Saturday, May 30, 2009

Apathetic Court and Bank System

My Mother and I share the same birthday, October 22, approximately 44 years apart. I was very close to both of my parents. When my father passed away in 1996, he left a sizable estate for my Mother, and for the descendants he specified in his Will and Trust. My mother’s Will and Trust documents are identical to Father’s. Of utmost importance to my Father, was my Mother’s welfare, after his death. He left explicit instructions as to how his estate was to be distributed and protected.

My older sister, Cam (Mueller) Fischer had been disinherited and financially disowned for alleged theft of monies from a family business and tax fraud, officially in 1985. She chose to remove herself, and her children, from the family for almost 20 years; this was a source of great pain for my parents. In 1998 she maneuvered control over our Mother, through a Power of Attorney, that Mother lacked the capacity to execute. Cam sold the family home for below market value and made herself the recipient of the $500,000.00 + proceeds, along with all the personal property she valued. Items such as cars, jewelry, furs, furniture, oriental rugs, paintings, and silver have ‘disappeared’. Also lost are the irreplaceable mementos of lives well lived, such as photographs, family keepsakes, and the heritage passed down from previous generations. Cam currently benefits from the ongoing, annual $70,000.00 + per year Mother receives from Father’s trust; a total of over $630,000.00 to date; plus the $500,000.00 + from the sale of my parent’s home, a very conservative total of $1,130,000.00, that does not include personal property, social security monies, or other investments. In November of 2005, in court documents filed by Cam Fischer, Cam lists Mother’s total assets as $10,000.00. Where is all the money, and how has it been spent?

The co-trustee of Father’s two Trusts, Commerce Bank, continues to fail in the fiduciary duty it has been entrusted with, which is to protect the Trusts, and oversee the appropriate distribution of the Trusts assets’. Commerce had been alerted, as far back as 1998, by Mother’s own attorney, that she was already a victim of ongoing financial duress which she was unable to effectively resist. This abuse of the Trust assets has been allowed by Commerce, despite the overwhelming evidence and documentation that has been presented to the bank. In April of 2006, Commerce authorized $10,000.00 to be paid to Cam Fischer’s attorney, Matt Rossiter, and an additional $2,000.00+ to the Probate Court appointed attorney, Jim Wright, for Cam’s portion of the court fees. These monies were paid in Mother’s name, from Father’s Trust, for the benefit of Cam Fischer. I have asked Commerce, repeatedly, for an accounting of the monies dispersed from my Father’s Trust, into a checking account in Mother’s name; these monies are to be used for her welfare exclusively. They have yet to perform any type of accounting. In 2006, Commerce also assumed sole trusteeship of the Trusts without making any attempt to contact me, the beneficiary of the Trusts. Commerce disclosed that they had been unable to contact Mother for over a year; their attempts to speak with her had been blocked by my sister, Cam Fischer, who controls every aspect of Mother’s life. Cam’s absolute control includes preventing Mother and I from seeing one another. In 2005 I was forced to obtain a court order to “visit” with my mother once a week. Financially, I have been unable to maintain the visitation order. Cam will continue to have the financial ‘upper-hand’ as long as Commerce continues to disregard its fiduciary duty to Mother, Father, and I. I have seen my mother less than a dozen times in approximately nine years.

For 8-9 years, I have been seeking justice for my parents and myself. I have battled an apathetic judicial, probate court, and bank system, that disregard my Mother’s welfare; ignoring the evidence of elder abuse, in all its forms, in particular the financial abuse that has been perpetrated upon her. The attorneys, the bank, and the court system are the profiteers, acting in their best interest to Mother’s detriment. The personal, emotional, and financial cost of this battle has been high. Daily, I fear for my Mother’s welfare. I know she is not living the life she and my father worked and planned for.

May 2009 ~ Guardianship abuse victims recognized during Elder Abuse Prevention Month

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's so very hard to fight the professionals; you'd think there would be a better chance when a family member is involved.

Of course the worst thing her is not seeing your Mother -- and not knowing how she truly is.

I am very sorry.

Anonymous said...

I am sorry for your suffering. It's so hard to believe a member on ones own family would do such a thing, but we read it in the papers every day.

Betrayal is the worst thing anyone can do to another human being.

Anonymous said...

An example of the profiteers just profiting more and more at the expense of the helpless person.

Anonymous said...

The problem for the daughter is she can't obtain accountings, health records, anything pertaining to her mother's status because of the GUARDIANSHIP. This is the legal tool that must be
removed.

The 'other' professionals are hired (at her mother's expense) to work FOR the Guardian.

It typical for the 'disowned' to do what the sister is doing.......they have NO family connections/bonds anymore.......it's all about the money for them

Anonymous said...

I am sorry you have such a horrible sister who could do this to her mother and her sister.

At least your Mother had one good daughter.

wisernow said...

I am so sorry you and your mother were intentionally denied having a normal mother daughter relationship.

This is cruel and unusual punishment handed down with court approval to two innocent women who have less rights than convicted criminals.

We can only hope that those who did this to you under color of law find out for themselves the horrors of a cold, uncaring guardianship situation.

K A R M A