Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Rethinking Guardianship

Families say loved ones are being ripped away by a closed, unfair system.

Putting legal power over a person into a stranger’s hands is supposedly considered a last resort by the court system.

But several local families say that what began as a volunteer program to help the old and vulnerable has evolved into a close-knit alliance of probate judges, attorneys, care providers, and quasi-governmental nonprofit employees. These factions, while doing good in many cases, sometimes rip families apart without giving relatives so much as the courtesy of being present at the hearings where such decisions are made.

“The system is rigged, and the family has nowhere to turn,” said Kathie Seidel, one of a handful of local residents who accuse the probate court and GSI of removing loved ones from their homes unnecessarily.

The residents describe being replaced as guardians in court hearings without being given a chance to defend themselves — and then being required to put up $10,000 bonds in order to be allowed to appeal the decision. Overturning a court’s decision on guardianship can become a maze of dead ends. Families don’t know where to turn, other than to legislators who might change the laws — and that’s been a slow-moving ship.

The families believe the system involves too-cozy relationships between judges, attorneys, caseworkers, and others and is rife with intimidation and retaliatory behavior designed to shut out families that might get in the way.

Attorneys donate money to the election campaigns of probate judges who assign those same attorneys to guardianship cases. Attorneys also donate money to GSI, which in turn shepherds clients to nursing homes and other facilities that want to keep their beds filled. The nonprofit’s funding is based on its number of clients. Its board of directors is mostly composed of attorneys and has included nursing home representatives in the past.

Efforts to expose the system’s flaws and build support for reforms fell on deaf ears in the past, but that might be changing. Four North Texas families traveled to Austin last week to testify at a Texas Senate interim hearing along with other families from around the state. They told their stories to a committee led by Sen. Jane Nelson of Flower Mound, describing secret hearings and retaliation from court-appointed guardians using family members as pawns in power struggles. They lamented an overall lack of regulation.

Senators appeared surprised and concerned about what’s happening in some guardianship cases.

Pushing for reforms nationwide is the National Association to Stop Guardianship Abuse (NASGA), an Indiana-based nonprofit group working to get a federal response to guardianship problems caused by self-policing courts and programs. “Each state is different, and each county has their own procedure, so the only answer is federal,” said Sylvia Rudek, a NASGA board member. “There is no due process. They have ex-parte hearings. There are no civil rights — that’s what makes it federal.”

Full article and source:
Rethinking Guardianship

3 comments:

Mae Eliz said...

This article is absolutely true! The court system is definitely rigged. I have gone through a year of pure hell when some estranged relatives came, in hopes of gaining some of my loved one's wealth, and took him to court for incapacity. Even though there was NO reason to kidnap him from our home, he was taken immediately from an emergency court hearing to an unknown nursing home. No one was allowed to see him for over seven weeks. During that time he was given heavy medications, among them Seroquel which is not supposed to be used for mild short term memory loss. I believe he was given this and other medications so that he would become docile and passive, which he became by the time we were allowed to visit.

Between the court costs, three attorney's and the guardian the million plus assets have dwindled. His house and contents have been sold for less than market value.

The guardian and her attorney do not love or even care about the ward. They are only interested in receiving their payments. There is no compassion. He has not been allowed out of the place, even though there is no reason not to go to lunch, or even a short trip.

There is not an unterested party checking up on these guardians and their attorneys. Everyone involved is an interested party for their own profit!

It is truly an EVIL system that needs changing.

Sue said...

FACT: Guardianship is a life sentence

FACT: Anyone who comes out of it alive is impoverished

FACT: The system was turned into a racket to benefit the probate mob squad

FACT: These courtroom thugs have their eyes on YOU

FACT: They want all you have, your money, your possesions, your cash, your valuable and collectibles, your safe deposit box, all your bank accounts, your income - everything with a $ price tag

FACT: If you don't think YOU will be affected think again - the rightful heirs of the estate end up with $00.00

FACT: The IRS will come after you, the heirs of the estate for unpaid back taxes which was the responsibility of the Guardian or the Conservator

FACT: If YOU do nothing, say nothing, continue to accept this then we will be reading about YOUR story on the NASGA BLOG AND WEBSITE

FACT: YOU have a choice, join in and participate or sit and wait for Team Probate to come for YOU

Anonymous said...

'Closed and unfair system'? A system run by legal criminals protected by deep pockets all the way to top level government officials