By: Walt Kane
More than 36,000 people in New Jersey live under court-ordered guardianships, essentially losing many or most of their rights, a Kane In Your Corner investigation finds. Some say the guardianships were unnecessary and imposed against their will. But terminating a guardianship can be difficult and costly.
Elberta Cohen, 80, can remember the details of every
trip she and her late husband took. Her family room is filled with
photos and souvenirs of their travels.
“This, of course, is Russia,” Cohen says, gesturing to a framed photo. “That’s St. Petersburg. I loved it, absolutely loved it.”
Cohen
also enjoys playing Scrabble and can talk at length about current
events like the war in Ukraine. But she has no access to her money and
can’t make major life decisions. Those are in the hands of a stranger, a
guardian appointed after a judge ruled her “totally incapacitated.”
“I
went to the dentist the other day and I had to explain, ‘The money is
there. I'll get it to you.’” Cohen recalls. “Do you know how
embarrassing that is?”
New Jersey has no
diagnostic standards to determine if a person lacks capacity, according
to state judiciary spokesperson, Peter McAleer. Instead, it “requires
courts to determine the functional capacity of the individual,
regardless of their diagnosis.” In other words, if a judge says someone
needs a guardian, then they do.
The National
Association to Stop Guardianship Abuse says guardianships may be
necessary in some cases, but are too easily abused, given the
consequences. “The person in a guardianship has no right to choose where
to live, who to associate with. They have no control over their money,”
says NASGA director Marcia Southwick.
Cohen lost her rights after her youngest son, Robert,
petitioned for guardianship. She says he did it to stop her from
changing her will, after “I told him he wasn't gonna get any money.”
Robert Cohen insists the will had nothing to do with it. He says his
mother’s “thoughts can be scattered at times. Other times, she can be
coherent.”
Elberta says she’s “not incapacitated
in any way, shape or form,” and that one of New Jersey’s top eldercare
attorneys, Lauren Marinaro, has agreed to represent her.
“I believe she is competent to make decisions and should be restored to capacity,” Marinaro says.
But Southwick says terminating a guardianship can be costly.
“The
lawyer for the guardian can charge your estate to fight back,”
Southwick says. “So basically, you're being held captive while people
are just charging your estate. It's as if you’ve become a cash cow.”
As
in most guardianship cases, Elberta was evaluated by three doctors. One
found she could “manage her medical, financial and legal affairs.” But
the others disagreed.
Faced with the conflicting reports, the judge ordered
a full or “plenary” guardianship, covering not just Cohen’s estate but
also her “person.” Marinaro has now gotten three more doctors to do
evaluations. All found her capable of making decisions on her own.
Marinaro says the lack of a diagnostic standard can make evaluations
subjective, and “only the people giving the test know how to how to
grade the quiz.”
The subjectivity also extends
to opinions of Cohen’s living conditions. The guardianship petition
claimed the house was “very filthy” and so cluttered that it was
“unsafe” for Cohen to walk. But Kane In Your Corner visited the
house more than once, and never saw that. Footage shows the house is
clean, and while there is some clutter, like a dining room table that is
largely covered by books and knick-knacks, it does not create an
impediment to walking around.
“You don't have to
have a perfectly clean house every day to be an adult with the ability
to do your own thing,” Marinaro says. “You're still an adult, and you
still have fundamental rights.”
Elberta admits
her life isn’t perfect. She lives with her oldest son Larry. She says
she and Larry argue at times, sometimes loudly. But she says, “I don‘t
want to be taken care of by a stranger” and disputes Robert’s contention
that Larry “is controlling her life.” So when the guardian sought to
have Larry evicted and replaced by a full-time aide earlier this year,
Elberta was furious, especially since the filing openly stated the aide
would likely be temporary and serve as a “transition to assisted
living.”
“He was going to go and make me sell my home and put
me in a nursing home,” Elberta says indignantly. “I feel it’s my home.
I'm entitled to live where I want to live.”
Cohen’s case is scheduled to go to a court hearing next month.
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Full Article & Source:
KIYC: Thousands of NJ residents are in court-ordered guardianships. Some fight to get rights back
Guardianships are wrong .
ReplyDeleteEven if the people are well intended they may erroneously assume a nursing home provides adequate care.
ReplyDeleteBut often effective care that is more appropriate can be developed at home. Also nursing home abuse and neglect can have negative effects on health.
Hours may go by were call bells aren’t answered. Sometimes health care plans are ignored by staff.
911 calls aren’t necessarily responded two.
Individual residents needs are often ignored and this can lead to premature death!!!
Many times agencies don’t appropriately investigate.
There seems to be a trend for some agencies to be hard on family’s yet overlook ongoing nursing home abuse.
Plus the nursing home seem skilled at covering their back which maybe
Why their is a belief they don’t provide adequate emergency medical care to residence.
It could in some cases be part of a coverup to avoid documentation of injuries which they may prefer to ignore!