One last one Wall Street Journal HistoRy about Josephine (Jo) Franklin, a once-famous TV reporter from a wealthy family who apparently had it all only to end up homeless living in a parking lot, is an unfortunate example of the number of mental illnesses, especially when it comes to financial and estate planning. Obsessed with her image, Franklin portrayed a fantasy life to those around her, which turned out to be a web of pathological lies.
Franklin was born to wealthy parents and grew up in the Chicago area. She graduated from the University of Florida and established an impressive career, known for her documentaries about the Middle East and her work as a producer for PBS. She married a successful surgeon and had two children.
However, the perfect story has a wild twist. After her career hit a snag in the 1990s and a failed attempt to spin her life story into a novel (the book flopped and she owed the bookseller $25,000), Franklin ended up divorced, with little income remaining. According to WSJ In the story, the judge in the case noted that Franklin appeared to be living beyond her means, leasing a luxury car while $150,000 in debt. Her ex-husband ended up with custody of their two children.
It was during this time that Franklin began to unravel, as she continued to live beyond her means with seemingly no real income and refusing to find work. Her behavior caused a rift between her and her children, who tried to intervene. Franklin eventually ended up homeless in South Florida, living in empty parking garages and stealing boxed wine from CVS.
Tall tales
Unable to cope with her new reality, Franklin would lie to those around her, telling friends from the local coffee shop that she lived on Jupiter Island, had a personal driver and did not carry a cell phone to “stop her . being tracked by the Saudis.” That was just the tip of the iceberg, as one of Franklin's wildest concoctions was convincing her alma mater that she was making a $2 million donation to the school. The university was so impressed with her credentials that they planned a lavish gala to honor her contribution. The night before the event, her check bounced.
Other tales included Franklin claiming to have a direct line to Prince Harry and access to Colin Powell's private jet.
Her children, aware of her mental illness, made several attempts to get her into a medical facility, but Franklin refused. After an ultimatum for her to either not lie or not be spoken to, her two children left her.
It has been reported that Franklin inherited about $400,000 after the death of her father, who, after believing her lies, thought she was legitimately wealthy and almost disinherited her. It's unclear what happened to that money, as Franklin continued to be homeless, racking up violations and being arrested several times for theft and possession of marijuana.
In 2022, Franklin's sibling hatches a plan to get her off the streets, teaming up with her Starbucks friends (who are never suggested to know the truth about her) to pretend that one of them has need a nanny at home. The house was actually a fully furnished $2,100 apartment rented from her brother, giving her a roof over her head without having to admit she had a problem. She continued to live in that house until she died of heart failure more than a year later, at the age of 76.
Before her death, her children tried to reconcile with her, offering to work with a therapist to get them to a “better place.” Sadly, their emails went unanswered.
Planning with mental health in mind
While mental illness is often unpredictable, clients can take some steps to plan ahead in case they find themselves in a similar situation. “From an estate planning perspective, using a trust that anticipates a mental health crisis may occur, thereby creating flexibility, can be beneficial,” says Sandy Glazier, partner at Lipson Neilson in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. “Providing a trustee or Trust Protector with the ability to stop distributions or place treatment conditions on distributions can be helpful. Often, it is difficult for family members to administer such trust provisions, so that giving the trustee the ability to appoint and act with an independent trustee who can provide a buffer and limit inter-family resentment may also be beneficial.
When the existence of such issues is known in advance, it can be beneficial to have an independent trustee from the start, Glazier explains. She suggests clients consider offering the trustee the ability to engage a care manager or other professional to provide advice on how best to assess the beneficiary's status and recommended treatment options can help a trustee trusted to navigate the kinds of conditions he might want to impose on him. entice a beneficiary with substance abuse and/or mental health problems into treatment or compliance with a treatment regimen. “There is no magic wand for a perfect solution,” she adds.
Although we do not know what happened to the money Franklin inherited from her father (or what kind of planning, if any), and whether it was spent, proper planning techniques given Franklin's mental health and a trustee of A trusted independent could potentially have helped Cox Franklin get the treatment he needed.