When corporate guardians are appointed to look after the finances of elderly and disabled clients, they typically are dealing with the most vulnerable people in the county.
That's why the oversight of guardians must be stepped up.
The felony charges filed against Jeffrey M. Schend in Outagamie County highlight the need for more thorough reviews of how guardians spend their clients' money. Police say about $500,000 is missing from Schend's clients.
A promising first step came from Sue Lutz, the register in probate for Outgamie County. She said although Outagamie's rules are more stringent than state law, her office would work to alter its procedures in light of the Schend charges.
Counties must keep a closer watch on guardians' financial records. It might take a shift in funding to improve the process, but that would be worth it to protect the money of people who can't protect themselves.
Guardians, of course, are required to submit accurate reports. That's a fair assumption, but it needs to be confirmed regularly for the sake of the clients and their families, who sometimes feel helpless in guardianship cases.
Right now, the county treats guardianship cases similar to how the Internal Revenue Service conducts its spot checks — suspicious filings trigger audits. We think it's worth it for county officials to dedicate more resources to check even some of the documents that look legit.
The advice of writer Agatha Christie seems to apply here: "Where large sums of money are concerned, it is advisable to trust nobody."
Source:
Editorial: Keep a Closer Watch on Guardians
5 comments:
Thank you for saying it so well!
Any update on Schend? He's not been in the news lately. Hope he's in JAIL where he belongs!
They need to be put under a microsope!
No. They need to be put under a rock!
A thief lays in wait of an armoured truck carrying Millions of dollars being delivered to a bank,...the thief pulls his gun and holds- up the armoured truck and steels all the money,...
There are witness's that can identify the thief, he's even been caught on camera...the cops catch the thief and without a doubt they've got their man...
The thief is tried and sentenced to 25 years, if the thief would have killed anyone the thief would have got life in prison.
Seems to me the guardians are guilty of the same crime, taking someone else's money that does not belong to them.
The victims have the evidence the guardians are guilty, even witness's who can testify about the guardians looting the victims life savings and everything they own.
In some cases the elderly or disabled victim dies because of the guardians abuse, isolation or both. The guardian didn't use a gun, the guardian just preyed on the fact the victim was vulnerable because of old age or disabled, gutless swine...
My question is what's the difference between the thief that stole all the money off the armoured truck and the guardian that has stolen Millions of dollars from the vulnerable elderly and disabled victims ?
It's time for the courts to put in high gear prosecuting the guilty guardians destroying the lives of our most vulnerable.
The courts need to send the cops after the guardians just like they do to the thieves steeling an armoured truck packed full of money, head the guardian off until they crash in a ditch, once apprehended, have four cops hold the thief down, Taser him, cuff the guardian, then body slam the guardian, then knock the the guardian out just like the corrupt guardians have done to our elderly and disabled.
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