Jan Garwood, a former ward, reacts to the news that her former guardian has lost her registration with the state (WPEC)
ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. (CBS12) — A
professional guardian featured in a year-long CBS12 News I-Team
investigation is out of job, after the state revoked her guardianship
registration.
The action against guardian Denise Willis comes
after years of complaints about the way she managed her wards' money,
property, medical care, and more.
The I-Team has been exposing
issues within the state guardianship system, showing how easily court
appointed guardians can exploit the people they are being paid to
protect.
Last year, we brought you the story of Jan Garwood,
a former ward from the Orlando area who a judge decided was
"incapacitated" in 2019. The court appointed a guardian named Denise
Willis to oversee Garwood's care.
Eventually, Garwood was able
to convince a new judge that she didn't need to be in a guardianship.
By the time she got her freedom back, the damage was done: Willis sold
her home and car while Garwood was in the guardianship. She was missing
several social security payments and nearly all of her possessions.
Jan tells the I-Team years later, she is still struggling to get back on her feet.
"I get my social security checks but it's not enough to pay the rent," Garwood said.
While
she works to rebuild her life after guardianship, she is celebrating
one thing: an order from the state revoking Denise Willis' guardianship
registration. It means she can never work as a guardian in Florida
again.
"That's wonderful. It's a start. But it's just a start. She is just one of many," she said.
Public
records show the state investigated Garwood's complaints against Willis
and the complaints of several other wards. In the order revoking her
license, investigators outline 13 counts against her, including:
Reimbursing herself for "purchases for a ward" without court approval or receipts
Failing to provide the court an accounting of ward's assets
Failing to provide a guardianship plan to the court, which updates a judge on a ward's condition
Neglecting to visit, or even electronically check in on a ward for more than 13 months
The
I-Team reached out to Denise Willis for comment but did not hear back.
We were able to reach her lawyer, who said he does not plan to appeal
the decision by the Office of Public and Professional Guardians.
According
to an Inspector General's Report, Denise Willis told investigators
looking into allegations against her that she was "tired of fighting,"
knew she "owed the court documents" and did not want to respond to
complaints because she believed she was "going to be removed anyway."
She attributes her faith and optimism to her strong Jewish faith.
Garwood overcame nearly insurmountable odds to get her rights
restored after spending three years under the control of two
professional guardians.
“I was very lucky,” Garwood said, describing getting out of guardianship.
But
she says Florida’s court-appointed guardianship system doesn't offer
any resources for people after they get their rights restored.
The
ABC Action News I-Team first spoke to Garwood in April 2020. She sent a
message on Facebook, then called on Facetime from a locked dementia
unit using a secret cell phone snuck in by her son Alex.
“It’s
hard to put a word on it. Heartbreaking, frustrating, challenging.
Trying to get past people. Hiding my phone so I can get out and call
people and try to get help,” Garwood said in our first recorded phone
call. “There shouldn’t be anybody that should be able to have 100%
control over anybody’s life.”
One of Garwood’s biggest concerns at the time was that COVID was
spreading through her ALF and she had no way to protect herself from
being infected.
“I went on Facebook and I said if anybody out
there is reading this, I’m locked up in an assisted living and I can’t
get out and I need an attorney,” Garwood said in a recent interview.
Garwood landed in guardianship in 2017 after she was injured in a car crash while grieving the death of her son.
A judge ruled she was not capable of taking care of herself and removed all her rights and her ability to control her resources.
“Are you Janice Garwood?”
Disgraced former professional guardian Rebecca Fierle was appointed to care for her.
Garwood met her for the first time when Fierle rang her doorbell.
“She just looked at me and said are you Janice Garwood? And I said
yes. And she said good. Get your keys. You’re coming with me,” Garwood
said.
Fierle was charged with two felonies and is awaiting trial.
WFTS
Rebecca Fierle leaves court in November 2019 after being charged with two felonies.
Denise Willis was appointed Garwood’s new guardian.
At this
court hearing, Willis asked for permission to sell Garwood’s home to an
employee of the assisted living facility where Garwood lived.
The house was not listed for sale and never had a formal appraisal.
The
house was in a neighborhood of $400,000 to $500,000 homes but was sold
to the ALF employee who had a business relationship with Willis for
$250,000.
WFTS
Garwood's
former home was sold without an appraisal to an ALF employee who had a
business relationship with her guardian for $250,000
Garwood, a former realtor, objected to the sale.
“This is all money and I really resent it. Every penny I have is gone. It’s not right,” Garwood told the judge at the hearing.
He allowed the sale to go through.
Doctor determines Garwood has capacity
A short time later, Garwood made a Facebook plea and guardianship reform advocate Hillary Hogue paid her a visit.
Hogue put her in touch with attorney Vito Roppo.
“I filed a motion to be appointed as her counsel at her request and I put in there that I believe she should be re-examined,” Roppo said.
A different judge ordered a new evaluation by a doctor, who gave her a nearly perfect score stating that “she is fully capable of handling and executing her own personal, medical and financial day-to-day affairs.”
WFTS
Jan Garwood passed a mental evaluation with flying colors.
Within weeks, Garwood had her rights restored.
She now shares an apartment with her son Alex and his girlfriend.
“I only have my Social Security. She took everything else,” Garwood said.
Records show that Willis deposited $171,000 from the sale of
Garwood's home into a special needs trust Garwood can’t directly access.
Her current apartment is furnished with furniture she found by the dumpster or bought from a nearby thrift store.
“This
isn’t what I would go out and buy, but there’s nothing wrong with it. I
was lucky the day I moved in, they started putting out furniture,”
Garwood said.
WFTS
Garwood is warning others about the dangers of court-appointed guardians.
A program from her mother’s funeral, a family menorah and a picture
of Garwood’s late father were among the few items Alex was able to save
out of Garwood's 2,700-square-foot home.
“The rest of it’s just
gone. We don’t know if it’s in a trash can or in storage,” Garwood’s son
Alex said. “There’s no communication from Denise Willis trying to make
things right. “
County and state investigators identify guardian committed multiple violations
Willis was investigated by the Seminole County Inspector General’s
Office last September, which concluded Garwood’s Nissan Rogue was sold
significantly undervalue, 13 months of her Social Security income was
unaccounted for and the guardian did not get the required court approval
before depositing proceeds from Garwood’s home sale into a special
needs trust.
WFTS
Seminole County Inspector General identified multiple problems in Garwood case.
The Florida Office of Public and Professional Guardians revoked
Willis’ registration in April after finding multiple violations in six
cases, including incomplete accountings, failing to visit wards and
missing personal property.
Willis did not respond to our request for comment.
Garwood said despite all her challenges, she knows God’s still smiling.
“I
believe that I have to go through what I have to go through so I can
tell somebody else what happened and save them from going through it,”
she said.
WFTS
Jan Garwood struggles to get her life back together after having her rights restored.
