Bank Files Guardianship

Michelle Cohen is petrified about her upcoming court hearing. For weeks, she's been frantically calling attorneys in hopes of preventing a decision she fears will change her life.

A bank is asking a court to appoint a guardian for Cohen, who is mentally ill and who has a trust fund at the bank. But what Cohen wants is to be left alone. To live how and where she pleases. To spend her trust fund money on whatever she wants. To be like other people – those without a mental illness.

"I'm fully competent to handle my own affairs," said Cohen, a Dallas resident who turns 41 this month. "Nothing good will happen if I have a guardian. I'll probably wind up in a group home. I have a lot to fear about that."

American National Bank, which oversees the Henrietta Neufeld Cohen Trust, believes this is a case where it is warranted, filing for a limited permanent guardianship of Cohen and the estate last June.

At one point, the trust left to Cohen by her paternal grandmother was worth nearly half a million dollars. But when the Flower Mound branch of American National took it over last January from Wachovia, the account had dwindled to about $135,000. The balance is roughly $50,000 now, according to trust accounting records. The bank has been responsible for spending a portion of that in its attempt to have a guardian named.

After delays last fall, the case is now scheduled to be heard Tuesday by Judge Don Windle in Denton County probate court.

Since American National took over the account, records show the money has been mostly spent on the lawyers Cohen hired, lawyers the bank hired, extended-stay hotels, personal items and other living expenses.

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Dallas Woman Fights For Control After Bank Asks Court to Appoint Guardian