Working Title: The Power of Attorney prompted by Michael Poole

Premise:
When aging parents, fragile and vulnerable, are manipulated by one sibling against another, a decades-old promise of inheritance turns into a high-stakes legal war. At the center: a disowned son, a ruthless sister, and a family secret worth millions.

Plot Summary:

Act I – The Betrayal:
Michael Kane, a struggling but decent man, is blindsided when his father dies and he discovers he has been cut out of the will. His sister, Claire, who recently moved back in with their elderly parents, holds a Power of Attorney allegedly signed by their mother. Years before, over a Sunday lunch, his father had promised him half the estate. Now everything belongs to Claire.

Act II – The Smear:
Claire begins a campaign to paint Michael as unstable, even reporting him to mental health authorities. Twice, she tries to evict him from the family-owned apartment where he’s lived for years. Michael starts to suspect that his sister didn’t just slander him—she manipulated their vulnerable parents, and maybe even forged or coerced signatures.

Act III – The Legal Labyrinth:
Michael hires a sharp but cynical estate-litigation lawyer, Evelyn Ross, who warns him: contesting a will is nearly impossible unless you can prove undue influence or incapacity. As they dig deeper, they uncover:

Suspicious financial transfers from the parents’ accounts into Claire’s.

A nurse who remembers Claire whispering instructions before documents were signed.

An earlier will that split the estate equally—conveniently “lost.”

Act IV – The Trial:
Court becomes a battlefield. Claire paints Michael as unfit, while Michael and Ross try to prove elder abuse and fraud. Witnesses vanish, testimony conflicts, and Michael is forced to confront not only the law but the twisted psychology of family loyalty and betrayal.

Climax:
Just when Michael is about to lose, a long-forgotten letter from his father surfaces—handwritten, dated, undeniable—that names Michael as co-heir. The court must decide: was Claire’s manipulation so pervasive that it invalidates everything else?

Resolution:
The judgment rocks the family, and the law itself. Michael doesn’t just fight for his inheritance—he fights for the truth of his father’s promise, and for a place to call home.