Tina:  Yeah, I think the average family would rather go to Scotland and stay at a family run inn than say stay at the Ritz Carlton. If you want to experience the local community in a foreign country, well that is ideal.

Bette: Sometime around the middle of November, I am going to ask James and Lisa to come spend a Saturday night with us. They can bring the kids. We’ll put them in the cabana. The kids can sleep on the Murphy bed. Paris and I are going to want to have a meeting with him. We are going to make him a gift of our shares of the Porter Gallery as of the end of the year. Paris is going to agree to work with him through May or June so he can have his parental leave when this new baby is born. She and I will help him find a curator or whatever he wants. He’s quite talented and we believe he deserves this. We certainly do not need the money. And he’s got the talent and skills needed to make a go of it. I’m going to allow him to use the Porter name for as long as he owns 51 percent of the business for free. If his ownership falls below 51 percent, he will then have to pay for the use of the name or he can change the name to whatever. It will be up to him. I’ll make him a contract whereby if he or Lisa jointly ever not own 51 percent or more, then the price would be 1 percent of all revenues. So, if he sold one million dollars’ worth of art, he would owe me $10,000.

Tina: What would Paris get?

Bette:  Nothing. It’s not Paris’s name. We are both going to give our shares of stock free and clear. The only thing I keep is the use of my name. And I want to know who is using my name. I want to maintain control of that. But that is it. The building, the inventory, the client list, the goodwill from the years of business associated with the name and reputation of the business go with the ownership of the stock. As of January 1, James will be the owner of Porter Gallery of Los Angeles. With no compensation coming to me and none to Paris, and if he can keep the business on par with past performance, he should be able to hire a talented curator and give himself a nice raise as well. He may be able to hire another clerk or two to make his life easier. Of course, Paris may continue her base compensation until she actually terminates her job. But we are going to forego the percentage of sales we have been receiving in the past. Mine will terminate as of December 31^st.  I think Paris will terminate her commission as well. But until a curator is in place and James is comfortable, both of us will be available for consultation. Paris thinks that with the right person, we will seldom hear from James on business matters. He’s ready. He’s more than ready.