I chose him because he had represented my mother in a property matter years earlier, and because he had once told her that the most useful lawyer was one willing to say, “I don’t know yet.”

He listened without interrupting while I explained the call and showed him the deed.

He asked when the house had been transferred, whether Kenneth had contributed to major renovations, and whether I had ever signed a refinance application.

I answered carefully, surprised by how much I remembered when nobody rushed me.

“The house appears to have been given to you before the marriage,” he said.

“That is important.