The conflict was caused by the passing of an elderly, first$-$generation Spanish immigrant. He left four children$-$the oldest daughter, Anne; the second oldest, Maria; the third oldest, Joe; and the youngest, Angie.In the father's final years he needed care, and only the second oldest, Maria, took on the task, moving into the father's house with her husband and two kids. She took care of him for over seven years and, apparently angry that she was the only one caring for the father, she restricted the visiting rights of her siblings. The other three children filed a lawsuit demanding, and getting, more access to spend time with the father. The son, Joe, was most estranged from the father, although he visited once in a long while. Relations between Maria and all three of her siblings continued to deteriorate, culminating in the disappearance of an expensive set of tools that Joe had acquired and stored in the father's garage. Maria had information that the tools had been stolen by Joe for the insurance money, but Joe denied this and sued Maria in small claims court, saying that Maria sold the tools.This dispute was still ongoing.The father died, leaving a will that split everything equally between the four children. The estate comprised the father's house, four properties back in Spain $($some owned communally with other relatives$),$ the parents' jewelry and other personal effects, and about $$50,000$ in cash.Maria claimed some of the jewelry was given to her by the mother $($who had died nine years before$),$ along with a statue of the Virgin Mary. The other three disputed the claim that this had been given to her. Other jewelry was simply missing; Maria claimed the parents had lost it$,$ whereas the siblings thought Maria had taken it$.$ Finally, the father had made various loans to all four children, with no records or provision that they needed to be repaid to the estate. The children had stopped speaking to each other, and Anne, Joe, and Angie filed a lawsuit to freeze the estate until an

agreement could be reached.

PLEASE USE THE CONFLICT RESOLUTION BOUNDARY MODEL.