Edward Abbot Ravenscroft Wins Some Say

After months of trying, a Scottsdale millionaire has at long last been given some say-so in who controls his money.

It was left to a non-probate judge to finally listen to Edward Abbott Ravenscroft and to remove the Sun Valley Group as his conservator. Sun Valley fought to the end to retain control of Ravenscroft's finances and for good reason.

Sun Valley now can no longer control whether Ravenscroft can sue the company, its attorneys and other lawyers who operate within the cozy confines of probate court – the ones who have pocketed at least a quarter of a million dollars of his money. Instead, that power now transfers to Ravenscroft's new conservator, Jane Anne Geisler of Managed Protective Services.

“This is like a miracle …,” Ravenscroft told me. “Now I can breathe. Now I can start working with Jane Anne Geisler and get on with my life.”

Ravenscroft, 49, came under the watchful eye of probate in January 2009 after a series of drug arrests raised questions about his mental health and his vulnerability, given the size of his bank account. But he's been clean for nine months and since then has been trying to regain control over his life and his bankbook. A court-appointed guardian bowed out in March while Sun Valley continued on, based on a court-appointed psychiatrist's finding that he still needs help managing his money.

But this week, that psychiatrist, Dr. Jack Potts, testified that Sun Valley should be removed, both because Ravenscroft wants someone else to handle his money and because little progress has been made toward moving him to financial independence.

Judge Hugh Hegyi bounced the company, saying that while there was no evidence of impropriety, Ravenscroft's relationship with Sun Valley “is hindering his transition to financial independence.”

Hegyi also voided attorney Grant Goodman's contract with Ravenscroft, presumably invalidating his racketeering lawsuit against Sun Valley and Ravenscroft's other former probate protectors. Goodman filed a series of lawsuits earlier this spring on behalf of Ravenscroft and several other wards of the court, accusing various lawyers and fiduciaries of working together to squeeze their vulnerable clients while probate judges looked on and did, well, nothing.

Hegyi ruled that Goodman had no authority to file a lawsuit on behalf of Ravenscroft because he's “incapacitated”. The power to sue, he said, rests only with the judge or the conservator.

Which was Sun Valley, until this week.

Full Article and Source:
Millionnaire Wins Some Say in Who Controls His Money

See Also:
Progress in the Edward Abbot Ravenscroft Case