The Pierre Paul Gagnon Trust: Structure, Control, and the Cost to His Heir

THE DOCUMENT

• Instrument: Amended and Restated Revocable Living Trust of Pierre Paul Gagnon
• History: Restatement of original December 12, 2006 trust, previously amended November 17, 2014
• Current version signed: February 26, 2020
• Drafted by: Foster S. B. Friedman, Esq. — Wade, Grimes, Friedman, Meinken & Leischner, PLLC, 616 North Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314
• Settlor and initial Trustee: Pierre Paul Gagnon
• Length: 35 pages total

This document is the legal vehicle that determines who controls the money, who must be told the truth, and who ultimately benefits if Valerie Gagnon is not fully supported as her father directed.

THE FOUR-HAT PROBLEM

In both the Pierre Paul Gagnon Trust and the Gaetane Gagnon Trust, one Old Town lawyer is positioned to wear multiple hats at once. The trust structure concentrates power while diffusing responsibility and scrutiny.

• Drafting Attorney — wrote every word, including the discretionary “MAY” language.
• Trust Protector — sweeping powers, no notice required, no liability.
• Acting Trustee — controls all distributions, sole and absolute discretion.
• Notary Public — notarized the very document he drafted and controls.

One man. Four roles. Zero accountability. Valerie’s inheritance.

THE FAMILY

• Married couple: Pierre Paul Gagnon and Gaetane R. Gagnon
• Child: One daughter, Valerie Gagnon, over 18 at the time of the 2020 restatement
• Initial funding: Trust initially funded with $10.00; additional property added over time

The trust is not a dynasty plan. It centers on a single nuclear family and, ultimately, on one intended living beneficiary after both parents’ deaths: their daughter, Valerie.

AFTER PIERRE PAUL’S DEATH — THE FAMILY TRUST (ARTICLE VIII)

Article VIII creates the Family Trust for Gaetane if she survives Pierre Paul. In that event, all trust property flows into the Family Trust. The language governing Gaetane’s support is mandatory and detailed.

• Income: Gaetane receives ALL net income from the trust, paid regularly (monthly or as otherwise specified). This is not optional.
• Principal withdrawals: Gaetane can withdraw up to $5,000 per year from principal, plus 5% of the trust’s market value annually.
• Primary consideration: The trustee is directed to give primary consideration to Gaetane; Valerie’s interests are secondary until Gaetane’s death.
• Termination: The Family Trust terminates at Gaetane’s death, at which point the Valerie Gagnon Trust is triggered.

ARTICLE IX — DISTRIBUTION UPON GAETANE’S DEATH

After Gaetane’s death, 100% of the remaining trust property is directed into The Valerie Gagnon Trust (Article X).

The FINCA Trap

If Valerie fails to survive the Settlor, the trust terminates and divides equally:

• One share to Katia Riverin (Valerie’s aunt).
• One share to FINCA — 1201 15th Street NW, 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20005.

Valerie’s family had no prior contact with FINCA. If Katia Riverin also fails to survive, FINCA receives EVERYTHING. Foster S. B. Friedman wrote every word of this provision.

ARTICLE X — THE VALERIE GAGNON TRUST

Article X is the core of the entire document. It creates the trust that bears Valerie’s name and is supposed to support her for life.

Section A — Beneficiary

The Valerie Gagnon Trust is created for the benefit of the Settlor’s daughter, VALERIE GAGNON. She is the sole named lifetime beneficiary.

Section B — Distributions

The distribution standard that governs Valerie’s support is discretionary, not mandatory:

The Trustee MAY distribute to or for the benefit of Valerie Gagnon so much of the net income and principal as the Trustee, in its SOLE AND ABSOLUTE DISCRETION, shall consider necessary or advisable for her health, education, maintenance and support. Any income not paid out is ADDED TO PRINCIPAL.

The same lawyer who drafted this language now serves as the person who decides how often, how much, and even whether Valerie receives anything at all.

Section C — Settlor’s Explicit Intent

On paper, there is no ambiguity: Pierre Paul directs the trustee to support Valerie liberally, to treat preservation of principal as a secondary concern, and to ignore any remainderman’s interests entirely.

Section F — Termination

Upon Valerie’s death, any remaining principal in the Valerie Gagnon Trust passes under Article IX. In practice, this means the remainder goes to FINCA and Katia Riverin as described above, and if Katia does not survive, FINCA stands to take everything.

WHAT THE TRUST SAYS vs. WHAT HAPPENED

Valerie Gagnon received $47,000 from the Pierre Paul Gagnon Trust. The trust document itself does not disclose the total estate value — no accounting has ever been produced by Friedman.

What is separately known, from prior analysis of Gaetane Gagnon’s personal investment account, is that that account held approximately $1,400,000 USD. Withdrawals were made from that account between 2023 and 2025 — while Gaetane was still alive. That analysis is a separate documented fact. It does not come from the trust document.

The full value of the Pierre Paul Gagnon Trust remains unknown. What is known is this: Valerie received $47,000. Friedman has refused to account for the rest.

ARTICLE XII — TRUSTEE SUCCESSION

• Designated corporate successor trustee: Burke & Herbert Bank and Trust (Alexandria).
• If Burke & Herbert is unable or unwilling: Wade, Grimes, Friedman, Meinken & Leischner, PLLC — the drafting attorney’s own law firm — becomes successor trustee.
• No duty to look back: No successor trustee is required to examine or audit the records of any prior trustee.

This succession structure keeps control within a tight Old Town circle and explicitly weakens backward-looking oversight. It makes it significantly harder for Valerie to challenge how prior trustees handled her father’s estate.

ARTICLE XIII — TRUST PROTECTOR

Section A — Appointment

Article XIII appoints Foster S. B. Friedman, Esq. as Trust Protector. If he is unable or unwilling to serve, the successor Trust Protector is Gretchyn Gay Meinken, Esq. — also of Wade, Grimes, Friedman, Meinken & Leischner, PLLC.

Powers Without Notice, Consent, or Court Oversight

The Trust Protector’s powers are explicitly exercisable WITHOUT consent of any beneficiary, WITHOUT notice to any beneficiary, and WITHOUT court approval, including the power to:

• Appoint and remove successor Trustees at any time, for any reason, with or without cause.
• Move the trust to another state or country, without notifying Valerie.
• Modify or reform any provision of the trust, retroactively to the inception of the trust.
• Operate with no liability for the exercise or non-exercise of any of these powers.

The document does not merely fail to guard against conflicts; it affirmatively permits them for the person who can reshape the trust and control who administers it.

THE TIMELINE

• 2006: Original trust created by Pierre Paul Gagnon.
• November 17, 2014: Trust amended.
• February 26, 2020: Trust restated — current version — drafted by Foster S. B. Friedman. Trust signed. Friedman notarizes his own document.
• 2023: Pierre Paul Gagnon dies. Family Trust activates for Gaetane.
• 2025: Gaetane Gagnon dies. The Valerie Gagnon Trust (Article X) should be fully funded.
• 2025: Valerie receives $47,000 — amount and basis never explained.
• 2026: Valerie has received $47,000. No accounting provided. Friedman refuses to respond.
• 2026: Virginia State Bar complaint filed against Foster S. B. Friedman.
• August 2026: Over one year since Gaetane’s death. No accounting. No distributions. No explanation.

THE CENTRAL QUESTIONS

• What is the total value of the Pierre Paul Gagnon Trust estate?
• How much has Friedman distributed to Valerie — and on what basis?
• Where is the rest of the money?
• Has Friedman, as Trust Protector, modified the trust terms — retroactively — without notifying Valerie?
• Has the trust been moved to another jurisdiction?
• Why does an organization Valerie’s family never had contact with stand to inherit everything upon her death?
• Who suggested FINCA — and why?

VIRGINIA LAW

Virginia Code § 64.2-775 — Trustee must provide a complete accounting to the beneficiary upon reasonable request. Refusal is grounds for court action.

Virginia Rule of Professional Conduct 1.8 — governs attorney conflicts of interest. An attorney who drafts a trust and then serves as Trustee is in a position to benefit from language he himself wrote.

The Signature Page — The Final Conflict

The trust was signed on February 26, 2020. Pierre Paul Gagnon signed twice — once as Settlor and once as Trustee. The document was acknowledged and notarized by FOSTER S. B. FRIEDMAN, Notary Public, Reg. #255137, Commonwealth of Virginia, Commission expires August 31, 2021.

Foster Friedman — the drafting attorney, the Trust Protector — also served as the Notary Public for the very document he drafted and over which he holds sweeping powers. This is the fourth hat.

The Contest Clause — The Trap Friedman Built For Himself

Article XVI, Section F contains a no-contest clause: if Valerie Gagnon challenges the trust in any way, she is deemed to have predeceased her father — forfeiting her entire share. Everything would then go to FINCA.

This clause, written by Friedman, protects Friedman. Any legal challenge by Valerie risks triggering the very clause that would give her inheritance to a Washington, DC organization her family had no contact with.

The Spendthrift Protection — What the Trust Got Right

Article XVI contains a spendthrift provision: Valerie’s interest in the trust cannot be assigned, pledged, or encumbered, and is not subject to claims of creditors. Everything she receives is hers alone — free from any spouse’s control.

Her father built in protections for her. Friedman administered the trust that contained those protections.

The Four Hats of Foster S. B. Friedman

By the time the trust was signed, the structure ensured that one Old Town lawyer could occupy every critical position around Valerie’s inheritance.

• Drafting Attorney — wrote every word, including the discretionary “MAY” language.
• Trust Protector — sweeping powers, no notice required, no liability.
• Acting Trustee — controls all distributions, sole and absolute discretion.
• Notary Public — notarized the very document he drafted and over which he holds those powers.

Each hat reinforces the others. Together, they leave the named beneficiary with risk, uncertainty, and silence.

THE BOTTOM LINE

“Pierre Paul Gagnon signed his name twice on February 26, 2020 — once as the man who loved his daughter, and once as the Trustee who trusted Foster Friedman to carry that love forward.

Foster Friedman notarized that signature. He drafted the words. He holds the powers. He controls the money.

Valerie Gagnon received $47,000.

The trust her father created — specifically, in her name, Article X: THE VALERIE GAGNON TRUST — said her needs come first, ‘without any concern whatsoever for the interest of any remainderman.’

FINCA is waiting.”

In Old Town’s Bulfinch Square, this case is not an outlier. It sits in a longer pattern of closed professional networks writing their own powers into family instruments, beneficiaries forced into the role of investigator, and outside institutions positioned to profit from silence. The facts of the Pierre Paul Gagnon Trust speak for themselves, but they also speak to a wider system that treats vulnerable heirs as obstacles rather than the point.