Judge Kennedy Replaces Davidson Public Guardian as Woman's Conservator

The Davidson public guardian who courts records show charged $986 to accompany her ward to a Christmas concert at the Schermerhorn was replaced without opposition Wednesday by Probate Judge David Randy Kennedy after a brief hearing.

Kennedy approved a petition to have Myra S. Whitaker of Hendersonville take over as the conservator of her sister, Marlene Spalding. Whitaker replaces Davidson Public Guardian Jeanan Mills Stuart.

The move to replace Stuart followed a report in The Tennessean on the fees charged by Stuart, who was first voted into the post by Metro Council in 2008 and is now serving her second four-year term. Court records show Stuart has regularly charged her full hourly fee for legal services regardless of the service performed. Her current fee is $225 an hour. In Spalding’s case she charged $197.22 an hour to attend the 2011 Christmas performance of Handel’s Messiah. She charged $1,282 to accompany Spalding on a shopping trip in March of last year. In court Wednesday, Everette Parrish, the attorney for Whitaker, said that Spalding’s sister was now willing and able to become conservator. Whitaker was the original conservator but she was replaced by Stuart in 2010 when her husband became ill. He has since recovered and was present at the hearing.

In court papers Parrish noted that Whitaker would serve without charging any fees. Stuart told Kennedy she had no objection to Whitaker’s appointment. Kennedy has said he will not assign any additional cases to Stuart pending a review of the fees she has charged.

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Judge Replaces Davidson Public Guardian as Woman's Conservator

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