Ginger Franklin Fights for Control of Her Life

Franklin’s story illustrates what can happen to anyone who falls under the control of a conservator, which is a guardian appointed by the court to oversee the affairs of someone unable to take care of themselves.

Franklin fell down the stairs in her condo in 2008 and suffered a brain injury. She spent two months in rehab hospitals. Now that she's recovered, she's finding it very difficult to dissolve the conservatorship. She's been trying for more than a year.

She said people have no idea how many rights you lose when your life is controlled by a conservator.

"They strip all your rights when you're conserved," Franklin said.

As she discovered, people in conservatorships can't pick their own doctors, see their medical records or refuse mind-altering medicine. They can't write checks, handle their own money, sell or give away their possessions or enter into contracts, not even cell phone or cable contracts. They can't get married and can't hire a lawyer.

"People who are in prison have more rights than people who are conserved," Franklin said.

Randy Kennedy is the judge of Probate Court in Nashville. He oversees about 1,800 conservatorship cases. The Channel 4 I-Team asked why it’s so hard for someone to dissolve a conservatorship.

Judicial ethics prohibit him from speaking about Franklin’s particular case, but Kennedy agreed to comment in general.

"Often times, people think they can just walk in and say, 'Despite my debilitating stroke, or despite my traumatic head injury, or despite my Alzheimer's or senile dementia, I'm OK now and you need to take my word for it,’" Kennedy said. "The courts are not supposed to be making those kinds of judgments without clear and convincing evidence."

Franklin said she believes she's provided enough proof that she's well.

Franklin said she wants her life back. Her car is gone -- she doesn't know where -- as are almost all of her household items. Her stocks are gone; her checking and savings are accounts nearly empty. She said the conservator filed bankruptcy without her knowledge.

"I'm 52 years old, and everything that I have has been liquidated," Franklin said. “I wasn’t a rich woman, but I had nice things.

Franklin said she hasn't had an accounting of how her money was spent. Her house is now in foreclosure.

The public guardian appointed to her case did not return the I-Team's phone calls. Franklin said the conservatorship was the worst thing that ever happened to her.

"I understand it was entered into it with good intentions, and I'm sure there are people who are conserved who need to be conserved. But it has not done me any good. It has ruined my life," Franklin said.

Full Article and Source:
Woman Fights For Control of Her Life

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Ginger's Story