Pass Senate bills to end probate system actions that cause abuse, abandonment, exploitation

Being tied to something as well-known as “Disney” provides for interesting conversations. Mention “probate court” and eyes glaze over. My stepson, Brad Disney Lund, the grandson of Walt Disney, and our family have been in protracted probate cases for more than 13 years. Brad won his Arizona case, our family vindicated of any wrongdoing, but the people we met and what we learned about the probate system in the United States revealed a nightmare worse than any evil portrayed in fantasy. (Deposit Photos)

Being connected to something as well-known as “Disney” provides for interesting conversations. Mention “probate court” and eyes glaze over. The connection to one has made me all too familiar with the other. My stepson, Brad Disney Lund, the grandson of Walt Disney, and our family have been in protracted probate cases for over 13 years. Brad won his Arizona case, our family vindicated of any wrongdoing, but the people we met and what we learned about the probate system in our country revealed a nightmare worse than any evil portrayed in fantasy. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals called the probate court in our case “The Most Unhappy Place on Earth.”

These real-life experiences invoke questions of how this is even legal in America. When compared, the pattern of practice across the country becomes obvious. The Department of Justice has years of documented physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, physical abandonment, and financial exploitation from probate actions. More accounts are found with a simple internet search.

People being denied due process, stripped of every dime they saved, robbed of pensions, restricted of precious time with loved ones, drugged and left to develop bedsores, pushed into declining health ultimately to die penniless and often alone, motivated me to seek change. Which is why two probate reform bills, SB1291 and SB1038, are in our Legislature this session. Both bills have garnered immense bipartisan support, are vitally important and must become law.

Arizona law allows for a simple medical evaluation, it could be by a registered nurse or physician assistant, to place someone under a court order. There is no requirement for an evaluation from your long-time personal physician, or someone specifically trained in detecting mental and physical incapacity to perform this evaluation that will remove you of every right you ever had. A stranger is able to determine if a person stands to lose their civil rights and be reclassified as a “ward” in a court action where limited evidence is required.

Enter the dystopian reality of families legally prevented from seeing loved ones, sedation to keep the ward “calm,” liquidation of assets and personal belongings, a likely change of residence to fit the needs of the guardian who now bills the ward for every aspect of care, for example $25 to open and $25 to read each piece of mail – even junk mail. The ward loses the right to vote, to drive, to see whomever they choose, to live where they choose, the ability to choose their own doctor and make healthcare decisions. Essentially, all individual decision-making is forfeited and given to the guardian, a stranger, appointed by the courts in most cases.

When a guardian is appointed, it usually means that a conservator over their estate is also appointed. Probate does not require great wealth or being elderly. Owning your home, having a 401K or IRA, other assets, Social Security or pension will do. It can start with getting sick or having an injury with an unexpected hospitalization, a bank account problem, or a family squabble over who takes care of someone, or who gets the house and remaining retirement savings after mom and dad are gone.

These events trigger the idea that there is a need for an intervention in the care or financial management of the individual, which ushers in the court-appointed attorneys, fiduciaries and guardians. With relatively minimal effort, an individual’s civil rights are removed, their life no longer under their control. Then there is the money that is filtered through probate cases. So much money.

The money running through the probate system makes it ripe for corruption. The United States is estimated to have 1.3 million active probate cases, including over $50 billion under management, with a staggering $16.9 billion drained from retirement accounts, family trusts, and lifetime savings of Baby Boomers alone. In many cases it is the court-appointed players receiving these funds, nicknamed “probate pirates” due to their ease at liquidating assets while staying in the gray zone of legality. One recent article said the current probate system “… irreparably damages entire generations of innocent families.”

Not surprisingly, the abusers in the system are trying hard to push back on SB1291 and SB1038 by lobbying to water down these bills. They should not be allowed to deny the Constitutional protections against what is happening in the probate courts to protect their status quo. Every citizen should be concerned that our rights are so easily eliminated and all that we hold dear and planned for, wiped away. It is incumbent on the Arizona Legislature to pass and Gov. Katie Hobbs to sign into law, SB1291 and SB1038.

Sherry Lund of Paradise Valley is the founder of Protecting Liberty 5-14, a grassroots organization dedicated to protecting the rights guaranteed in the 5th and 14th Amendments and has spent over a decade advocating nationwide for victims of probate abuse.

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Pass Senate bills to end probate system actions that cause abuse, abandonment, exploitation