. However, it would not terminate the trust, and I would rema=n as one trustee. Are you interested in seeing su=h a proposal? If you feel that it would be a good=use of everyone's time, I will work with my lawyer Jillian to write up=an outline of what I have in mind. We will send the outline to you a=d Rich, unless you would prefer we send it only to you. You may want to consult a lawyer to learn more about why we can'= just terminate the trust and split the assets as you suggested. If =our lawyer disagrees with Jillian and feels that such a split would be via=le, Jillian would be happy to discuss it with your lawyer. On Mon, May 21, 2018 at=12:30 PM, Noam Chomsky > wrote: Sorry, I made the same error =s before. I'm finding it hard to shake the illusion that we are =iscussing things within a family, and are not characters in Bleak House= I'll try to remember. Below. On Sun, May 20, 2018 a= 9:19 PM, Harry Chomsky < > wrote: It sounds like you would like me=to say yes or no to your proposal exactly as you have stated it, without f=rther discussion. I can't do that. Here are some reasons:<=r> 1. It's not permitted under Massachusetts trust law. <=div> Can you -- or perhaps your lawyer -- refer me to =he part of Mass Trust Law that makes it illegal for beneficiaries to agree=on distributing funds from a marital trust and then liquidate it? I =an't find it. 4 EFTA_R1_01879032 EFTA02643621 1. I agreed to certain obligations when I bec=me trustee, and I have to make sure to discharge them faithfully. Ev=n if you tell me you don't care about my fiduciary responsibility, the=law says I'm responsible anyway. =b>Your solemn obligations are no doubt impressive, but there is an easy wa= to put them to rest. Simply resign (permitted under Mass law) and t=en you will have no further obligations. We can then return to the s=tuation before I appointed you to be a trustee, when I was a trustee and t=ere were no problems about fiduciary responsibility -- that was before the=transition from family to Bleak House. 1. It's not specific..C2* For instance, you mention dividing the trust into two parts, but you=don't say what each part would consist of. Correct. I left that for discussion, still labo=ing under my illusions. So I therefore suggest that you propose what=you think would be an appropriate split and we can proceed from there..C240 1. It'= not complete. For instance, you haven't proposed any way to shi=ld us and Max from liability for past actions. I hadn't realized that you are concerned that your past ac=ions might make you legally liable. But this too can be handled easi=y. I'm sure that your lawyer can construct some document to prot=ct you from whatever those past infractions were, and since I still labor =nder my old illusions, that will suffice. <=iv> However, given your assumptions, we should definitely have iro=clad agreements, with batteries of lawyers an notaries and witnesses, incl=ding an agreement that you will not contest my will, something that had ne=er crossed my mind before I learned about your assumptions -- which, I adm=t, I'm still having trouble comprehending. </=iv> It might be possible to=work out all of these problems and develop a legal, specific and complete =greement based on the framework you've proposed. Would you like =o engage with me in some kind of process to attempt that? Other than=having your lawyer talk to mine, do you have any suggestion about how to d= so? target="_blank' Very simple. Proce=d as above =/div> On Sat, Ma 19, 2018 at 2:26 PM, Noam Chomsky < => wrote: =div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-seriffont-size:12=8px;font- style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:norm=l;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text- align:starttext-indent:0px3=xt-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background- 5 EFTA_R1_01879033 EFTA02643622 color:rgb=255,255,255);text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">=Im glad that you find the idea interesting and think that you might co=sider it, though you have to consult lawyers first. My own =iew is different. To me the proposal I suggested seems to be a very =imple way of settling this matter, which to me is extremely troubling..=A0 I realize that this is just another case of a longstanding difference i= the way we approach these problems, a difference that has been clear ever=since we were discussing the interest on the loan from the Trust and found=that we could not communicate because I mistakenly assumed that it was a d=scussion among family members while your letters made it very clear and ex=licit that you saw it as a legal issue to be settled among lawyers and Bai=co, perhaps with a mediator in the adversary proceeding. All matters=1 find it very hard to comprehend, and to live with, but so be it. So by all means consult with your lawyer, or perhaps a battery of l=wyers, to make sure that your interests are properly protected. I do='t need any lawyer's advice. The matter is perfectly clear a=d straightforward. So there is no reason for me to hire a lawyer to =eal with the question and to have a lawyer contact yours and initiate a di=cussion in which we all participate. The matter is very sim=le. We can proceed without delay if you agree to settle the issue in=the simple manner that I suggested. As for your proposals i= your letter of March 29, as I wrote you, the letter was so shocking that =t was hard for me to bring myself to respond, but I did, in detail, but de=ided not to send it. Perhaps I should. Will think about it. As for your proposals, my response was the obvious one. ='m sorry for the stress you had to endure, but your efforts were a was=e of time for reasons I had already fully explained before you undertook t=em. As I'm sure you recall, a few years ago, I requested tax pay=ents from the marital trust when my IRA was being rapidly depleted by my a=visers who were distributing half to family and using the other half to pa= management fees and taxes for the entire estate, so that to pay Alex'= medical expenses and the expenses for Wellfleet I had to withdraw excess =unds with exorbitant taxes, all that before withdrawing even a cent to liv= on again with exorbitant taxes. Your response was to refuse the req=est unless I agreed to intrusive and insulting financial investigations --=of a kind I never considered when providing funds to you for something you=needed. I made it clear and explicit at the time that I would not su=mit to this procedure. Since your efforts and proposals simply repea= the same procedure, they were a waste of time. There were=some things in your letter that were correct. You're right that =espite what has happened, I'm still a "wealthy man," with in=ome well above the median, though lacking a pension and accumulated proper=y, not at the level of my peers. Furthermore, I can supplement my in=ome by teaching large undergraduate courses, something I'd never done =nd that is not that common for people approaching 90, but something that l=enjoy. And you too are a wealthy man, for the same reasons: the reas=ns are that I've worked hard all my life, lived fairly simply (and liv= even more simply today), and was therefore able to put aside enough money=to ensure that my children and grandchildren are very well cared for, inde=initely. But I again suggest that we put all of=this aside, and deal quickly and simply with what appears to be the one ou=standing issue: dividing the Marital trust and then dissolving it, all ver= simple, needing no lawyers, at least on my part. 0 On Fri, M=y 18, 2018 at 1:44 PM, Harry Chomsky wr=te: 6 EFTA_R1_01879034 EFTA02643623 This is an int=resting idea. We could consider it further, but I would need the adv=ce of my lawyer — and I assume you would want your own lawyer= advice as well — to ensure that any agreement we reach is consist=nt with Massachusetts law and satisfies the interests, needs, and obligati=ns of everybody involved. Perhaps, as a next step, you could ask you= lawyer to contact mine and begin a discussion in which we all participate= I'm also curious to hear your thoughts about=the proposals I suggested in my message on March 29th. =n Thu, May 17, 2018 at 10:05 AM, Noam Chomsky <[email protected]&=t; wrote: As I wrote a little while ago, I did write a long response to your las= -- deeply depressing -- letter, but decided not to send it. I may r=turn to that letter later but will keep to some factual matters that ought=to be cleared up. But now I'm writing just about on= point, which seems to be the core of the problem -- a problem, which, aga=n, I don't understand. But let's put that aside, though I ho=e we can clear it up soon. All of this is a painful cloud that=l never would have imagined would darken my late years. The core issue seems to be the marital trust. I've explain=d how M and I actually set it up with Eric, which seemed to us just plain =ommon sense. I've also explained Max's different interpretat=on. I've asked you for yours, but haven't heard it. Bu= let's put that aside too, and just resolve the matter, as can be done=very simply -- with no need for lawyers to explain the fiduciary responsib=lity of the trustee I appointed years ago to replace me, something I never=paid any attention to before. The simple solution=is to divide the trust into two parts. One part will go to you, to u=e as you wish. One part will go to me, for me to use without any inv=stigations of my financial situation and other such intrusions that I won&=39;t accept. Then the trust can simply be dissolved, and it is all o=er. So I suggest that we proceed this way, and en= the whole matter -- at least, whatever it is that I understand about what=is of concern to you. O 7 EFTA_R1_01879035 EFTA02643624