The Second Envelope

The grim-faced family members sat around the table. Each one looking at the attorney sitting in the middle, papers spread on a round table. The attorney was in his late fifties and wore horn-rimmed spectacles perched at the tip of his big nose. He had a long but crumpled hair and the suit he wore looked as old as his law degree certificate, if not older.

The grim and long-faced heirs, eight brothers and two sisters, waited with the batted breath and were becoming increasingly impatient. The attorney, however, simply ignored all of them and concentrated hard on what to say and most importantly, how to say.

After, what looked like an eternity, the attorney lifted his face, removed the horn-rimmed glasses and slowly wiped the same with an old dirty handkerchief and cleared his throat.

“The Will indeed appears to be genuine, though legally speaking one cannot at this stage, say it with certainty that it is the final Will that the deceased created.” The eldest son spoke with obvious sarcasm, “But sir, with due respect, my mother’s handwritten will is dated 17^th, the day she died. In fact, it was written just a few hours before she died.”

“Of course”, echoed the youngest son. “None of us here have seen it as it was sealed and the envelope addressed to you and we all saw that the seal in fact was intact when you opened it with a paper-knife.”

The attorney nodded his head in affirmative and continued. “Ok then. Let me read out the Will for the time being and legality of proving it in the court, we will address at the right time. I request all of you to be silent until the last line of the Will is read so that everyone understands it clearly.” Without even waiting for an answer, the attorney once again went through his ritual of taking out the horn-rimmed glasses and cleaning it before perching it over his nose.

“I am not going to read the entire Will at this stage, but only what we call in legal terms, ‘the operative part’ so as to save time.” The attorney looked around and all the heirs nodded their heads in affirmative and leaned forward.

 

The attorney once again cleared his throat and started reading the operative part.

“I Kanakamma, aged 93, would like to give the complete right to our family attorney to whom this letter of Will is addressed to read out the most important part of the Will first before providing details.” Once again, the attorney sneaked a glance at the heirs sitting around him for approval. It came instantly, encouraging the attorney to read the remaining part as quickly as he possibly can.

Once again, the attorney started off. “I would like to inform all my children that I love them equally and hence want them to share the inheritance equally. Be it known to every one of my sons and daughters that in case, they do not want equal share, before proceeding further, the first of the two envelopes attached to this will should be opened and proceedings should be conducted as per the instructions contained therein.”

There was commotion amongst the family members as everyone wanted to be heard. The attorney raised his hands and said.”Look, ladies and gentlemen. What I am reading is what was written by your mother and we cannot change it now. You guys must decide unanimously, whether you want to share equally or want me to open the first envelope to get the direction. I would like to ask the eldest in the family to speak on behalf of all of you.”

The eldest son, who was in his late seventies, with a bent body and wrinkled face, stared at his younger siblings. “I think, we all owe it our beloved mother to show our respect to her by agreeing to share equally.” The second son retorted immediately. “I am the one who spent almost all my earnings in the last few years of our mother’s hospitalization. I disagree with the equal concept. I am entitled to get more.”

The commotion started once again as every member of the family started narrating the details of their spending and arguing why they should get more than anyone else. Finally, exasperated, the attorney stood up and said loudly. “Enough of this, I say. If you guys want to decide who should get how much and all, do call me once you decide and let’s take it to the court for a resolution. He started walking dramatically towards the door.

The youngest son leaped forward and stood in front of the lawyer and said the folded hands. “Sir, I apologies on behalf of all my brothers and sisters. Sir, please come back. I assure you, we will not interfere any further”.

The attorney once again came back and sat down on his chair before opening his mouth. “Look, your mother has not written the Will in a simple way that I can recite who is going to get what. Instead, she has made two envelopes which I need to open to understanding how to proceed further as you guys have not agreed to share the property equally as per the operative part of the Will.

So, shall I proceed?” This time, the attorney made it a point to look into the eyes of every member of the family. They all stared back and nodded their heads.

“Well then, let me go ahead and open the first envelope. Ten pairs of anxious eyes watched closely as the attorney, once again, ever so slowly, tore open the envelop and pulled out a single sheet of paper.

The old man read the entire page silently, and at the end, his eyebrows went up steeply as if to meet the few gray stands perching on top his head. He shook his head and looked at the hapless faces staring quizzically at him.

The attorney cleared his throat and looking at the anxious faces and said in his now-famous emotionless voice.”Well, the first envelope contains note by your mother about the loan of Rs.50 lacs she owes to” the attorney looked at the page once again and said “a certain Hanumantappa”.

There was a deafening silence in the room for a brief moment before the burst of voices. Everyone started virtually shouting and as soon as the attorney held up his hand before speaking and the voices died down. 

“Please, don’t make this difficult for me. I have two more court cases to attend tomorrow and need to prepare my brief. One at a time, please.”

The second daughter started. “Our mother took 50 lacs loan? But none of us are aware! What did she do with the money? How do we know whether it’s genuine? I don’t want to be part of any loan which was taken without even notifying me.” 

Almost every member except the youngest of the siblings added in chorus. “Yes, we are not concerned with it.”

The old man looked in shock.” You mean, you guys do not want to repay the loan taken by your mother? A few minutes ago, all of you were very vociferous and wanted more than an equal share of the property. But now, all of you are saying that you don’t want to be part of the loan that your mother owes?”

The elder son spoke. “Sir, with due respect to you and our late mother, none of us were aware of the loan. Also, we want to know what happened to the amount she borrowed, as none of us got even single paise of it.

The attorney held up his hands. “Look, the opening of the second envelop which contains instructions for me to proceed is subject to clearing of the contents of the first one as decided by your mother.” Attorney paused before continuing.

 

“I cannot help you with the ware about the money, but I can guarantee you on the genuineness of the transaction as I was the witness to the borrowing by your mother. Now, please let me know how you guys are going to divide the loan amount amongst you all.”

There was dead silence as each one looked at the other. The second daughter took the mantel once again. “Daughters can’t be made the party loan repayments of the deceased parents. They are eligible only for their share of the property. Moreover, we don’t even know what happened to the money. I will pay nothing” Other brothers also, one by one, took their turn to shy away from the responsibility, all except the youngest son, who kept quiet all the while.

Suddenly, the brothers and sisters realized that the youngest of their siblings did not say anything. Again the second daughter took the center stage. “You!” She looked at the youngest son.”You were too young to support the mother as you are the last born. While all of us have supported the mother, because of your age, you have done nothing. I am sure you should take maximum responsibility now.” As if waiting for the clue, everyone chorused the second daughter’s suggestion.

The youngest son stood up and looked at his brothers and sisters and then, looked at the lawyer and spoke. “Sir, I think my brothers and sisters are all right. I must shoulder more responsibility and I agree with them. So, out of the loan amount outstanding, I will take the responsibility of paying 50 percent. Let others share equally, the remaining amount. Is that agreeable to you all?” the youngest son looked at the table and after a while, grudgingly, they all nodded their heads in affirmation.

The attorney did not show any emotion on his face. “Well then, it is all agreed that the youngest son shoulders the responsibility of paying half the debt, which is 25 lacs while the rest of you share the remaining amount equally. Are there any comments and disagreements to this?  He looked around the table and everyone nodded their head in consent. 

“If that being the case,” the attorney, took out a stamped agreement paper and scribbled it with contents and pushed it across the table to the siblings to sign. Everyone looked at the contents which specified the currently reached agreement for payment of the loan and signed turn-by-turn and returned it to the lawyer. The old man looked at the signature and ensuring that everyone has signed, sighed and put the paperback in his bag.

  

Once done, the Attorney looked up and said, “Ok then”, and went ahead and took the old file and suddenly, everyone sitting across the big table leaned forward. “Now that we have met the first condition laid out by your late mother, we can now open the second envelope.’ He slid the brown colored paper envelope out of the file and slit it open and pulled out another single sheet of paper. He adjusted his spectacles once again and read it. Thick lines appeared on his forehead while a wry smile crossed at the corner of his big mouth.

The attorney held the paper and looked around the faces staring at him expectantly. “Well, your mother has listed all her properties in the Will and how it should be shared is clearly written in this second envelope. For the benefit of all the heirs assembled here, let me read it loudly.

Clearing his throat, he read out two-para of information written on the page.

“I am sure, knowing my sons and daughters so well, as I gave them birth and reared them as well; they would not have agreed to share the loan amount outstanding as detailed in the first envelope, equally. 

However, I am sure some sort of understanding would have been arrived at for the percentage of sharing of the loan amount. If that is the case, all my belongings in the form assets and bank balances and gold, etc., as detailed in the Will hereto, will be shared amongst the sons and daughters, exactly in the same ratio in which my sons and daughters have agreed to share the loan amount”!