Here are just 10 of the "dirty tricks," as outlined by Pinellas County Internal Auditor Robert W. Melton taken from Justice for FL Senior's website:
1) Guardian creation of a trust: Remove all oversight by the court as a provision of the trust agreement; guardian becomes trustee; provide that the trustee can do whatever they want at their sole discretion.
2) Sell real estate at lowball price: Use "lowball" valuations as a benchmark; don't list property with Realtors; sell to a land trust, where nobody knows the beneficiary; watch property resold a few months later for a huge increase.
3) Maximize your (or your crony's) profit from investments: Hire money manager for "financial expertise" and let the manager select an investment broker; invest in volatile stocks and trade frequently to generate commissions; if you run up a large gain, don't selectively liquidate over time to pay the taxes but hold a "fire sale" to raise funds all in one day.
4) Undervalue beginning inventory: Have a used-furniture "friend" value a house full of antiques for $3,000; "forget" to put some of the more expensive items on the inventory; "forget" to include a $40,000 certificate of deposit.
5) Pay yourself first: Make payment of guardian and attorney fees the highest priority; disregard mortgage payments and let ward's home go into foreclosure; squirrel away money in the attorney's escrow account for possible future expenses.
6) Maintain guardianship at all costs: Keep family members uninformed; if family members try to become guardian, accuse them of stealing; use the ward's assets for legal fights to retain guardianship.
7) Improper financial reporting: Bury asset-management and brokerage fees as aggregate capital losses "due to market fluctuations"; don't classify disbursements separately; file incomplete or incorrect safe-deposit box inventories.
8) Forced incompetency: Visit assisted-living facilities and establish employee contacts; obtain voluntary limited financial guardianship; if there is money in the estate, do paperwork to force an evaluation of competency; get control over everything and the ward loses all rights.
9) Pay your attorney well: Let attorney bill full rate to shop for a computer and set it up for the ward; let attorneys bill their full rate, even if work is done by a paralegal or assistant.
10) Forget to file federal tax returns: Ensure there is a refund; wait till the ward dies; get check without oversight.
They're still as dirty as ever, plus the horror of isolation.
ReplyDeleteI have seen some of these dirty tricks up close and personal!
ReplyDeleteMelton told it like it is!
ReplyDeleteGround zero, above the list:
ReplyDeletePick your best friend as guardian ad litem "for" the incapacitated person, pay her whatever she wants from the incapacitated person's assets, shower her with gifts, and she will act as gatekeeper to the court process, so that the judge will never find out the truth about the systematic fraud you have committed over the course of years.
It's a great list. Thank you for posting.
ReplyDelete