My father was always a little distant. It wasn't that he didn't care about us, we knew he did, and very much so, but, he wasn't the kind of guy for heart-to -heart conversations, and I think it was hard for him to show affection. Our financial security was his main priority, and he worked long and hard, to ensure it.

We didn't see much of him, his job took him all over the country, but when he was home, he was a good father. When he passed away, we weren't very surprised to find that he had kept bank accounts in our names, into which he had deposited substantial amounts, every year. His attorney told us it was cash gifting, a legal, tax-free method of monetary distribution, used to avoid estate taxes. He also told us my father had another family, in another state!

You can only imagine how shocked and surprised we were, and his other family was just as astonished. But, my father, being the kind of man he was, had also provided this other family with the same financial security we enjoyed. He had used the same practice of cash gifting for them, as he had for us.

The reading of his will was quite an event. Two hurt and angry wives, five confused children , and a whole new set of aunts and uncles, made, what should have been a somber occasion into a real circus. The final revelation of that day was even more astounding. My father had no estate!
Through cash gifting, he had dispersed his entire fortune, equally among us, before he died.

The lawyer told us dad had a heart condition, which he kept from all of us, and didn't really know how long he could expect to live, so to ensure his money would go to his family, or more correctly, families, he used the centuries old custom of cash gifting.

In the United States cash gifting is a legal method of distributing your money, tax free, to whoever you want to give it to. As long as that money is a true gift, and you don't expect, or ask for anything in return, you can give anybody you want to, up to $12,000 per calendar year, and whoever receives it doesn't have to pay taxes on it, or even report it, according to the IRS. My father had used this method to ensure all of us a bright future.

With the passing of time, as I got to know my secret relatives, I discovered them to be honest, decent, and loving people. We're all still a little confused, as to why he needed two families, but we all agree he was one-of-a-kind, and miss him dearly.