“I want to tell you about some of the kids who became financial guardians for their families. Ten-year-old Marcus noticed that his dad was getting mail sent to fake addresses and asking questions about his mom’s retirement accounts. Fourteen-year-old Sarah recorded conversations where her stepdad talked about moving money to other countries before their divorce was finalized. Eight-year-old David saw his grandfather giving jewelry and expensive gifts to a woman who wasn’t his grandmother. All of these kids learned the same thing I learned. Adults who tell children to keep secrets from other adults they love are usually doing something wrong. And when you love someone, you don’t let other people hurt them just because those people are adults or family members.”
I watched Emily address the audience with confidence that had developed through three years of speaking to legal professionals, child advocacy groups, and families facing financial crisis. She’d grown from a child who’d accidentally become a witness to an advocate who deliberately chose to protect others.
“Our Children as Financial Guardians program teaches kids three important things,” Emily continued. “First, what financial fraud looks like in families. Second, how to document suspicious activities safely. And third, who to tell when adults are hiding money or lying about family finances. But the most important thing we teach is this: children have the right to protect people they love, even when that means telling uncomfortable truths about adults who’ve made bad choices.”
After Emily’s presentation, I joined her on stage to announce the foundation’s newest initiative, a partnership with family courts in 12 states to establish child advocacy protocols specifically designed for financial fraud cases.
“The Katherine Gillian Foundation has demonstrated that children’s testimony is often the most reliable evidence of premeditated financial deception,” I told the audience. “Children observe family dynamics without agenda, remember conversations with accuracy, and report facts without the emotional complications that affect adult witnesses. Beginning this fall, family court systems in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Kentucky will implement standardized procedures for interviewing child witnesses in divorce cases involving suspected asset concealment. This means that children who notice confusing adult behavior around money will have trained advocates to help them report what they’ve observed. And family court judges will have established protocols for evaluating children’s testimony about financial fraud.”
During the question and answer session, a woman in her sixties raised her hand.
“Mrs. Gillian, my granddaughter Maya documented hidden assets that helped me recover $1.8 million from my ex-husband. But my son, Maya’s father, is angry that she testified against her grandfather. How do you handle family relationships when children’s testimony protects one family member by exposing another?”
I looked at Emily, who’d fielded similar questions at previous conferences.
“May I answer this?” Emily asked, and I nodded.
“When adults make bad choices that hurt people, children shouldn’t have to pretend those choices are okay just to keep family relationships comfortable,” Emily said. “My grandfather went to prison because he committed crimes, not because I told the truth about his crimes. Maya’s grandfather lost money because he stole it, not because Maya reported the stealing.”
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