When Esther Johnson became vulnerable, her wishes and needs were denied, her estate plundered, and her dignity neglected. Even though she named her son Taylor as her DPoA and even specified he would be her guardian if needed, she didn’t get what she wanted. Instead, Esther’s daughter was named guardian. She confined Esther to her bedroom, denied her visitors, and only allowed Taylor to see their Mother one hour per week and those supervised visits cost Taylor over $100 each.No one was allowed to mention Taylor’s name or answer Esther when she asked about him.
The 3 1/2 year nightmare, which Esther Johnson suffered and which directly caused her death, revolves around the Probate Court structure in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the courts absolute refusal to abide by the existing protective laws for the elderly.
Esther Johnson suffered many abuses and torture before her homicide on December 30, 1998.
As a society, we can and must protect the human, civil and constitutional rights of seniors. Every person deserves to live a full life with dignity. Every person must be guaranteed that their wishes will be carried out, assets protected and dignity preserved.
Elderly Abuse.com
May 2009 ~ Guardianship abuse victims recognized during Elder Abuse Prevention Month
6 comments:
Here is another case of the court doing what it wanted and ignoring the wishes of the person.
A durable power of attorney should stand -- it should "trump" guardianship proceedings.
Shameful, disurbing and a disgrace.
Esther Johnson's case is another example of Power of Attorney document being disregarded.
Another story proving the distress and harm caused by the guardianship system that is dangerously ineffective to monitor the guardians who are supposed to be working in the best interest of the ward.
Why not present this abusive situation to a class of 2nd graders and document their concllusions?
Any volunteers to become a ward of the state?
I keep asking for volunteers, yet no one has come forward - I wonder why?
Could it be EVERYONE is fully aware this is in your face elder abuse under color of law?
Appointed POA's are often ignored, and sometimes the source of abuses. There needs to be a better system of appointing and RECOGNIZING desired poa's.
Attorneys are often the first to abuse POA, not family. A formal statement recorded in court could lead to less problems later on.
In our case, the only child was denied access by the guardian and thrown out of the long term care facility. We never dreamt this was happening across our country.
Yes - Call the Spade a Spade. This is slow homicide. Elder Abuse must become as putrid to society as Child Abuse. When there is general consensus on this, States will enact criminal laws and abusers of the elderly and incapacitated will be prosecuted, as are child abusers.
And making the family pay to visit their own mother is cruelty at its worse.
The lawyers and Judges should be prosecuted and disbarred when they allow this type of abuse to our elderly citizens..elder abuse is the most important problem in the united states of america...where is the justice?
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