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.”
“Adults who get mad at children for telling the truth about their bad behavior are teaching kids that family loyalty means protecting people who hurt other family members. That’s not loyalty. That’s enabling. Real family loyalty means protecting people who are being hurt, even when the people hurting them are also family.”
As the conference concluded and families began gathering their materials and saying goodbye, I found myself standing with Emily in the now empty auditorium, looking at the stage where hundreds of women and children had shared stories of courage, recovery, and systemic change.
“Emily, when you testified at my divorce hearing three years ago, did you imagine we’d be here today?”
“No. But I’m glad we are. Grandma Kathy, do you ever wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t paid attention to Grandpa Robert’s secret meetings?”
“You would have become someone different, and so would I. And hundreds of other families would still be suffering from financial fraud that they thought was their fault.”
“Do you think Grandpa Robert knows about all the families we’ve helped?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t think it matters, Emily. What matters is that his crimes led to resources that protect people he’ll never meet, taught children he’ll never know, and created justice that extends far beyond our family.”
“Grandma Kathy, what’s the most important thing I learned from all of this?”
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