Dearborn Heights woman with disability wins case against guardianship

Judge Freddie Burton Jr. (Photo courtesy of Wayne County Probate Court)

By Dave Herndon

Linda VanWormer, 56, of Dearborn Heights has won a court case to keep her independence.

Wayne County Chief Probate Judge Freddie Burton Jr. recently placed VanWormer under Supported Decision-Making (SDM) instead of placing her under guardianship like it had been requested.

VanWormer has an intellectual disability, but will still be allowed to make her own decisions under the court order.

“I do call the shots now,” VanWormer told WXYZ.

Amy Peckinpaugh, her sister, has had guardianship over VanWormer since 2011. It was at her request that the SDM order was granted.

When Peckinpaugh got the first order, it was because her sister was living in an abusive relationship.

“It allowed me to say that Linda couldn’t go back up north and live with her abuser,” Peckinpaugh told WXYZ. “I had to make that decision to protect her. And so that is why I did that. But it meant I took that right from her. She couldn’t consent to treatment. She couldn’t decide where she wanted to move.”

While legally VanWormer was under guardianship, she and her sister were using the processes of SDM, and decided to make that the legally required process for her.

“Linda uses her family, her friends, providers that support her when she wants to make a decision, she comes to them, and if she needs some extra input, she’ll say, ‘Hey, what do you think of this,’” Peckinpaugh told WXYZ.

The pair said a mix-up with VanWormer’s mental health support agency had put a request through the courts to put her back under guardianship, which is what caused the court case to officially put the SDM order in place.

She said that the mental health agency realized it had made a mistake and helped to hire lawyers to fight for them, instead of against them.

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Dearborn Heights woman with disability wins case against guardianship