From Wealth to Welfare

The old woman sits in the corner reclining chair, as she does most of the time any more, looking at, well, nothing. The smell — a stinging mixture of urine and ammonia — doesn't seem to bother her as it does a visitor to this Phoenix nursing home. Or maybe she's just accepted the fact that this is how she will live out the rest of her life.

Are you happy? I ask her, and her eyes cloud over as she hesitates, then shakes her head.

“No,” she says softly. “Are you happy?”

Not even close, I feel like telling her as I look around. But I don't. No need to pile more worry onto the frail shoulders of an 88 year old who already has far more than her fair share.

Not even four years ago, Marie Long had $1.3 million in assets, held in trust for her final years on this earth. Sometime in the next few weeks, she'll be tossed onto the state's welfare rolls. All of her money is gone now; much of it bled off by legal fees and guardian fees.

And the court that exists to protect her?

Simply put, it didn't.

Marie has no children to watch over her. Long ago, her daughter died of cancer at age 16 and the following year, her 20-year-old son was killed in Vietnam. When her husband Cliff died in 2003, he left Marie in decent shape, having put all they owned into a trust.

Two years later, Marie suffered a stroke and the beneficiary of that trust, her niece Genevieve Olen of El Cajon, Calif., took over managing Marie's money.

Court records paint a picture of the family squabble that ensued. Olen moved her aunt to a San Diego assisted-living center, reasoning that it would be best for Marie and cheaper than round-the-clock help in her own home.

But Marie wanted to come home to Scottsdale and her sisters fought to make that happen. Marie, meanwhile, removed Olen as her beneficiary though she remained as trustee, in charge of Marie's money.

For nearly two years, Marie would live at home, her care overseen by her court-appointed guardian, Tempe-based Sun Valley Group. Early on, another company supplied 24-hour companion caregivers to Marie, at a cost of up to $9,000 a month.

In April 2006, SVG installed its own caregivers and the cost jumped to $10,000 to $15,000 a month. This, on top of the thousands SVG was charging each month for serving as her guardian and despite a Supreme Court rule that bars guardians from “self dealing or the appearance of a conflict of interest.” If such services aren't available elsewhere, the rule allows a guardian to provide them but only after getting court approval.

There is nothing in the court file to indicate SVG notified the judge that it was also collecting on the side by providing Marie's caregivers.

Full Article and Source:
From Wealth to Welfare: How Much Court "Protection" Can One Old Lady Afford?"