Cloaked in secrecy, a mediation meeting in a lawyer’s office was held on November 25, 2013, under order of the Sarasota County Probate Court, to determine whether or not 89-year-old Holocaust Survivor Marie Winkelman was or was not capacitated and if or if not she needed to be put into Florida’s vast guardianship system, which controls the lives of scores of thousands of elders. This is the third part of an investigative series on Marie’s guardianship case. Please go here to read Part I and Part II.
Although Marie escaped death in the Warsaw Ghetto, where everyone in her large family (except one baby) was murdered, she has thus far not been able to be freed from a guardianship where most believe she never belonged.
What could possibly go wrong with court-ordered mediation?
The litany of answers to this question is nearly endless, beginning with something akin to “blackmail,” as one of the participants in Marie’s mediation described the circumstances under which the fateful Mediated Settlement Agreement was signed after hours of lawyer talk. Unlike litigation in an open courtroom, with a precise record made of the day’s actions and discussions, under oath or not, mediation is the antithesis of due process. There is no record even allowed of the mediation proceedings. A confidentiality statement must be signed by every participant. No judge is present, and the public is excluded. No witnesses testify. No evidence is presented. No appeal is possible once an agreement has been signed by all of the participants.
So how can you mediate someone’s incapacity, which, of necessity, requires due process protections?
Full Article & Source:
The Secret meeting that changed Holocaust Survivor Marie Winkelman’s life – Hopefully not Forever!
See Also:
Marie Winkelman's Case Demands Litigation, Not Mediation, To Protect Her Life, Liberty and Property
8 comments:
We also did mediation while my mother was under Florida Guardianship in Pinellas County Florida! It was the most criminal experience! I think my mother paid nearly 8,000 dollars for it, I had to pay 3,000 or more. There was a forced agreement! Judge Patrick Caddell, a county judge in Pinellas County Florida signed an order enforcing the mediation agreement. A short while later after the guardian refused to follow it, the judge said at a hearing that he just would not enforce it, because it was not as he ordered! It was just a big joke! Mediation did not solve anything! Big waste of the elders money. It just brings in another attorney to feed and clothe. And the guardian who could not follow his signed order, just resigned! If they are doing something wrong and getting caught, they just resign! They don't get in trouble, they just resign!
There are times when I feel at a loss as to how to stop this. But I know we must persevere. I think we all need to write letters to her horrid step-son.....what an awful human being!
Secret, that's the key. This case should have been thrown out of court.
Secret, that's the key. This case should have been thrown out of court.
It sounds like no one was in the room advocating for Marie. What a terrible, terrible shame and injustice.
Beverly Newman is doing a great job advocating on this case!
It's a national disgrace. Anon 1, you had to pay that much for mediation? Did the judge pick out the so called mediator?
I just found this story and am appalled. Our elderly must be protected and I appreciate media attention on the subject.
Mediation can work but it often doesn't. I'm sorry Marie Winkelman got caught up in this mess and pray for her release.
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