4. If the person who is cited pursuant to NRS 159.305 appears and, upon consideration of the petition, the court finds that the person is not liable or responsible to the estate of the ward or proposed ward, the court may order:
(a) The estate of the ward or proposed ward to pay the attorney’s fees and costs of the respondent; or
(b) If the court finds that the petitioner unnecessarily or unreasonably filed the petition, the petitioner personally to pay the attorney’s fees and costs of the respondent.
(Added to NRS by 2003, 1759)
This addition to the NRS 159.305 regarding "Acts Against Or Affecting Ward Or Proposed Ward" was added in 2003, and dubbed "Shafer's Law."
2003, the year of its enactment, was the year Jared E. Shafer opened his private guardianship/political advertising sign business, PFSN, Inc., at 5858 Pecos Rd. in Henderson.
Anticipating a slew of lawsuits from "wards" he was court appointed to protect, Shafer, during his first year in private practice lobbied his assembly and state senate friends and sign clients to have the above paragraphs added to NRS 159.305 according to reliable sources in the Nevada Legislature (complete text below).
Since Shafer's Law was enacted, the families of dozens of wards exploited by Shafer and his cronies have stood before a judge he helped elect with his A-frame political signs and learned that their CIVIL complaints were "unnecessarily or unreasonably filed" and the private guardian they brought the complaint against was "not liable or responsible" for the losses they incurred.
Then the family was told time and again by either Judge Charles Hoskin or his appointed Hearing Master Jon Norheim that their loved one would be billed for the excessive legal fees of Shafer or another unscrupulous private guardian.
Not once can I find that a private guardian was ever punished to the full extent of NRS159.303 which is covered under NRS 22.100, the Contempt of Court law: "a fine may be imposed on the person not exceeding $500 or the person may be imprisoned not exceeding 25 days, or both."
"Shafer's Law" was a custom designed civil law to protect only one industry, guardianship, and is not attached to civil laws affecting any other Nevada industry I can find. It was custom designed to discourage family members of exploited wards from going to Clark County Family Court to seek restitution, and it has repeatedly enriched numbers of Shafer's private attorney friends since its inception.
Now with additional exploitation cases surfacing every day, it will be up to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Abuse and Neglect Detail to take and investigate CRIMINAL complaints from exploited wards or their family members, and if warranted, file Requests for Prosecution with Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson so his Fraud Division can criminally prosecute those who continue to prey on our weakest citizens.
DA Wolfson has expressed a sincere desire to help these people, and has assembled a special unit to do so as expediently as possible.
~Steve Miller
ACTS AGAINST OR AFFECTING WARD OR PROPOSED WARD
NRS 159.305 Petition alleging that person disposed of money of ward or has evidence of interest of ward in or to property.
1. If a guardian, interested person, ward or proposed ward petitions the court upon oath alleging:
(a) That a person has or is suspected to have concealed, converted to his or her own use, conveyed away or otherwise disposed of any money, good, chattel or effect of the ward; or
(b) That the person has in his or her possession or knowledge any deed, conveyance, bond, contract or other writing which contains evidence of, or tends to disclose the right, title or interest of the ward or proposed ward in or to, any real or personal property, or any claim or demand, the judge may cause the person to be cited to appear before the district court to answer, upon oath, upon the matter of the petition.
2. If the person cited does not reside in the county where letters of guardianship have been issued pursuant to NRS 159.075, the person may be cited and examined before the district court of the county where the person resides, or before the court that issued the citation. Each party to the petition may produce witnesses, and such witnesses may be examined by either party.
(Added to NRS by 2003, 1759)
NRS 159.315 Order of court upon findings concerning allegations that person disposed of money of ward or has evidence of interest of ward in or to property; nonappearance or noncompliance by person cited; effect of order.
1. If the court finds, after examination of a person cited pursuant to NRS 159.305, that the person has committed an act:
(a) Set forth in paragraph (a) of subsection 1 of NRS 159.305, the court may order the person to return the asset or the value of the asset to the guardian of the estate; or
(b) Set forth in paragraph (b) of subsection 1 of NRS 159.305, the court may order the person to return the asset or provide information concerning the location of the asset to the guardian of the estate.
2. The court may hold a person who is cited pursuant to NRS 159.305 in contempt of court and deal with the person accordingly if the person:
(a) Refuses to appear and submit to examination or to testify regarding the matter complained of in the petition; or
(b) Fails to comply with an order of the court issued pursuant to subsection 1.
3. An order of the court pursuant to subsection 1 is prima facie evidence of the right of the proposed ward or the estate of the ward to the asset described in the order in any action that may be brought for the recovery thereof, and any judgment recovered therein must be double the value of the asset, and damages in addition thereof equal to the value of such property.
4. If the person who is cited pursuant to NRS 159.305 appears and, upon consideration of the petition, the court finds that the person is not liable or responsible to the estate of the ward or proposed ward, the court may order:
(a) The estate of the ward or proposed ward to pay the attorney’s fees and costs of the respondent; or
(b) If the court finds that the petitioner unnecessarily or unreasonably filed the petition, the petitioner personally to pay the attorney’s fees and costs of the respondent.
(Added to NRS by 2003, 1759)
BACKGROUND:
Private Guardian Jared Shafer et al. Stole Cerebral Palsy Victim's Inheritance Under The Color Of Law
The measure of a civilization is how it treats its weakest members
. Jason Hanson confronts his "trustee" Elyse Tyrell about his missing inheritance
(KTNV TV News screen shots, Click on images for video and text)
(KTNV TV News screen shots, Click on images for video and text)
I for one will celebrate when Jared E. Shafer gets his piece of KARMA pie!
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