1,475.97 - 816.00 = 659.97 

Confusion


Please judge for yourself. If you read the correspondence and documents and connect the dots, does it look as if:

  • Confusion is used as cover?
  • Confusion should be recognized as a flag to see what's behind it?
  • The family is made to appear as the source of the confusion?

1,475.97 - 816.00 = 659.97  

The accounting trail 1,475.97 - 816.00 = 659.97 is an accounting entanglement created by Joanne Barnes.  It was created by preparing a number for the IRS that was different for the number that was prepared for the Court.  The numbers should be the same.  $816.00 was prepared for the IRS and $1,475.97 was prepared for the Court:

To the Court in the Seventh Account for the Trust u/w of H. A. O'Connell at Bk480p1768:
"Payable to the Esate of Jean M. O'Connell ... ... ... ,,,... $ 1,475.97"

To the Court in the First Account for the Estate of Jean O'Connell at Bk467p192:
"Int fm Harold O'Connell Trust  ......................................... 816.00
 Debt fm Harold O’Connell Trust .............................,......... 659.97 "

To the IRS and the State in the Estate tax return and it's two amendments:
"4 Interest due Harold O'Connell Trust  .............................. 816.00
  5 Debt due from Harold O’Connell Trust .......................... 659.97"

Correspondence

1992.04.22 (Edward White to innocent Jean Nader, enclosure, in part)
"Debt from Harold O'Connell Trust   659.97

1992.05.19   (Edward White to Anthony O'Connell, c/o E.A. Prichard, copy to Jean Nader) aka "Blueprint"
"In your letter of May 6 to Jean you asked that I communicate with you with regard to the Harold O'Connell Trust.
I am trying to prepare the estate tax, and as usual in these cases, there are problems trying to understand the flow of debts and income.
I do have a few questions which are put forward simply so that the figures on the Trust's tax returns and accounting will agree with the estate's.
1. The K-1 filed by the Trust for 1991 showed income to your mother of $41,446.00. The Seventh Accounting appears to show a disbursement to her of $40,000.00 plus first half realty taxes paid by the trust for her and thus a disbursal to her of $1794.89. If these two disbursals are added the sum is $41,794.89. This leaves $348.89 which I cannot figure out. It could well be a disbursal of principal and not taxable.
2. The K-1 filed by the Trust showed a payment of $816.00 in interest to the estate. You sent a check in the amount of $1475.97 to the estate. What was the remaining $659.97? Do I have this confused with the tax debt/credit situation which ran from the Third Accounting?
3. On the Seventh Accounting "Income per 7th Account" is shown as $5181.71, but I cannot figure that one out either.
I am of the opinion that the estate owes the trust for the second half real estate taxes from September 15, 1991 through December 31, 1991 in the amount of $1052.35. This is shown on your accounting a disbursed to the heirs. Should this be paid back to the heirs or to the Trust?
I believe that the income received from the savings accounts from September 15 to the date the various banks made their next payment to the Trust (9/30 and 9/21) should be split on a per diem basis, since the Trust terminated on her death. This will be a small amount of course.
Are there any other debts which your Mother owed the Trust?
I realize that Jo Ann Barnes prepared this and if you authorize it I can ask her to help me out.
Please understand that I have no problem with the Accounting, I m just trying to match things up. In the long run, since the beneficiaries are the same, the matter is academic. Please send the bill for the appraisal whenever you receive it. Jean is filing the Fairfax form for re-assessment in her capacity as a co-owner in order to give us a better basis to get this assessment changed and to meet the county's deadline. It will state that the appraisal you have ordered will follow. I think this will be to all of your benefit in the long run.
Sincerely, Edward J. White"

2000.08.08   (Jesse Wilson's Report to the Judges)
"To the Honorable Judges of Said Court:
RE: Estate of Harold A. OConnell, Trust
Fiduciary No. 21840
1. By a Tenth Account duly filed herein and approved by the undersigned on August 25, 1995, the trustee herein, Anthony M. 0'Connell, properly accounted for all of the remaining assets reported as being assets of the trust created by the will of Harold OConnell and reported a zero balance on hand. A copy of said account is filed herewith as Exhibit 1.
2. By an Eleventh Account, Anthony M. OConnell, trustee, again reported zero assets on hand and no receipts or disbursements. A copy of said account is filed herewith as Exhibit 2.
3. Both the Tenth and Eleventh accounts carried the notation "This is not a final account".
4. In the ordinary case, an account which shows the distribution of all remaining assets is filed as a Final Account, and its approval terminates the fiduciary's responsibility to the Court and permits the Commissioner of Accounts to close the file.
5. The said trustee has also filed a Twelfth Account in which he reports as an asset $659.97 "due from the Estate of Jean M. OConnell".  A copy of that "account" is enclosed herewith as Exhibit 3.
6. The Estate of Jean M. OConnell, deceased, Fiduciary No. 49160, was closed in the Commissioner of Accounts office after approval of a Final Account on May 31, 1994.
7. The said $659.97 was the subject of correspondence between the said trustee and Edward J. White, attorney and co-executor of the estate of Jean M. OConnell, copies of which are attached hereto as Exhibits 4 and 5. In his letter,
Exhibit 5, the trustee explains that the $659.97 is part of a net income payment of $1,475.97 which the trust owed the estate of Jean M. OConnell. In that same letter, the trustee states that "At this point in time, I believe Mr. Balderson and I are of one mind that the estate does not owe the trust and the trust does not owe the estate".
Mr. Balderson was a CPA for the estate. Both of these letters were provided to the Commissioner of Accounts by the trustee in support of his "Twelfth Account".
8. The trustee also provided the Commissioner with a copy of a page from a "Jean M. OConnell estate tax analysis" which shows $659.97 under "Assets" of that estate as "Debt from Harold OConnell Trust".  A copy of that page is attached as Exhibits 6.
From a review of this information the Commissioner finds that there is no evidence to support an assertion by the trustee that the $659.97 is an asset of the trust. To the contrary, it appears that either it is not a debt at all, or, from the estate's point of view, it was money owed by the trust to the estate, i.e. an asset of the estate of Jean M. OConnell. That estate has been closed for more that six years.
Accordingly, the foregoing Eleventh Account of Anthony M. OConnell, Trustee has been marked a "Final Account" by the undersigned and is hereby approved as a Final Account in the trust under the will of Harold A. OConnell and is filed herewith.
In the event that the trustee is successful in recovering $659.97 or any other funds which are proper trust assets to be accounted for, such may be reported to the Commissioner of Accounts by an Amended Inventory and, thereafter, accounted for by proper accounts.

GIVEN under my hand this 8th day of August, 2000.
Respectfully submitted,
Jesse B. Wilson, III
Commissioner of Accounts
Fairfax County, Virginia
JBW:jcs
Enc.: Exhibits, 1 - 6
cc: Anthony M. OConnell, Trustee"
(See the exhibits in the pdf reference)

2000.08.08   (Jesse Wilson to Anthony OConnell)
"Enclosed please find a copy of my report approving your 1l th account as trustee in the above matter as your Final Account. As you will see from the report, it appears to me from the information you have provided that the $659.97 debt you report is not a trust asset. Even if the debt existed as you suggest, it's collectability would be so problematic and uncertain, and the effort so costly, as to render it worthless and make reasonable a decision for it to be abandoned as an asset. It certainly should not be the basis for keeping this trust estate open and requiring the filing of annual accounts indefinitely.
In the event that the trustee is successful in recovering $659.97 or any other funds which are proper trust assets to be accounted for, such may be reported to the Commissioner of Accounts by an Amended Inventory and, thereafter, accounted for by proper accounts.
If you disagree with this action by me, you may file exceptions with the
Court within fifteen (15) days of the filing of my report and take the matter up directly with the Court.
Very truly yours,
Jesse B. Wilson, III
Commissioner of Accounts"