Public administrators are appointed in probate court cases where no heir is named or willing to distribute the assets of an estate. They also may be called as conservators of estates when people are judged incompetent to handle their own finances.
In 2012, Palmer reported charging with the court's approval a total of $319,851 in fees and costs for managing 87 estates.
One of the heirs welcomed Judge Sylvester's decision.
"That's rather pleasant news," said Robert Lewis, one of Eleanor Lewis' four children. He and his sister, Janet Van Vliet, said much of their mother's $2 million estate was depleted in four years for 24-hour care, guardianship services, legal fees and other costs.
Palmer was the conservator of Eleanor Lewis' estate, and Gormley was paid about $41,000 in legal fees after the guardian hired her. "The only thing that's left is the family ranch we're trying to keep," Lewis said.
In April, Judge Sylvester issued an order that Palmer and Gormley could not be involved in the same estate cases without court approval. Last month, he asked Palmer to advise him of any cases where she and Gormley continued to collect fees. Palmer responded that there were four, but she had been appointed to each before the judge's April order.
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Arapahoe Judge Dismisses Official Who Heirs Say Mishandled Estates
They're there to serve the public; not themselves!
ReplyDeleteAnother corrupt public official caught!
ReplyDeleteIn Virginia, we have a similar back-scratching charade.
ReplyDeleteContrary to law, the petitioners and public guardianship programs like Jewish Family Service of Tidewater and Catholic Charities of Eastern Virginia hand-pick the guardian ad litem "for" the incapacitated person.
Guess who they pick? The same sycophantic GAL, over and over in hundreds of cases, because she ALWAYS agrees with them.
One petitioning attorney for several local hospitals, who stacks her guardianship cases one after another on the Thursday docket, is even close friends with this GAL. Of course, in this attorney's cases, the rule requiring seven days notice is seldom if ever followed, because the GAL "for" the incapacitated person does not object, nor does she insist on other legal rights on behalf of her "client."
The law says that the COURT, not the petitioner or public guardianship program, must pick the GAL.
It is a blatant conflict of interest, that has made both of these ladies quite a bit of money, with the least amount of work possible, and left incapacitated clients completely shut out of the court process that is supposed to be about THEIR best interests.
It looks like just a shuffling of the cards. The Public Administrator position probably has a rate limit which may be based on the estate size. Now that she is dismissed as Public Administrator, she can probably work other gigs like GAL where she can likely charge 60% more than her previous PA rate. Effectively this may turn out to be a raise for the ex-PA.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the newly appointed PA will likely be more limited in what he and his assistant can charge estates. His new hourly rate will now likely be 60%-70% of what he made on previous cases.
In at least two of the cases profiled in the Denver Post article, victims have reported that the new-PA sided with or even recommended the ex-PA for appointment. I've heard that they tried to expose them both but now may have to face them both in court again.
The fox guarding the hen house.
I believe these evil women should both be in jail or at least psychiatric treatment. In my mind they are sick, twisted and perverted that saying they are helping people by taking them away from their families and stealing their money to leave them to rot in a warehouse.