“Your Honor, she can barely pay rent.” My father dragged me to court over our family’s $31 million empire. The judge smirked. “And she expects to control an estate?” People laughed. Then I stood up and said: “I’m …” The judge’s smile vanished. – True Stories

Halpern leaned back, smiling as if he were watching dinner theater instead of deciding my life. “Miss Vale,” he said, “you are twenty-nine, unmarried, currently renting a studio apartment, and unemployed according to this filing. You expect this court to believe your late mother wanted you to supervise an empire?”

My brothers snickered behind me. My continue reading …