At age 89, Al was put under the custody of the state; his health deteriorated while under state control, and he died as a result. I tried to understand why the State of Florida, its probate court and public and professional guardianship system would not do everything in their power to return Al and his estate to his family. I now think I have the answer to that quandary.
The system is incestuous and inextricably leads to legal human bondage.
These are strong words, but facts are facts. Al Katz is not the exception; sadly, he may be the rule. Other senior citizens are subject to the same system, a broken system, a probate court system designed to seize and hold a person and their property. The person is held until drained of life and the property held until it is drained of value.
In the case of Al Katz the system showed itself for what it is – inhuman.
The short version of Al Katz’s story is he lived part time in Florida as do many seniors. He was put under the control of the state using the Baker Act. When his daughter, Beverly Newman, arrived and agreed to take full responsibility for her father and his estate, the state gave Al the man back, after a lengthy court battle, but not his property. A man without his property is nothing but a shell of himself. Al’s estate remained in the hands of various guardians.
The ultimate guardian should have been Beverly. Instead it was Herbert G. Schimmel, a person totally unknown to Al and his family.
Al’s daughter Beverly has been trying, since her father died, to get what little remains of his formerly-extensive estate returned. The problem is no one knows what was seized by the state when Al was put under public guardianship. You see when a person is placed under guardianship that person and that person’s property become under the complete control of the state. The guardians go into the person’s home and take whatever they want with no inventory list verified by witnesses or independent audit of the estate done. When time comes to release the property, in the case of Al Katz, there is no clear chain of custody or way to determine what happened to his assets. In Al’s case, this includes sizable insurance policies and an expensive jewelry collection that had been insured for over $22,000.
Full Article and Source:
Florida Guardianship System: Legal Human Bondage
6 comments:
Florida appears to be high on the list of "Where Not to Retire to," only because of its sick "protection" system!
I agree Anon. If only Seniors were aware of the dangers in Florida, they could shout so loud that Florida would have to respond.
I feel so sick after reading this. I cannot imagine how these people get away with this horrific atrocities. And I agree with the title...it is exactly that, human bondage. My heart goes out to Beverly and her family and I pray that all of those involved are forced to pay restitution of everything they stole from his estate. Just a question...have any of the predatory guardians, judges, ever been put under guardianship themselves? If any of them believe that this system is good and rigtheous then each one of them should experience it first hand. My mother, Dorothy Wilson, is currently locked up in a nursing home in New York. Every time I see her she says "Get me out of here. I don't belong here. Can't I live with you?" And every time I say the same thing....I am working on it Mom, please don't give up. Of course you can live with me." It is heartbreaking.
It is really bad in Florida. People go there, expecting to wind their lives down gently, and they wind up in captivity - and eventually broke!
I read those stories on Al Katz and they were absolutely horrifying.
To think that he survived the Holocaust and then died in a Holocaust of a different kind is just too awful to even think about.
Guardianship has lost it's intent and purpose. It is now legalizing abuse, neglect and exploitation. It is the Deception of Protection under any state law. This is our future, what is happening can and will happen to you, or a loved one. There is no safe state in this country. What we seem to have plenty of is corrupt judges, guardians, and attorney's. I use to believe that America was the land of the Free, it isn't specifically if you are disabled or elderly. Guardianship has become a legalized crime of our most vulnerable population, it reeks RICO, it reeks human trafficing supported by our justice systems. I am sure Florida is bad, but not as bad as Texas, here judges can create their own guardianship companies, (trafficing) through our court system.
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