by Jameson Cook
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| Melissa Edwards, right, is joined by her sister, Kim, and Kim's daughter, Taylor, on their living room couch earlier this year in their Clinton Township home. MACOMB DAILY FILE PHOTO |
A probate judge denied a Clinton Township woman’s request to manage her cognitively impaired sister’s over $1 million trust but awarded funds for a new vehicle for the cognitively impaired woman’s sister and daughter to drive her in.
Wayne County Probate Judge David Braxton on Friday granted about $45,000 for Taylor Edwards to buy a new truck for her mother, Kim Edwards, who is impaired, but denied a request by Kim’s sister, Melissa Edwards, to be named as the new trustee following the resignation of the former long-time trustee, Mark Haywood.
“I don’t see how Melissa Edwards has standing; she is not a beneficiary of the trust,” Braxton said at the hearing held over Zoom.
The judge also denied a request by Melissa Edwards to review the 12th accounting of the trust that was approved in February while granting the 13th accounting, which was reviewed and contained objections by Melissa Edwards that were ignored, said attorney Phillip Strehle, representing her. The 12th accounting reviewed one year of financial transactions and statements from 2021 to 2022 while the 13th accounting covered 2022 to 2023.
Strehle said after the hearing he is concerned about substantial losses in the trust due to drops in the financial markets. There is $1.3 million in the trust.
Strehle said while the allocation of the funds for the truck was a positive development, he predicted it will still take a long time to actually purchase it because a new trustee was appointed Friday and will need time to get acclimated with the case.
“We’ve already been waiting for a year,” Strehle said.
Kim Edwards, 46, became cognitively impaired in 2004 when she went nearly 15 minutes without oxygen during a cardiac arrest as she was giving birth. She gained a $3 million settlement with the hospital.
Kim Edwards’ mother for years was the guardian but was replaced a few years before she died in 2018. A non-relative guardian had been in place until earlier this year when Taylor Edwards turned 18 and was named. The Edwards’ reside in a 2,500-square-foot home off of Clinton River that was bought by the trust for $330,000 in 2011.
Melissa Edwards, 40, the paid caregiver for her sister, has complained about how the court case and trust have been handled. She has been displeased with Braxton’s rulings that do not give her “standing” in the probate case despite being Kim Edwards’ sister and long-time caregiver. She believes the judge and other parties are biased against her because she is not a lawyer.
Braxton called her “head strong” and told her at least twice during Friday’s hearing to not talk after she interrupted him.
She said she was forced to dip into her own funds for auto repairs and a preowned Jeep, which carries a $15,000 loan. She said she bought the car because Haywood did not allow for repair of the transmission of Kim Edwards’ Kia Sorrento, which stopped running last July.
Strehle criticized Braxton for not appointing Melissa Edwards as the successor trustee despite her status.
“The judge didn’t follow the law today as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “He was citing events from years ago. He never used the phrase she is ‘not suitable.’”
Braxton cited a report from over 10 years ago that indicated holes in the home’s walls, Kim Edwards’ mattress was on the floor and cockroaches infested the home.
“The interior of the home did not look like she was being taken care of,” Braxton said, citing video of the home.
But Melisssa Edwards denied and downplayed the accusations, noting they were temporary situations. She said there was a delay by the trustee in hiring a pet-control company to eliminate a roach infestation in 2011 or 2012, and her mother hired a company with her own funds to remove it.
Edwards said Haywood did not grant enough trust funds for home repairs.
Edwards can appeal the ruling but will have to continue to pay Stehle with her own funds because Braxton says Melissa and Kim Edwards don’t have a right to pay for an attorney with trust funds.
“I’ve thought about it long and hard, I don’t see how she can hire
Mr. Strehle” with trustee dollars due to her lack of standing,” Braxton
said of Melissa Edwards.
Full Article & Source:
Probate judge denies request by Clinton Township woman to become impaired sister’s trustee
See Also:
Clinton Twp. woman questions probate court’s decisions for sister’s care
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