You're supporting Marie Log with your tax dollars - even tough she had plenty of money on her own. Then a court appointed guardians to look out for her best interests. But her relatives say the guardians had only one interest - enriching themselves.
As children of the Depression, Marie and Cliff Long lived frugally and invested wisely. Cliff died in 2003. Madelon and Jenette are Marie's sisters.
Jeanette said her sister had about $1.3 million saved up - enough to last the rest of Marie's life - or so the couple thought.
With Marie in declining health, there were no children. Her daughter died of cancer at age 16, and her son died in Vietnam.
To make decisions on her finances and care, the court appointed a guardian - an agency called "The Sun Valley Group."
First, as Guardian, Sun Valley's owners Peter and Heather Frenette hired themselves to provide Marie's personal care. That way they collected not only guardian fees, but up to $15,000 a month in companion care fees, too.
When a Sun Valley worker started a fire in Marie's kitchen, Marie was charged for four employees to "confer" about it. The rate? Up to $105 dollars per hour for each worker.
When another Sun Valley worker locked herself out of Marie's house: $85 dollars an hour for each employee who conferred about that.
Sun Valley found a dozen ways to charge Marie to get her own weekly petty cash. They charged to prepare the cash, to confer about it, to review the status, to draft a letter to the courier, to call the courier, to pay the courier - you get the idea.
To send Long and their worker to a Phoenix Suns basketball game, Sun Valley charged over $1,000 dollars for "research," phone calls, and a limo.
Sun Valley even charged Long $228 to "determine (the) effect (of the game) on (her) mood."
When her sisters complained, Sun Valley hired lawyers, and charged Marie for that, too. Attorneys got $409,000 of Marie's money in just four years.
And Sun Valley walked away with $430,000.
Jeanette says her sister's financial status today is "Zero. Everything's been taken from her."
CBS News wanted to talk to Sun Valley CEO Peter Frenette, so we visited his Phoenix office. He wasn't available.
In writing, Frenette said he can't discuss Marie because of litigation. He did say guardians often "parachute into family battlefields; this surrounding conflict can create extraordinary fees to be incurred."
The court official who appointed Sun Valley in 2005 and an Appeals Judge defended Sun Valley's performance. They said the limo, the grease fire, all the expenses were "reasonable, necessary and for Marie's benefit." The court even blamed Marie's sisters for complaining about it and running up costs.
Full Article and Source:
CBS News - Guardianship Agency Cost Elderly Woman Dearly
See Also:
Read the GAO Report- Guardianships: Cases of Financial Exploitation, Neglect, and Abuse of Seniors
NASGA's "An Open Letter to Congress and the White House"
17 comments:
THE PROTECTION RACKET has gone national. Now maybe Congress will do the right thing!
"Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) chairman of the Committee on Aging, says it's a national problem. His Investigators found millions of dollars allegedly squandered or stolen by court-appointed guardians. They say Long's case shows why new laws are needed to protect the vulnerable from their own guardians."
How long has Senator Herb Kohl known about this shameful national disgrace?
Someone needs to hold Senator Kohl accountable and responsible for allowing these abuses to continue under his watch.
Could it be special interest groups and lobbyists have more power, influence and $$$$$$$ than we the people, to have laws that benefit us and our loved ones?
When did he know? And, what has he done about it?
Obviously, Senator Kohl and the Aging Committee and all the others including the Judiciary Committee and the US Department of Justice are only part of the long list of people in the know.
Senator Kohl and his Senators admits that they have knowledge about preadatory guardianships and conservatorships yet they do: NOTHING! but give us lip service.
Marie Long's case can be applied to all 50 states, your state, my state and we are being sucked dry as Medicaid list of recipients is growing and taking a bigger and bigger chunk of taxpayers money while the guardianship industry pockets billions of our loved ones life savings.
More laws? The truth is research shows that the state laws governing guardianships / conservatorships are being dismissed and disregarded, useless documents collecting dust while the judges go along with the guardianship racket that runs the courts.
Ms. Long and her family gave enough and then they, the vulture guardians and lawyers, took every last cent of her savings. Her husband was a Veteran, her son was killed in Viet Nam a family of VETERANS, a family of innocent people and this is how the good old USA shows our appreciation and gratitude? By designing laws that benefit the guardians, the lawyers, all total strangers to Ms Long
I am so upset that those in positions of power are playing us for fools.
Shame on you, shame on us and shame on Senator Herb Kohl.
I hope CBS continues to expose the dirty secrets, the truth about guardianship racket.
Thank you CBS!
Thank you NASGA!
We demand uniformity, federal laws with swift harsh consequences for those who disregard the laws.
THANK YOU CBS!
As unlucky as Marie Long is to have the vultures circling her, she's so lucky to have such brave sisters who have come to her defense. I was so impressed by them.
This is the first real national TV coverage of guardianship abuse. Thank you, CBS. You've opened the door.
Let's remember how we got here. Laurie Roberts, Maria Tomasch, Robert Anglen startd this road to CBS. Thank you one and all.
The heats on full blast in Arizona. This is great!
I pray CBS will do an update on Marie Long and also run other stories.
Don't forget to read NASGA's "An Open Letter to Congress and the White House", available online at www.AnOpenLetterToCongress.info.
You're right, helensniece. We are so happy to see this coverage. Now we need to push to be sure Senator Kohl and others follow through.
Marie Long was "protected" into indigence. You just can't have a better example of financial guardianship abuse than that!
I know her case is much more complicated than just the money issues, but I think CBS did a good job expressing the main point - that she was "protected" into indigence.
It's not just what it cost Marie Long; her sisters have had to pay legal fees to defend Marie too.
I am so glad to see this national attention and thank NASGA and CBS for it.
I think about what they've done to Marie Long and I could just cry and cry. She lost her children and her husband and when she was alone, they victimized her.
To think this is happening all the time breaks my heart.
I appreciate you people at NASGA.
another outrageous example of how the government protects the elderly they would be better off living under a bridge in control of their lives and assets it their money and it is my firm belief that those who earned it have the right to spend it or burn it and its nobodys business thanks so much to cbs news the hard work of their reporters to get their work on the air without the media and press we would be in the dark and thats where the slime ball predators want us now lets see if the suits in washington dc do their jobs that we elected them to do and stop this madness now thank you cbs
This is so shocking to me I never heard this before.
My familiy saw this news segment and we all stopped eating our dinner and we watched in horror and disbelief.
Reading this here makes me sick all over again, physically sick to my soul.
Guardianship does not describe this sick system. What happened to Marie Long sounds like this is news from a 3rd world lawless country oh excuse me that's right all of this scheming and swindling is ok with the judges. Remove all the judges and trash the laws and start all over. Let's do it right.
I plan to join this orgainization NASGA and do whatever it takes to get some new laws while educating and warning others what can happen to them and their life savings.
My late mother was abused by those in the system. I fought for my mother the same way Marie's sisters fight for her. How many abused people are out there who don't have anyone to fight for them?
CBSNEWS, Thank You, for doing the Marie Long Story ! every line of the Marie Long Story, reveals the blatant, horrific, corruption being allowed in our Court System. Marie Long was robbed of her life savings, And, her very life by predators that are attacking our most vulnerable Older Americans.. Marie Long is now serving a death sentence in a facility on Medicaid which taxpayers are being forced to pay, through no fault of Marie Long. It is vital CBS NEWS reveal these predators to The American Public before more of our Elders are exploited, abused and die prematurely. Guardians and Conservators are being allowed by these Courts, to lock Elders in prisons/institutions to keep them quiet while these predators raid the elders bank accounts and their financial resources. This immoral crime is exploading in America and being allowed to happen in our Courts, the very place we thought we were protected but instead, innocent people are being RailRoaded. Don't believe those Courts/Judges, Attorney's, Conservatorship CEO's and Guardians/Social Workers "GARBAGE," telling everyone, " it's the families parachuting extraordinary fees to be incurred And, it's the families creating the battlefields of conflicts." OH "NO," the Truth is... it's the families that are Trying To SAVE our Older American Lives, from those corrupt Courts/Attorney's, Conservatorship and Guardians/ "RAID" on the Older American's Life Savings, And their very LIVES. LOOK AT THE DOLLAR AMOUNTS THE ELDERS ARE BEING ROBBED OF ! REVIEW THE PREDATORS BOOKS, THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OF BOGUS CHARGES BEING ADDED ON TO ROB THE ELDER...
Thank You NASGA for publishing the Elder Abuse Crimes happening to our Older Americans across the U.S. who are being Exploited, Abused and Neglected by a corruption in our court system that is escalating by the thousands. These stories of horiffic Elder Abuse Crimes "Must Be Told" if we're going to Save our Love Ones!
GuardianAbuse.org & Blog at http://NASGA-StopGuardianAbuse.blogspot.com
Model Law" to combat abusive guardianships: The Adele Chris Act
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