Surprise man spends thousands in probate court costs as he tries to help wife with dementia

All Bob McGuire wanted was to cash out his wife's modest retirement account and use the money to pay the mounting bills that have accompanied her dementia diagnosis.

After nearly a year, the 75-year-old Surprise resident and Navy veteran has racked up $6,000 in legal bills and court fees to access the $25,000 individual retirement account.

And his ordeal — navigating probate in Maricopa County Superior Court to obtain guardianship and conservatorship of his wife, Linda — isn't over: McGuire is contesting roughly another $2,000 in legal fees from a court-appointed attorney, designated by a court commissioner to represent and protect the interests of his wife.

When it's all settled, the family could end up losing one-fourth of his wife's IRA to legal fees and bills, McGuire said.

Husband challenges court fees

Probate court is designed to preserve the "respect and dignity of vulnerable adults and to assure their proper care and protection of assets," said Bryan Bouchard, a court spokesman.

Court officials would not comment on McGuire's case.

But Bouchard said Maricopa County's court system does everything possible to keep fees to a minimum. And in cases where one party questions the fees being charged by a court-appointed lawyer, the court will hold a hearing to determine whether the fees are "appropriate to the task and cost effective," he said.

McGuire is currently appealing the court fees he has been charged.

Rick Kilfoy, who was appointed to represent Linda McGuire and check on her well being, said a person who is incapacitated must have legal representation and the same lawyer who represented Bob McGuire could not represent his wife. Kilfoy declined to discuss the case further.

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Surprise man spends thousands in probate court costs as he tries to help wife with dementia