Column: With U.S. elder abuse in spotlight, a look at guardians

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Are unsuspecting seniors around the United States being scooped up without warning from their homes, placed in nursing homes and having their possessions taken away?

A pair of elderly couples view the ocean and waves along the beach in La Jolla, California March 8, 2012. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Sometimes, yes - according to a recent article in the New Yorker magazine. The investigation by journalist Rachel Aviv shines a light on problems in the Nevada courts that run the system of court-appointed guardians for the elderly (bit.ly/2xMBooc).

Aviv’s article paints a frightening portrait of a private guardian who was able to obtain a court order making her the guardian of a couple with no advance notice to them or to their adult daughter. They lost control of their lives - their assets were sold off and they were placed in a nursing home.

The abuses of private-guardian systems in some U.S. states have been on the radar screens of policy and legal experts for years, and Aviv’s story, “How the Elderly Lose Their Rights,” is worth reading in full.

When I circulated the article to readers recently, the questions started coming in about guardianship. How pervasive are the problems around the United States? Could this happen to me? What steps can I take to protect myself from this kind of abuse?

Good questions, all.

Guardianships are a legal relationship created by state courts that give one person the authority to make decisions in the best interest of someone judged to be incapacitated - and when no family member or friend is available to assume the role. In cases involving low-income people, a public guardian generally is appointed; private guardians are assigned when people have financial assets.

National data on older people placed into guardianship is very limited due to variations in the ways courts around the country track cases. But a 2010 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified hundreds of allegations of abuse, neglect, and exploitation by guardians in 45 states and the District of Columbia between 1990 and 2010. The GAO reviewed 20 cases and found that guardians had stolen or otherwise improperly obtained $5.4 million from 158 incapacitated victims, mostly older adults.

PERVASIVE PROBLEM?

Is abuse by guardians common around the United States? “I don’t think it is pervasive, but it can happen anywhere in the country if courts or agencies are inattentive,” said Katherine Pearson, a professor at Pennsylvania State University’s Dickinson Law who specializes in elder law. “But the allegations (in the New Yorker article) are some of the worst that I’ve seen. There just was no critical scrutiny of people serving as guardians.”

Problems with abusive guardianship systems also have cropped up recently in Arizona, Florida and New Mexico, Pearson noted. Systematic reform will require commitment by the states to use more care in the selection, training and monitoring of guardians, she said.

Absent significant reforms, the math tells us the problem can only grow bigger as the country ages, and millions of baby boomers move into their 70s, 80s and 90s.

What is needed, Pearson argues, is more thoughtful oversight and accountability of guardians. And situations where the court becomes complacent about a single guardian or one guardianship organization can allow guardians to take hundreds of people under their wing.

“Where money is involved and incapacity are involved, there is always a risk of abuse if you don’t have checks and balances,” Pearson said.

Two legal requirements must be met before a court appoints a guardian. First, there must be a finding of incapacity. But there must also be a court decision that there is a need for a guardian - that is, no one has already been designated by the alleged incapacitated person to act as their agent or trustee before they became disabled.

How to protect yourself against possible abuses?

Be honest about the risks, and the need to plan in advance. Whenever possible execute legal power-of-attorney documents for your finances and healthcare.

In other words - have a succession plan, not just for inheritance, but for your care needs while you are still alive. The goal is to pick someone you trust to manage your affairs in the event you are unable to do so, either a family member or friend. Some elder law experts recommend bringing in a bank or trust company as professional trustee when they establish trusts for clients.

“In an ideal world, no one would need guardianship because you already have planned for your needs while recognizing the potential that you could need help,” Pearson said.

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Column: With U.S. elder abuse in spotlight, a look at guardians

Springfield man sues Adam Lopez over alleged financial exploitation

Adam Lopez

A Springfield man has sued District 186 School Board vice president Adam Lopez for financial exploitation of the elderly, alleging Lopez took about $69,000 from him through an investment scheme.

Ronald Standridge filed suit against Lopez on Tuesday in Sangamon County Circuit Court.

Financial exploitation of the elderly is a crime that also has a civil remedy in Illinois law. The crime is defined in Illinois statute as having a person in a position of trust or confidence knowingly deceive a person older than 60 to obtain control over their property or illegally use the elderly person’s assets.

Lopez and his attorneys did not return calls seeking comment. Lopez, who had been a Country Financial agent since 2007, was fired in early September after the company said it received complaints from Lopez’s customers and subsequently found what it said were “irregularities” in a review of accounts overseen by Lopez. The Springfield Police Department has an ongoing investigation.

Lopez had defended himself in a statement in September, citing “unnecessary and false rumors that have circulated through the community.”

“My family and I are determining our next steps as I explore my options and consider new opportunities for employment,” he had said in that statement.

The lawsuit says that Standridge first met Lopez in 2018 when he and his wife hired Lopez to review insurance policy quotes on their home and car. Standridge and his wife “began to trust Lopez as an insurance and investment professional and placed confidence in him,” the lawsuit stated.

Standridge told Lopez he had two individual retirement accounts with more than $35,000 and that he wanted to retire in the next few years, according to the lawsuit. Lopez than allegedly advised Standridge he could place the money from their IRAs in a “tax deferred account” through Lopez. The account would turn a profit and the couple would receive $2,000 a month.

Standridge liquidated both of his IRAs and deposited about $73,000 in a personal joint-checking account with his wife. Over the course of two weeks in August, Standridge’s wife cut two checks to Lopez, who allegedly told her to put them in his name and said the funds would be transferred from his “expense” account to an account in their names, the lawsuit stated.

On Sept. 14, Lopez personally delivered a $4,000 check to the Standridges’ home, saying it was the result of their agreed-to investment strategy. Three days letter, the Standridges received a letter from Lopez’s employer, Country Financial, saying that Lopez was no longer with the company, according to the lawsuit.

After Standridge’s wife contacted Lopez, he allegedly came to their home on Sept. 18. There, he showed them documents showing Standridge’s money had been invested with “Jackson National Life Insurance Company.” The Standridges didn’t see any account numbers on the documents, according to the lawsuit.

“Lopez continued to assert that everything was fine, that he had not been terminated and was working things out with his employer, and Standridge’s money was secure,” the lawsuit stated.

After the Standridges found out from local news that Lopez had been fired and was under investigation, they asked Lopez to return their money. Lopez didn’t respond to their request, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit is asking for about $69,000, and that the court triple the amount of damages at trial.

Standridge’s attorney, August Appleton, said his client was not being made available for comment. He said Standridge has been in contact with Springfield police, and that he had no further comment.

Springfield Police Lt. Brian Oakes said the department is in the information-gathering stage of an investigation that could take months. He said there was more than one alleged victim.

“He’s listed in the report and that report is under investigation,” Oakes said of Lopez.

A Springfield couple, Beverly and Bob Lenhart, told WICS Channel 20 in September that about $600,000 of their money was missing after Lopez, their nephew, said he would invest it. Lopez denied wrongdoing in that case to the station.

After it was reported that Lopez was under investigation, Lincoln Land Community College announced it had rescinded its agreement to host his fourth annual Adam Lopez Thanksgiving Tournament, a high school basketball tournament. In previous years, the tournament had been sponsored by Lopez’s Country Financial office and had taken place at Lanphier High School. Not only did the location change this year, but Snap Fitness 24-7, which has local locations owned by Lopez’s wife, was set to sponsor the tournament.

The landlord of his now-closed Country Financial office is also attempting to evict Lopez from his now-closed Country Financial office because he owes $4,500 in rent.

Lopez has been on the District 186 school board since 2013.

Full Article & Source:
Springfield man sues Adam Lopez over alleged financial exploitation

Guardianship … and how to avoid it

No one plans on becoming incapacitated. That only happens to the other guy. But the hard truth is that the older we get the more likely we’ll suffer some loss of mental capacity.

In fact, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association cites says the risk of developing Alzheimer’s doubles every five years once you hit 65.

Once you get to age 85+, between 25% and 50% of people will exhibit signs of the disease.

It’s a sobering truth: As many as 5.3 million Americans currently have Alzheimer’s.

And by 2050, the number is expected to more than double due to the aging of our population.

To add insult to injury, our legal system has an unfriendly tool that could come into play if you can’t take care of yourself.

It’s called guardianship

Laws vary among states. But generally it works like this:

The person who wants to become your guardian (the petitioner) must go to court to have you (the ward) declared incompetent based on expert findings.

You can object and have the right to be represented by an attorney.

But if the court rules that you are incompetent, it will order that the responsibility of managing your finances, your health care decisions, even your living arrangements be transferred to the petitioner.

Once that happens, it can be extremely difficult to restore your rights.

It’s a timely and costly process. And if family members are squabbling over the need for guardianship or who should become your guardian, it can become even more painful.

There have been many cases where the petitioner, friends, or family members weren’t willing or capable to serve as the guardian. So the court selects a professional guardian to fill the role.

These guardians, and the attorneys, make their money off the nest eggs of the elderly, many suffering from dementia.

In fact, abusive guardianship is a growing problem.

It can certainly look like a rigged system of well-connected lawyers and professional guardians when people lose their rights to a stranger who may not have their best interest at heart.

Two recent examples…

In Florida, a professional guardian has been accused of double-billing and paying off her debts, including a mortgage, with a client’s funds. Once she was exposed more victims came forward.

Then a local newspaper reporter found out that she was getting assigned many more cases than other guardians.

And guess who the assigning probate and guardianship judge was?

Her husband!

It was clear that he had no incentive to screen potential guardians, ascertain the wishes of the person to be placed under supervision, or locate family members.

On top of that, his fellow judges, some of whom he had close social relationships with, were responsible for approving his wife’s fees!

He has been since been transferred to civil court.

As for the wife — the professional guardian — it’s business as usual, although maybe not quite as brisk as it once was.

Across the country in another retirement haven, Nevada, guardianship abuse was highlighted by the indictment of the owner of a guardianship company.

Along with several others, including a Las Vegas police officer, the owner is accused of fraudulently assuming guardianship over an elderly couple and stealing $700,000.

Guardianship can even trump a durable power of attorney (DPOA), which we talked about in a recent issue of the Roadmap.

As a hypothetical example:

Suppose your mother had selected you to be her attorney-in-fact for her durable power of attorney (DPOA). Now she is incapacitated and no longer able to manage her affairs. So you’ve assumed your role. Plus you moved her into your home to better care for her.

However, your brothers don’t like the way you’re handling her finances. They object to the money you’ve spent for modifications to your house, like installing a ramp to get her inside and out, and widening the door to your mother’s bedroom to better accommodate a wheelchair.

Yet they aren’t willing help with her daily care.

To sum it up, your brothers think your mom should be put in a nursing home and you should be relieved of your powers. Even though when she was feeling well she selected you to be the one to make important financial and medical decisions for her if her health changed!

They hire a lawyer who is eager to stir the pot and drag the messy situation into court. That forces you to hire one for your mother, too. Thousands of dollars are spent by both sides.

The proceedings are open to the public. Embarrassing allocations come out.

The judge rules that the family is so divided that he places your mom into involuntary guardianship under the care of a professional guardian where she loses many of her human and constitutional rights.

What a mess, right?

Now, for the good news: You can take steps to help prevent these types of outcomes.

With the help of an attorney who specializes in elder care there are steps to take to reduce the chances of you or your loved ones ever needing guardianship:

Step 1. Draft a DPOA for your day-to-day finances.

Step 2. Draft a revocable living trust that includes a successor trustee to manage your investments if you lose mental capacity. A backup benefit here is that guardians cannot access assets in the trust.

Step 3. Draft an advance healthcare directive. This document names a surrogate decision maker (an agent) for your healthcare decisions. The power given should include the right of the agent to refuse or terminate life-sustaining medical care based on your wishes. And it can be farther reaching than a living will, which usually applies only when death is at the doorstep.

Step 4. Make improvements to your home so that it is safe for when you age. Or consider downsizing to more appropriate housing.

And above all … discuss your wishes and all the documents with your family members so they know how to put your plan into action under any type of future event.

To a richer life,

Nilus Mattive
Editor, The Rich Life Roadmap

Full Article & Source:
Guardianship … and how to avoid it

Proposed new fine would have ‘chilling effect’ on nursing home staff, AHCA exec warns

David Gifford, M.D., senior vice president of quality affairs at AHCA

Industry leaders blasted a newly proposed Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services regulation that would allow civil money penalties of up to $200,000 against skilled nursing home staff who fail to report reasonable suspicion of crimes.

The proposed regulation also would allow for a two-year facility exclusion from federal health programs if authorities discover retaliation against staff who report abuse.

American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living members fully support “thoughtful, proactive measures” designed to address abuse and neglect, said AHCA Vice President David Gifford, M.D.

“(But) this kind of penalty will do nothing to proactively prevent abuse,” he told McKnight’s in a statement. “Instead, it singles out nursing home staff and sends a chilling effect through the profession, making it more challenging to hire and retain qualified staff. This kind of regulation will prevent skilled and passionate individuals from working in nursing homes.”

The proposed fines are “excessive,” said LeadingAge CEO Katie Smith Sloan, who echoed Gifford’s concerns that the penalties would be counterproductive to the industry’s recruiting efforts.

“Why, with the threat of large financial penalties for failure to detect and report a ‘reasonable suspicion’ of a crime against a resident, would anyone want to work in a nursing home?” Sloan said in a statement to McKnight’s. “Why would well-meaning and capable professionals not go to work in hospitals and other healthcare organizations instead?”

Both organizations said there were already both criminal, professional and financial penalties for those who commit abuse against nursing home residents, and for facilities that fail to report it. The 2010 Elder Justice Act is among the existing statues, which requires nursing homes to report incidents of abuse to law enforcement and regulatory agencies.

Additional proposed penalties “only serve as a disincentive to serve in nursing homes without making residents any safer,” Sloan said.

Full Article & Source:
Proposed new fines would have ‘chilling effect’ on nursing home staff, AHCA exec warns

Fort Myers man arrested for exploiting elderly Palm Beach County couple

A man who was arrested during a suspected hazmat situation was wanted on the east coast for exploiting the elderly.

Police arrested David Del Rio, 35, after raiding his Fort Myers home last Thursday.

As the William and Elizabeth Cabral’s “financial adviser,” they trusted Del Rio with their money, approximately $900,000 worth according to police reports.

Palm Beach County police say Del Rio even signed on as their power of attorney and beneficiary before investigators say he started taking their money.

Then Elizabeth Cabral, 84, was found dead in her Palm Beach County condo.

The money belonging to the Cabral’s was traced back to Del Rio who spent the money on things like a car, cruise and guns.

Neighbors are shocked.

“I’ve literally been to his house,” said his neighbor Tyler Gould. “So it’s really a shock to see that somebody so nice could do something so terrible.”

Police say that from September 2016 to March of this year, Del Rio wrote checks, sometimes $100,000 at a time to himself in the Cabral’s names, even after William Cabral died last year.

Elizabeth Cabral’s neighbor said that she had a lot of people in and out taking care of her.

Then on April 30, Elizabeth was found stabbed to death in her home.

Investigators say Del Rio deposited his last check in her name just six weeks before her death.

Del Rio is not charged in the death of Elizabeth Cabral. He is currently charged for 28 other felonies in Palm Beach County and being held on $28,000 bond in Palm Beach County.

Full Article & Source:
Fort Myers man arrested for exploiting elderly Palm Beach County couple

Last will and testament can't be challenged until probate commences

Question: My father's last will and testament, signed in 2002, split everything equally between my sister and me. This is what Dad always told us he wanted. Since then, he has developed frontal lobe dementia and is living with my sister. My aunt recently told me my dad just signed a new will, and she heard my sister boasting she is getting everything under the new will and I am cut out. I think she's taken advantage of Dad. Can I do something to challenge the will now, before he passes on? He's 84.

Answer: I am so sorry you are in this situation. I understand your concern.

You might ultimately have grounds to challenge his last will and testament, perhaps on the basis of undue influence or lack of capacity. However, this can't be done ahead of time. You will have to wait until your father (the testator) passes away. Once his will is submitted to the probate court, you will have a limited period of time to challenge it. Until then, you have no legal recourse for demonstrating that the will is invalid. When the time comes, you will need to retain a probate litigation lawyer to handle the case.

For now, my suggestion is that you document everything — phone calls, paperwork, etc. — to fortify any future case. Also, because it sounds like your father may be the victim of elder financial abuse, I suggest that you contact the Florida Elder Abuse hotline, 800-96-ABUSE (800-962-2873).You could also consider filing a petition for guardianship. If a guardian is appointed, he/she will be able to monitor the situation and gather any evidence that your father has been the subject of undue influence or fraud, evidence that will be valuable once the probate is under way.

Joseph Karp, a member of the Florida and New York Bars, is a Nationally and Florida Bar Certified Elder Law Attorney and founder of The Karp Law Firm, located in Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties. The firm assists clients with wills, trusts, Medicaid and VA benefits planning, asset preservation, probate/trust administration and estate litigation.

Full Article & Source:
Last will and testament can't be challenged until probate commences

New Mexico's Guardianship System Raises Serious Questions

Credit Peter Goodman

Commentary: A new AARP article reminded me of the day I said farewell to a delightful, courageous Japanese lady named Kise.

A year earlier, her stepson approached me in the market and asked me to help free his Japanese stepmother. She was “like a second mother.” When he first went to Japan at 14, she not only welcomed him but effected a reconciliation with his father.

She'd moved to the U.S. with her husband, who died in 1993. She loved her garden and her cat, but she was aging, and her stepson lived in California. They'd discussed her moving there when living alone got too hard. He'd arranged home-help for her here, but she fired the help.

It was a shock when a neighbor called: authorities had put her somewhere -- for her own safety.

He and his wife came to Las Cruces. They wanted to take her to California. They couldn't. The guardians and their lawyer vilified him.

I helped them awhile, as a lawyer, then referred them to a firm.

As a columnist, I've learned from other sources of heartbreaking abuses of New Mexico's guardianship laws. I was even advised that “clients” were in the charge of a woman who had been fired, allegedly for questionable treatment of clients. (An October 2017 New Yorker article detailed abuses of Nevada's law, which was especially favorable to guardians taking over people's lives, even where family was willing and able to help.)

New Mexico's Supreme Court created a commission to look into abuses and make recommendations. The Commission heard many horror stories. It recommended that when someone is in danger of being committed, family must be notified and given a voice. It also recommended making hearings public. While we'd like to keep such proceedings confidential to protect the person involved, confidentiality allows guardians to abuse their power. (In Nevada, there were numerous cases of an agency taking over a person's life, collecting handsome sums from the person's bank account, and refusing families' efforts to help – or even visit.) Sometimes, though, guardians do wonderful and essential work.

In January 2017, Judge James T. Martin ordered the guardians to try to help Kise move to California. They made excuses. (They'd made clear to me that they had no intention of moving her.) They kept her living with people far less functional than she; and their willfulness cost her and her stepson lots of money. (During one visit, a lady who was intently watching a TV show for young children kept confusing Kise and me with characters in the show. Kise whispered, “You don't get smarter in here.”)

In February 2018 the Judge ordered them to comply with his 2017 order.

We celebrated with lunch at Aqua Reef. We were so relieved that Kise could finally move to a facility near her stepson's home, join them for meals, and go to their house to garden. She called them “a godsend.”

I wished I had a videotape of our conversation to show her “guardians.” What was remarkable about our good-bye lunch was that it wasn't remarkable. Kise was charming and quick-witted. Her stepson and his wife treated her with the love and respect she deserved.

As I hugged everyone, I realized how moved I felt.

It seemed incredible that for over a year her guardian and court-appointed lawyer (perhaps well-intentioned), had charged Kise big bucks to keep her locked up and away from her family.

[I can't say much more about Kise's case, except that when I've had a chance to talk with her and her stepson, things sound so much better than when she was here.  Nothing against the facility in which she was kept, where the people who worked with her seemed to genuinely like her and be liked by her.  The key problem is that operating in relative darkness, guardians have pretty absolute power over their charges, particularly since in any disagreement a competent-appearing professional has a pretty significant credibility edge on a person who is or may be approaching dementia.  And we know what Lord Acton said about absolute power corrupting absolutely.  Perhaps it's a wonder that some -- perhaps the majority of -- guardians are honest and caring and thoughtful.]

[In California, Kise read this column and appreciated it.  She commented that "you don't normally read something in the newspaper so truthful."  Thursday is her birthday -- she'll be 87 -- and I'll be thinking of her.]

[Again, I do not mean by this column to indict an industry.  Or anyone.  I mean to join the chorus warning that there are dangers here.  Kise did need some kind of intervention.  But the guardians, in my opinion, dug in too deeply when faced with a loving family.  Her stepson became the Enemy, and battling him seemed to become their mission.  I'm told that under the new rules, they would have been required to serve him with papers right from the start, which would have helped here.]

[By the way, although stories have also appeared in the Albuquerque Journal, the AARP Magazine piece (by Kenneth Miller), which sparked my publication of this column, is in the October/November issue and is entitled "AARP Investigates: A Legal Hostage" and subtitled, "A court-ordered guardianship nearly shattered the life of Kise Davis in a trend that now too often leads to isolation and exploitation of older Americans."  (I'd written the column months ago, but not thought it appropriate to publish it while the case was in the courts and before the information in it had become public.)]

Full Article & Source:
New Mexico's Guardianship System Raises Serious Questions

In Life’s Last Moments, Open a Window

My hospice patients were dying, but they still longed for fresh air and birdsong. 

By Rachel Clarke 
Dr. Clarke specializes in palliative care with Britain’s National Health Service.

Ariel Lee

A furrowed brow and flailing arms were all we had to go on. The grimacing, the way the patient flung his head from side to side — all of it signified an unvoiced anguish. We tried talking, listening, morphine. His agitation only grew.

All cancers have the power to ravage a body, but each assails in distinctive ways. One of the particular cruelties of a cancer of the tongue is its capacity to deprive a person of speech.

Some of us thought he must be suffering from terminal agitation, a state of heightened anxiety that sometimes develops as the end of life draws near. But the junior doctor on the team, Nicholas, was convinced that we could unlock the source of our patient’s distress and volunteered to stay behind in the room.

Nicholas reappeared about an hour later. “You can understand his speech,” he announced. “You just have to really listen.”

When I re-entered the room, the reclining chair that the patient — a tall, angular man in his 80s — had been thrashing around in had been turned to face out onto the garden and the double doors were open wide. Now he sat calmly, transfixed by the trees and sky. All he had wanted was that view.

For a decade, I have worked as a doctor in Britain’s National Health Service. We are an overstretched, underfunded health service in which too few doctors and nurses labor with too few resources, struggling to deliver good care. Burnout among staff is endemic, so much so that it threatens to stifle the kindness and compassion that should be the bedrock of medicine. 

But then there are the moments when helping someone is easy: Just nature is enough.

Before I specialized in palliative care, I thought the sheer vitality of nature might be an affront to patients so close to the end of life — a kind of impudent abundance. And yet, in the hospice where I work, I am often struck by the intense solace some patients find in the natural world.

I met Diane Finch, a patient, in May, on the day her oncologist broke the devastating news that further palliative chemotherapy was no longer an option. She was 51. From that point on, her terminal breast cancer would run its natural course, medicine powerless to arrest it.

“My first thought, my urge, was to get up and find an open space,” she told me on that first meeting. “I needed to breathe fresh air, to hear natural noises away from the hospital and its treatment rooms.”  

At first she fought to preserve herself digitally, documenting every thought and feeling on her computer before they, and she, were lost forever. But one day, as she was typing frantically, she heard a bird singing through her open window.

“When you come to the end of your life, you get the sense that you don’t want to lose yourself, you want to be able to pass something on,” she told me later. “When I had whole brain radiotherapy, I felt as though something had dropped out, as if everything I said needed to be saved. It was all running away from me. 

“Somehow, when I listened to the song of a blackbird in the garden, I found it incredibly calming. It seemed to allay that fear that everything was going to disappear, to be lost forever, because I thought, ‘Well, there will be other blackbirds. Their songs will be pretty similar and it will all be fine.’ And in the same way, there were other people before me with my diagnosis. Other people will have died in the same way I will die. And it’s natural. It’s a natural progression. Cancer is part of nature too, and that is something I have to accept, and learn to live and die with.”

Ms. Finch recorded a song based on the peace she felt listening to the bird song, and it was enough to bring her some relief from what — up to that point — had been almost feverish efforts at self-preservation. 

Another patient, whom I admitted in July with about a week to live, was mostly concerned that I keep the windows open, so that he could “keep on feeling the breeze on my face and listening to that blackbird outside.” I rushed to make sure of it.

Shortly before his death from pancreatic cancer at 59, in the 1990s, the British playwright Dennis Potter described the exaltation of looking out at a blossom that had become the “whitest, frothiest, blossomest blossom that there ever could be” from his window.

“Things are both more trivial than they ever were, and more important than they ever were, and the difference between the trivial and the important doesn’t seem to matter. But the nowness of everything is absolutely wondrous,” he told an interviewer.

People often imagine hospices to be dark and dismal places where there is nothing left to experience but dying. But what dominates my work is not proximity to death but the best bits of living. Nowness is everywhere. Nature provides it.

Rachel Clarke (@doctor_oxford) is an N.H.S. doctor and the author of “Your Life in My Hands: A Junior Doctor’s Story.”

Full Article & Source: 
In Life’s Last Moments, Open a Window

New law offers alternative to traditional guardianship

A new alternative to traditional full guardianship for older adults in Alaska is “a cutting-edge concept” and more person-centered, AARP Alaska says.

HB 336, which was signed by Gov. Bill Walker on Thursday, allows for the creation of a formal legal agreement among a vulnerable adult and his or her chosen “supporters” — who could be family, friends or others — for counsel and support of the adult in making important decisions.

The agreements, called supported decision-making agreements, also will be available to people with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

“It’s innovative legislation that will end up saving the state money and will allow the freedom that seniors need, and folks with intellectual and developmental disabilities, to gauge how much support they need,” state Rep. Charisse Millett, the bill’s sponsor, told TV station KTUU.

The bill had passed the state House 39-1 on April 14 and the state Senate 19-0 on May 11.

Full Article & Source:
New law offers alternative to traditional guardianship

3 Ways to Improve Adult Guardianship and Fight Elder Abuse

Junette, a family caregiver from Arkansas, understands the challenges of providing the best possible care for her adult daughter, Colleen. In 2007, Colleen was injured severely in a hit-and-run accident. Since that time, Junette, her husband, Johnny, and Colleen’s husband, Mark, have done everything possible to care for Colleen at home. They said, “Absolutely not!” when asked if Colleen should be placed in a nursing home. Now, Junette and Johnny help with caregiving responsibilities for Colleen, while Mark serves as her guardian.

Adult guardianship is a process by which a state court appoints an individual to care for the well-being, and possibly finances, of another person who is unable to care for him or herself. Guardians can be family members, friends, or non-related professionals appointed by a judge.

Across the country, we’ve seen an uptick in action to improve outdated guardianship laws, procedures, and practices. State legislators, judges, family advocates, and other stakeholders are working to:

• Prevent the abuse and exploitation of older and vulnerable adults
• Simplify caring across state lines for long-distance guardians
• Improve training and establish standards for all guardians
• Create programs and funding for public guardianship
• Explore less restrictive guardianship alternatives, like supported decision making

In the states, AARP has been at the forefront of the fight to improve guardianship statutes, practices, and standards by advocating for comprehensive and accountable guardianship reforms. Our goal: to help protect vulnerable adults and provide their caregivers with the tools necessary to make important decisions.

Here are 3 ways we’re fighting to improve adult guardianship laws around the country:

1. A New Uniform LawIn July 2017, the Uniform Law Commission approved the Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrangements Act (UGCOPAA). This new act makes it easier for family caregivers and adult guardians to care for their loved ones across state lines. UGCOPAA covers guardianships of adults and minors, emphasizes an approach that centers on the person, and calls on state courts to provide information, guidance, and oversight. The three main objectives of the act are:

• Focus on the Individual: Highlights personalized guardianship plans and requires courts to order less restrictive options for people who are capable of making their own decisions.
• Focus on the Guardian: Spells out the duties and responsibilities of a guardian, provides criteria for decision-making, and outlines standards of practice and training requirements. It also provides a detailed procedure for getting rid of guardians who are “bad actors,” meaning that they are not acting in the best interest of the person for whom they are responsible.
• Focus on the Courts: Guides judges to use the least restrictive option available, before appointing full guardianship. It provides courts with alternatives and emphasizes court oversight and monitoring to help prevent abuse and exploitation. 
  
  Maine is the first state to enact the UGCOPAA and New Mexico’s legislature adopted sections pertaining to mandatory reporting and bonding.

2. Supported Decision MakingAdditionally, states are looking to update guardianship laws to ensure access to less restrictive alternatives, like supported-decision making (SDM). A supported decision-making agreement enables a person, who can make his or her own life decisions but needs assistance doing so, to name an individual, like a family caregiver, to help make these decisions.
   
   In 2015, Texas became the first state to enact SDM, followed by Delaware and most recently, Wisconsin. The Alaska legislature passed a SDM bill that is currently awaiting the Governor’s signature.

3. Advocating Beyond State LegislaturesProgress isn’t just happening in state legislatures. Across the country, AARP is fighting for judicial and executive alternatives to reform adult guardianship systems, like creating WINGS, or Working Interdisciplinary Networks of Guardianship Stakeholders. WINGS are court-community partnerships that identify what does and does not work in the state’s guardianship system. AARP state offices have been engaged actively as community stakeholders in WINGS groups since 2013 and have helped adopt court administrative rule changes, and create educational and training materials for professional and family guardians. Currently, 25 states have WINGS or similarly structured groups focused on guardianship reforms.

This year, AARP state offices in Alabama, Kentucky, and Wisconsin worked with their respective state WINGS group to improve adult guardianship laws and practices.

While we have made great strides to update—and strengthen—state adult guardianship systems, our work is far from done. AARP will continue to fight to protect vulnerable adults who count on their guardians for vital decision-making and support, and to make sure guardians have the training and tools necessary to take on their important responsibilities.

Full Article & Source:
3 Ways to Improve Adult Guardianship and Fight Elder Abuse

Alabama Senior Citizen Medically Kidnapped and Forced onto Drugs Against Family Wishes

Nancy Scott is very concerned about her mother’s well-being, and now she cannot even talk to her.

Just as Child Protective Services and a judge have almost omnipotent, unchecked power to decide unilaterally that the relationship between a parent and a young child is not worthy of being preserved, Adult Protective Services and a probate judge have the same power to sever the relationship between an adult child and their elderly parent.

Sometimes the relationship has endured for longer than the judge and social worker combined have been alive, yet with the stroke of a pen, a senior citizen can be completely torn away from their own children.

The wishes of the elder can be completely ignored, and documents assigning power of attorney to a trusted adult child can become meaningless. Medical and financial decisions are placed into the hands of a court-appointed guardian who is often a stranger to everyone in the family.

Nancy Scott, a retired English teacher from south Alabama, wrote to Health Impact News describing the medical kidnapping of her 102-year-old mother, who is also a beloved retired schoolteacher known to her former students as “Ms. Gregory.”

St. Vincent’s Hospital and the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) seized custody of Marian (Gregory) Leonard in February 2018. She is being held against her will, forced by a Jefferson County, Alabama, court into Hospice care, even though she has no terminal illness or disease. She is elderly, but her mind is sound.

Nancy has always enjoyed a close relationship with her mother, but she has not seen her since midsummer. At that time, Ms. Gregory begged to go home. She told Nancy:

If you don’t get me out of here, they’re going to kill me, and they’re going to kill you.

She is being drugged against her will and has told her daughter that she doesn’t want the drugs. There have been times that medical staff have said that Ms. Gregory had dementia, but Nancy says that this is because of the unnecessary psychotropic drugs that doctors put her on. When she was under care of doctors who removed the medications, her mental state drastically improved.

Ms. Gregory’s Story as Told by her Daughter

Here is their story in Nancy Scott’s words, written just before her visits were stopped:

My mother, a 102 year- old retired English teacher from south Alabama, wakes up every morning and asks, “When can we go home?”

And I tell her every day, “I’m working on getting us home.”

Home is south Alabama, known as the “Wiregrass.” My mother has been in the custody of the Alabama Department of Human Resources since February 1, 2018. I now have a very good attorney, but the first attorneys I had, did absolutely nothing except take my money and never filed an appearance. I just hope it’s not too late.

Medical kidnapping usually involves a child or children, but in my situation, my elder mother—was kidnapped by the Alabama DHR. She was in St. Vincent’s Hospital for what would have been a 3-4 day stay because of a UTI and a mild case of the flu.

DHR issued a court order for “protective custody” on February 1, 2018, and stated in the order that she could not leave the hospital without a court order. I was not allowed to know what I was accused of because DHR sealed the records. One attorney I hired was also not allowed access to the records. The first GAL leaked some of the information to me along with other “grapevine” news.

I finally learned that I was accused by DHR of taking my mother from a facility against medical advice. However, I provided a report from a physician at a local hospital who had given me full permission—and his blessings—to take her out of the facility on the day she and I left.

[Note: documentation of this has been provided to Health Impact News.]

No allegations of abuse or neglect can be found in the (almost) five years I’ve been taking care of my mother. A couple of phone calls by DHR could have proven that I did not take my mother anywhere against medical advice (and never have). However, DHR jumped into the case. Now after spending several thousand dollars of the tax payers’ money, this organization is still trying to find something to justify the hasty, costly decision to take charge of my mother.

Since she has been in “protective custody,” my mother has gone from getting up every day, eating a regular diet, and sitting in a recliner, to being bedridden. She has asked to get up, but Hospice has said, “No.” She left St. Vincent’s with bedsores.

St. Vincent’s Hospital, Birmingham, Alabama. Photo source.

After the medication overdoses at this hospital, it’s a miracle she is alive. The doctors at St. Vincent’s assured me they were not giving her any medication—-she refused to eat or drink for one month and slept most of the time. After a family friend (another physician) came to the hospital to check on her, I learned what she had been given.

The hospitalists in charge of my mother’s care at St. Vincent’s had been giving her Scopolamine, the “date rape” drug, and then proceeded to label her as “demented.” They also gave her Haldol and Ativan (against my written request not to do so).

These doctors also gave her a cough medicine that she could not metabolize. The guidelines for avoiding such medications were in her hospital records, and I reminded them to check this medication against her medical allergies.

She almost died from the medicine mistake, and one hospitalist, Dr. Wheeler, refused to consult with an anesthesiologist regarding the best treatment for her to help her get over the mistake with the medicine. Dr. Wheeler told me, “No, because of her age.”

Probate Judge Alan King (Jefferson County, AL) appointed a conservator and a guardian (GAL) for my mother even though I provided documentation that I had not done anything against medical advice.

When Judge King issued an order after a March 20, 2018, hearing, neither my attorney nor I were allowed to receive a copy of the order for several weeks. The clerk at the probate judicial office told me that until the court costs were paid, we were not allowed a copy of the judge’s order. DHR was responsible for the bill, so getting a copy of the order was delayed almost a month while everyone waited for DHR to pay the bill.

Judge King also insisted that my mother leave the hospital under hospice care although she has no diagnosis of any terminal illness.

Prior to the hospitalization, she ate a regular diet, got out of bed every day (with the help of regular caregivers), and enjoyed having her hair done.

The Director of Nursing at the current facility told me that she had tried to get Hospice to agree to add a low dose of Zoloft for my mother at bedtime. Hospice told me that they were under strict court orders not to discuss any medication issues with me and refused to add the Zoloft even though she had been taking this medication for over 30 years.

Early on, my brother called the former GAL and told her that no one was able to look after the best interests of my mother any better than I because I knew all of her medical allergies and was extremely careful with her care.

In addition, the court-appointed Jefferson County conservator and St. Vincent’s social workers selected a facility in Jefferson County, a three-star facility, that always seems to be short on staff. The court refused to allow my mother to leave Jefferson County (Birmingham area).

The facility in Troy, Alabama, which I presented to hospital social workers as an option, much closer to her home and friends, has a five-star (Medicare rating) and is almost $2000/month less expensive.

Why all this taxpayer money to hold an old woman in “protective custody” and deny her God given rights to choose where she will spend her last days?

Bottom line—we have been through all this before……could some of the problem possibly be the 300 wooded acres in Henry County, Alabama, that my mother inherited from her grandfather during the depression?

Full Article & Source:
Alabama Senior Citizen Medically Kidnapped and Forced onto Drugs Against Family Wishes

Retired and broke: Bankruptcy filings surging for seniors

Mark Molnar cleans a restroom in an RV park in Trenton, Maine. Molnar and his wife, Joanne, are "workampers," mainly retirement-age couples who work seasonal jobs at RV parks and camping parks for minimum or relatively low wages during the summer months. (Photo Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)

We were going over her budget and it didn’t look good.

She was retired and in her late 60s. Her only income is Social Security. Between the cost of health care, medicine, food and rent there wasn’t really anything left over to handle the thousands of dollars of credit card debt. Credit was the bridge she used to extend her benefit check.

“You need to file for bankruptcy,” I said.

She didn’t say anything for quite some time.

“But I pay my debts, always have,” she finally responded. “Scripture says, the wicked vow and don’t pay.”

For all of her working life, she had sufficient income to cover her expenses. But now there just wasn’t enough. Even if she just paid the minimum due, she would be in her 90s before it was all paid off. The stress of debt was too much to bear. By the time she got over her embarrassment to ask for help, bankruptcy was the only viable option.

Filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy was devastating to her. Yet, it was what saved her from the increasingly aggressive letters and calls from creditors. Things are still very tight, but she’s making her meager ends meet.

Last week, a lot of news outlets jumped on this detail: Data from the Consumer Bankruptcy Project show that bankruptcy filings by people 65 and older are climbing.

“The social safety net for older Americans has been shrinking for the past couple decades,” according to the paper “Graying of U.S. Bankruptcy: Fallout from Life in a Risk Society.” “The risks associated with aging, reduced income and increased health care costs, have been offloaded onto older individuals. At the same time, older Americans are increasingly likely to file consumer bankruptcy, and their representation among those in bankruptcy has never been higher.”

There has been more than a twofold increase in the rate at which older Americans file for bankruptcy protection and almost fivefold jump in the percentage of older persons in the bankruptcy system, according to the research compiled by a group that includes Deborah Thorne at the University of Idaho, Pamela Foohey of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Robert Lawless of the University of Illinois College of Law and Katherine Porter of University of California Irvine School of Law.

“The magnitude of growth in older Americans in bankruptcy is so large that the broader trend of an aging U.S. population can explain only a small portion of the effect,” the researchers wrote. “In our data, older Americans report they are struggling with increased financial risks, namely inadequate income and unmanageable costs of health care, as they try to deal with reductions to their social safety net.”

They report that the median senior bankruptcy filer has a negative net worth of $17,390.

Here’s a chilling proclamation from the report: “For an increasing number of older Americans, their golden years are fraught with economic risks . . . Absent significant policy changes that reassume the risks of aging and effectively insure the financial stability of older Americans, our data suggest that the trend of an aging bankruptcy population will continue. For older Americans, bankruptcy is too little too late. By the time they file, their wealth has vanished, and they simply do not have enough years to get back on their feet.”

Last week, I was on NPR’s 1A to talk about this trend. I was joined on the show, hosted by Joshua Johnson, by Thorne, the principal investigator of the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, and by Cindy Hounsell, president of the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER).

“Oh, c'mon: who could have possibly imagined that the systematic theft of Baby Boomers' pensions to artificially inflate stock prices and temporarily increase corporate profits would ever have any adverse effects on actual people?” one listener wrote.  (Continue)

Full Article & Source:
Retired and broke: Bankruptcy filings surging for seniors

Perils of Probate: Probate Court Destroys Lives of Mother and Daughter

Bonnie Lou White and Gerarda White-Penny

Bonnie Lou White and Gerarda White-Penny had a perfect life. Mother and daughter lived together, each doing their part to get by. Things changed rapidly after Bonnie Lou White wrote her will and trust, and a cousin found out she wasn’t a beneficiary.

The cousin petitioned the probate court in 2017, and the probate quickly bypassed any claim the cousin thought she had. But that wasn’t the end of it. Probate court officials immediately took over anyway, took out a $900,000 reverse mortgage and installed new doors, windows and floors, all at White’s expense.

After the upgrades, the court was gracious enough to allowed White to live in her home a few months before the conservator moved White to a nursing home.

White has made it clear to the court that she wants to live at home. White has no mental incapacity, she wants to be at home with Gerarda and her grandbaby.

White has been in the nursing home since January, and in September the daughter received an eviction notice.

“I’ve got less than a month before I lose mom’s home. Our home is worth over $1 million but they’ve listed it at $780,000. The court is probably going to sell it to one of their friends,” Gerarda said. “They say they’re going to pay medical expenses, but my mom has long-term care insurance. Why are they doing this to my family? We were doing fine. The Court said our house needed upgrades so they put in new windows, doors and floors. Who really needs these things, us, or the people they intend to sell it to?”
“My cousin filed the petition, which made us come to court and they conserved my mother. My cousin is not in my mom’s will and she is excluded in the trust. All she got was to see my family destroyed.”

The purpose of the probate court is to conserve families, and do what’s in their best interest.

Unfortunately many court appointed officials don’t abide by the rules written in the Probate Handbook. In the Handbook is written, “when at all possible keep the Conservatee in the home, that’s the best place for them to be.”

Current probate officials are quick to take over conservatorship because that’s how they make their money. It’s a business, a profession. Gerarda’s story is a common one.

Gerarda is fighting back. She has filed a petition to dismiss her mother’s conservatorship and taken the civil case to the Alameda County district attorney’s office. “When people file a petition, especially one where their name ain’t on nothing, the court needs to consider the person’s motivation bringing the petition, or just abide by what the will and trust says. They bypass your trust like it doesn’t exist. Courts allow these petitions because that’s the wedge they need to take over people and their estates,” she said.

SHOUT OUT JUSTICE and Cedar California recently joined with national probate fighting network “Probate Warriors.” “We find that the only time we get the court to stop running over us is when we get media attention,” says, SOJ’s Venus Gist. “Probate Warriors are families committed to fight what is becoming an epidemic of abuse by probate officials and judges nationwide.”

Full Article & Source:
Perils of Probate: Probate Court Destroys Lives of Mother and Daughter

Nursing home workers accused of duct-taping elderly dementia patient to chair

Lashron Williams, Phygelle Brudent, Sherlie Tesyeux

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (AP/WSVN) — Three Florida nursing home employees are charged with using duct tape to restrain and quiet a patient with dementia.

Boynton Beach Police said 52-year-old Lashron Williams and 44-year-old Phygelle Brudent duct-taped a 67-year-old woman to a chair and used tape to cover her mouth. They were arrested July 12th and charged with elder abuse and false imprisonment.

A third nursing home employee, 27-year-old Sherlie Tesyeux, was arrested Sunday at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after returning from Haiti, police said.

Detectives say Brudent confessed to duct-taping the victim July 3rd. According to the Palm Beach Post, Brudent told officers she tied the woman up with cloth pajama pants and used duct tape to bind her hands and feet. She also put the tape over her mouth to “prevent her from screaming,” the arrest report says.

Williams told police Brudent duct-taped the victim. She said she uncovered the patient’s mouth to give her sleeping pills. She said she told Brudent it was wrong to duct-tape patients, but did not report her.

A probable cause affidavit says Tesyeux was present when the victim was restrained, but did not stop nor report what the others did.

3rd suspect arrested for part in tying woman, 67, to chair w/duct tape at assisted living facility. Sherlie Tesyeux, 28, taken into custody at @FLLFlyer by @browardsheriff after returning from trip to Haiti. Read arrest report here:https://t.co/JPoPkd177c

— Boynton Beach Police (@BBPD) August 1, 2018

Full Article & Source:
Nursing home workers accused of duct-taping elderly dementia patient to chair

While visiting my dying stepmother, I discovered her children had looted my father’s estate

Dear Moneyist,
 
My father passed in 2001. He married his wife in 1971 when I was 14. I have two blood siblings, and my step-mother had one daughter; they are very close. My stepmother is now 91 and in failing health. My wife and I traveled 1,000 miles to stay with her during her recovery from pneumonia, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease last week. We have always gotten along well together and, over the years, my siblings have been very nice to her.

‘I realized I was looking at the looting of my dad’s estate—and all the money had been drained by my step-sister and her husband.’

Before my dad passed, we had a frank and clear discussion about his estate. He had worked and invested and had more than $1 million in his estate, which he clearly stated to me was to be split four equal ways upon the death of his wife. She was also provided for by his company’s life insurance policy, and the $600,000 from the sale of his Southern California home.

During our visit, she offered to have us stay in her home. I was going through the old picture albums, and taking some cell phone camera shots of my kids. There weren’t a lot, mostly of her daughter.

One of the picture albums had financial documents in it, and I soon realized I was looking at the looting of my dad’s estate—and all the money had been drained by my step-sister and her husband.

I’d like to say I was shocked, but really it was almost a validation. My stepsister’s husband has been on disability for 18 years. Each year, their whole family of 6 takes at least 2 cruises. They drive new cars, and there was plenty of money for my stepsister to buy a business for her son.

I didn’t see the will when my dad died, but somehow he left it so that in certain circumstance, if his wife’s income fell to a certain level, they were able to access my dad’s estate principle. In 2009, my stepsister and her husband took out a $750,000 single-premium life insurance on my stepmom.

They borrowed $617,000 from my father’s life insurance policy, and the surrender value and death benefit are now about $120,000. They also wrote my stepmom’s trust and so that my stepsister gets 75% of any distribution, and the other three kids share equally of the remaining 25%.

My stepmom brought very little in assets into the marriage—just a small home in California, which wasn’t worth much. She had no other major assets. The life insurance policy was paid in full at the time of issue, and the money had to come from my father’s estate. Even if we fight it now, the money has been gone for 9 years, and now that stepmom is in poor health we can see that, from our expected $250,000 distribution from dad’s estate, the blood issue kids will be very lucky to get even $5,000 after probate and taxes.

I am lucky that I’ve worked hard and invested well that it won’t be a problem for my wife and I. My brother is on a pension from the state of California and is OK, but my sister and husband are going to be hit hard by this. She has been counting on that estate for 20 years to fund her own retirement, and it’s not going to be there.

A word of warning to your readers: Don’t trust anyone. I’m going to get a lawyer, and fight it for the hell of it, but even after I win a judgment, the money has been spent, and we’ll never get anything out of it. Any other suggestions?

Distraught

Dear Distraught,
 
These stepsiblings are absolutely attempting to cheat you out of your inheritance.

If your father did not leave a will, the probate court should have divided the estate in accordance with the law in the state of California. If you father died intestate (without a will) in California, community property goes to the surviving spouse, receives one-third of the total separate property if there’s more than one child with the rest divided among the children. Gather any documents you can on your stepfamily’s financial transactions as evidence, obtained legally. But it may be too late.

There is a statute of limitations on an oral promise in California. “The applicable statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit to enforce an oral promise to make a will or trust is one year from the date of death of the person,” according to Sweeney Probate Law, which has offices across the state. Anyone contesting a will has 120 days after it has been admitted to probate.

You may have better luck with the statute of limitations in relation to fraud. You must file a lawsuit within three years of discovering the fraud or three years “within reasonable diligence” where you could have discovered those facts. The latter sounds like a more moveable date that is open to challenge. Your lawyer will best advice you on your options.

Your stepmother may or may not have been an accomplice to these transactions. What is clear: Your stepsiblings saw an opportunity to transfer this wealth. Obtain a copy of all life insurance policies, compile a timeline of events. You may have a case for breach of contract of the life insurance policy and/or elder abuse (if your stepsiblings carried out these shenanigans while your stepmother was mentally impaired) and even fraudulent wire transfer.

If you have an experienced probate attorney, he/she may have another solution relating to fraud. But you may be out of luck. You were correct not to rely on your stepmother and her family to honor your father’s wishes, but the statute of limitations and trying to find money after it’s been drained from multiple accounts present dual challenges for you. If nothing else, it serves as a timely warning to leave nothing to chance.

Full Article & Source:
While visiting my dying stepmother, I discovered her children had looted my father’s estate

Tonight on Marti Oakley's TS Radio Network: Guest Erin Dakins

5:00 pm PST … 6:00 pm MST … 7:00 pm CST … 8:00 pm EST

Former host of The Truth Traveler Radio Show and guest/program producer for two other talk shows, Erin Dakins will be on TS Radio Network tonight with Marti Oakley to discuss lack of patient care and over dosing of pharmaceuticals in the elderly......all from a personal perspective.

DRUGS! The perfect way to make an elderly person appear "incapacitated". And! they help keep the victim quiet so they don't complain about the lack of care or neglect in these warehouses they call nursing homes or residential homes.

The drugging of America's elderly is a rapidly growing epidemic. Palliative care is a euphemism for terminal sedation in most cases. Not only have they targeted the elderly for theft of estates, stolen their identity's and handed everything over to these for-profit predators, they have now come up with a perfect plan for wiping them out. Drugs are the answer and also quite profitable for the medical and pharmaceutical industries.

LISTEN to the show LIVE or listen to the archive later

From AARP: What Happens When a Guardianship Gets Contentious

by Kenneth Miller:
Larry Davis tried his best to help his stepmother, but distance made it difficult. Davis lived with his wife in Sonoma County, Calif.; Kise (pronounced KEEˇ-say) Davis lived in Las Cruces, N.M., 1,200 miles away. She was struggling with dementia, and Larry, who held power of attorney over her affairs, spoke with her regularly, kept tabs on her via local contacts and visited as often as he could. He was working toward moving her to an assisted living facility near his home.

That began to seem more urgent in the fall of 2016, when Kise, then 85, began complaining that a longtime acquaintance, Larry Franco — a handyman who helped her with household tasks — was stealing from her. But Kise’s illness sometimes made her paranoid; she’d lodged such accusations against friends before. Larry, who was 74, planned to fly out and investigate after the holidays. Then, shortly before Christmas, he came home from a shopping trip to learn that Kise had gone missing.

“This is Kise’s neighbor Donnie,” said the voice on the answering machine. “I thought you should know that a van just came and took her to some kind of institution.”

Terrified that harm had come to Kise, Larry called Franco and demanded to know what was going on. “I got in over my head,” Franco told him. He explained that Kise had transferred her power of attorney (POA) to him, then turned suspicious and hostile. Franco’s lawyer had advised him that the best way to ensure Kise was properly cared for was to petition a judge to appoint a professional guardian, who would take over legal responsibility for her well-being.

Kise’s newly appointed guardian, a company called Advocate Services of Las Cruces, had placed her in a dementia-care facility by order of the court. It took Larry more than a week to reach her there. When they finally spoke, on Christmas Eve, she seemed to believe she’d booked herself a room, though now they wouldn’t let her go.

Larry was furious that no one had informed him before letting strangers lock her away, but he assumed he could quickly set things right.

He was wrong.

Full Article and Source:
What Happens When a Guardianship Gets Contentious

See Also:
NASGA: Power of Attorney

"You go there to die." Family describes nightmare getting uncle out of nursing home.

Click to Watch Video

On April 2, Ron Arnold was admitted to Safire Care Rehabilitation of the Northtowns on Sheridan Drive. He needed rehab after a fall. His family had no idea he would essentially be stuck there until August 22, despite months of trying to get him out.

"It's like a sequence of lies on purpose to delay the process or sabotage the process and cause chaos," Gregory Mikolajczak, Arnold's nephew and healthcare proxy, said.

The plan, originally, was to bring Arnold home after he finished rehab. Mikolajczak told Safire's social worker if his uncle needed to be placed in long term care, they had another WNY facility already lined up.

But, according to Mikolajczak, Safire moved Arnold into their own long term care without notifying Mikolajczak, who, as healthcare proxy, was charged with making medical decisions on behalf of his uncle.

"If you questioned anything it was most unwelcome," Arnold said, describing his time at Safire. "It was quite touch and go several times with some of the staff."

Those concerns, along with Mikolajczak's assessment of the cleanliness and treatment provided to his uncle, made their desire to get him out all the more urgent.

"You're worried about him and what are you going to do 300 miles away? You have to keep coming up. It really was a time. My heart hurt," Mikolajczak said. He was traveling from his home in Pennsylvania to help his uncle.

When Mikolajczak learned his uncle was in long term care at Safire in late April, he started the process of transferring Arnold to a separate facility. Long term care is not covered by Arnold's insurance and the new place would be more affordable for the family.

Despite having a doctor's clearance and the new facility ready to house Arnold, Mikolajczak says the social worker at Safire would not fill out necessary paperwork and schedule a final medical test for discharge, intentionally delaying the process and holding his uncle there for months longer than necessary.

In the middle of this process, Arnold had to be admitted to ECMC for dehydration. Mikolajczak feared the worst should he be unable to get his uncle out.

"That they're going to kill him," he said. "Due to lack of nourishment and hydration and air conditioning and care. I've been told by his friends and stuff that that's a last resort place to go. You go there to die."

Eventually, the family did get Arnold out. He says he is much happier at his new home and is settling in well.

The final bill from Safire totaled $46,959.14. According to Mikolajczak, had he been able to transfer his uncle before the initiation of long term care, he would have saved about $43,000.

The New York State Department of Health gives Safire Northtowns a one-star rating, its lowest possible. Between June 2014 and May 2018, state inspections turned up 94 citations, nearly triple the state average of 33 in that same period of time. You can read the state's evaluation on the facility and see detailed reports of citations here.

7 Eyewitness News reached out to Safire Care Rehabilitation of the Northtowns for comment on this story. A staff member told 7 Eyewitness News reporter Josh Bazan by phone that a manager would call back Friday afternoon. No call has been received.

The 7 Eyewitness News I-Team investigated a different nursing home operated by the same ownership group in February. That home was Safire Care in South Buffalo. The I-Team found a pattern of serious mistakes and dangerous living conditions. You can read that report here.

Full Article & Source:
"You go there to die." Family describes nightmare getting uncle out of nursing home.