Elderly UWS Resident Fights Back After Guardianship Wipes Out Her Life Savings

by Brendan Mohler

After a court-appointed guardianship drained Upper West Side resident Paulette Kohler of more than $800,000 in savings, those closest to the 95-year-old are helping her fight back. NBC New York first reported the story’s most recent developments.

Without any living relatives, Kohler designated her best friend, Inga Eggerud, as her power of attorney and sole beneficiary in 2021. The following year, the management of Kohler’s condo building at 500 West End Avenue (and West 84th Street) filed a petition stating Kohler was incapacitated and potentially a victim of elder abuse at the hands of Eggerud. The petition claimed that Eggerud, who had been close with Kohler since 2011, was also the subject of a criminal investigation, though the petition did not provide evidence to substantiate this claim. The New York Post reported that the petition was filed while Kohler was in a rehab center recovering from surgery.

Despite the lack of evidence, the New York County Supreme Court supported the petition and designated a stranger to take control of Kohler’s care and assets. Shortly thereafter, Kohler’s friends–including Eggerud and Barbara Goodstein, a former corporate executive who also employed Eggerud as a housekeeper–were barred from visiting the then 92-year-old.

Kohler had about $870,000 when the guardianship began in 2022. The guardianship was ruled “improper” and overturned 16 months later, but Kohler’s nest egg dwindled to just $27,000 in that time.

“The avarice of the building has only been rivaled by a predatory court system that has marshaled Ms. Kohler’s entire net worth, which is being used to pay the people the court has imposed on her against her will,” Goodstein told the NY Post in 2022. “She has lost her civil rights, her voice and access to proper medical care. And now she will die alone, while her friends watch helplessly from a distance.”

Goodstein uncovered that more than $500,000 of Kohler’s money went to home health aids hired by the guardian, but that Kohler was not receiving adequate care. Eggerud told NBC that Kohler was wearing the same clothes for a week and her diapers were not changed for three or four days during the guardianship.

Kohler has lived in a two-bedroom apartment at 500 West End since 1957. Goldstein says the potential sale of Kohler’s rent-stabilized apartment–which Kohler rents for less than $2,000 per month–was the motivating factor behind the building’s actions.

Eggerud is now suing those responsible for the guardianship for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress against Kohler. A court recently ruled that the lawsuit may move forward against the firm that represented 500 West End. NBC reports that the defendants deny any wrongdoing.

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Elderly UWS Resident Fights Back After Guardianship Wipes Out Her Life Savings

See Also:
After friends win legal battle, new lawsuit filed in Manhattan guardianship case