
Here in America, none of us expect to have our home, property or legal rights infringed upon without due process.
But things work a little differently than you might expect in one court system right here in Nashville.
One woman ended up losing everything, and it could happen to anyone.
Jewell Tinnon used to own a home. It was paid for.
But that house, and everything inside, was auctioned off to the highest bidder in March.
"I wish I was at home. I worked hard, and paid for it," Tinnon said.
Her car was sold, too, and her clothes and all her furniture.
The 81-year-old widow lost nearly everything after she came under a guardianship, also called a conservatorship.
The very people who were assigned by the court to watch over her, to safeguard her possessions, liquidated it all.
When a person is appointed a guardian, they can't sign contracts, or write checks, or buy and sell things. They can't vote, or drive, or marry. They can't decide what doctors to see or what medications to take. They can't chose where to live, or hire their own lawyer.
Ms. Tinnon was assigned a public guardian from an agency for the elderly. That guardian did not return our calls for this story, but we were able to talk to the attorney the judge had assigned to represent her, Karl Warden.
"I feel very sorry for her," Warden said.
Her guardian decided that a nursing home was the best place for her and said her house should be sold.
Judge [Randy] Kennedy agreed.
At a public auction, it brought $83,000. That's a little more than half of what the tax assessor said it was worth.
The guardian also cashed in her whole life insurance policy with the judge's permission, all in an attempt to turn her assets into cash to pay her bills.
[T]he judge ordered that a big chunk of the money from the sale of her house must be used to pay off her eight different lawyers and guardians, $37,645.
The frightening thing is, this could happen to anyone.
Once you're put under a conservatorship, it can cost every cent you have to get out. This is the third case we've profiled from Judge Randy Kennedy's court. You might remember the case of songwriter Danny Tate who lost his fortune fighting to get out from under a conservatorship case.
We also told you about Ginger Franklin. She fell down a flight of stairs, came under a conservatorship while in the hospital and ended up losing her condo and her car.
Judge Kennedy declined to be interviewed on this case.
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