(The Center Square) – Four Michiganders, including a sitting judge,
have been charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with
embezzlement-related charges.
All four are residents of Detroit
and allegedly conspired to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from
incapacitated individuals.
United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. made the announcement recently, which U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi applauded over the weekend.
“No one is above the law – judges included,” Bondi said.
“Using the power of the bench to allegedly take advantage of vulnerable
people is a particularly vile crime. Thank you to our great prosecutors
in Eastern Michigan.”
Nancy Williams, Avery Bradley, Andrea
Bradley-Baskin and Dwight Rashad were all charged in a federal
indictment. The indictment came as part of an investigation by the FBI
and the IRS.
Federal prosecutors signaled in today's court filing that the corruption
probe into suspended 36th District Judge Andrea Bradley‑Baskin is far
from over and could soon grow larger, with the possibility of new
charges on the horizon. The filing comes on top of a Jan. 30 indictment
accusing Bradley‑Baskin and three Detroit residents of conspiring to
siphon money and property from vulnerable wards in Wayne County's
probate system. The case has reignited scrutiny of how guardians handle
estates for people who are elderly, incapacitated or otherwise unable to
manage their own affairs.
According to reporting by The Detroit News, prosecutors asked the court
for more time to work through a growing pile of discovery and warned
that additional defendants or criminal counts could surface as the
investigation continues. The outlet reviewed filings and public records
that it says add detail to an alleged pattern of asset‑stripping
involving wards who were elderly, mentally incapacitated or already
deceased. If prosecutors pursue a superseding indictment, it would be
unsealed and added to the public docket once filed.
What prosecutors allege
A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District
of Michigan says an indictment unsealed Jan. 30 charged Bradley‑Baskin,
her father Avery Bradley, Nancy Williams and Dwight Rashad with
conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The filing also includes multiple
money‑laundering counts and a false‑statement charge against
Bradley‑Baskin. Prosecutors say Williams’ firm, Guardian &
Associates, was appointed fiduciary in more than 1,000 probate cases and
that funds intended for wards were diverted to the defendants. "This
state judge and her cronies allegedly abused that high honor for
personal gain by preying on the needy protected by the court," U.S.
Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon said in the release.
What reporters found
Investigative work by The Detroit News and court records outline a
series of transactions in which homes and bank accounts belonging to
wards were allegedly sold or drained, with the proceeds routed to
associates. Prosecutors, as cited by the outlet, point to specific
examples: about $70,000 allegedly pulled to buy a stake in a bar,
withdrawals used to lease a Brush Park townhouse valued at roughly
$900,000, and tens of thousands of dollars for a two‑year lease on a
luxury SUV. The government also highlights property transfers and rental
payments tied to a co‑defendant’s group‑home business that, prosecutors
allege, billed for residents who never actually lived there.
Court action and next steps
Chief 36th District Judge William McConico approved an administrative
removal of Bradley‑Baskin from her docket in an effort to preserve
public confidence while the federal case plays out, according to CBS
Detroit. In the March 10 filing, prosecutors told the court the probe
remains active and that additional charges could be necessary. The U.S.
Attorney’s Office has also stressed that an indictment is an accusation,
not proof of guilt. Should a superseding indictment be filed, it would
be unsealed and the defendants would be arraigned on the expanded set of
charges.
Legal implications
The federal counts listed in the indictment, including conspiracy to
commit wire fraud, money‑laundering allegations and an alleged false
statement to investigators, carry significant potential penalties if
they result in convictions. They can also trigger state disciplinary
proceedings that affect a judge’s law license and ability to remain on
the bench. At the same time, families of alleged victims may pursue
civil remedies while FBI and IRS criminal investigators continue to
develop the case. Authorities have asked anyone with information about
wards handled by Guardian & Associates or Tri‑State Guardian
Services to contact investigators as the probe moves forward.
Taken together, the January indictment and the March 10 filing outline
what federal officials characterize as a years‑long scheme. The next big
public marker would be any superseding indictment, followed by fresh
arraignments that could pull even more details about the alleged
operation into open court.
Suspended
36th District Judge Andrea Bradley-Baskin helped loot dead people's
bank accounts during a conspiracy involving more than $2.9 million,
helped her husband acquire a dead person's home and lived a life of
luxury in an automotive executive's luxury townhouse after years of
financial problems, federal court records show.
A
fuller picture of the scale and scope of an alleged conspiracy to steal
money from incapacitated people in Wayne County's probate court system
emerges from a review of state and federal court records two weeks after
Bradley-Baskin was indicted alongside her father, attorney Avery
Bradley, and two others.
A review of court records also helps to identify
victims who are referred to by initials in the indictment and shows how
Bradley-Baskin and others are accused of targeting the elderly and the
ill, the isolated, the wealthy and the dead. Many of the 18 victims
identified in the indictment had fat bank accounts, homes that were
liquidated and flipped for profit, while others were charged rent at
group homes where they never lived, which are owned by a member of the
alleged conspiracy.
"Everyone is out for greed.
It's just apropos for what goes on in this day," St. Clair County
resident Bruce Affelt told The Detroit News after learning his late
cousin, retired Ford Motor Co. engineer William Kamin, was one of the
alleged victims. "It's wrong, and I think people should be held
accountable."
There have been immediate repercussions. Last month's indictment led to
Bradley-Baskin being booted off the bench and suspended with pay from
her $186,164-a-year job. The case also threatens to strip Bradley-Baskin
of her law license and send her to federal prison for 45 years if
convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of money
laundering and lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Bradley-Baskin, 46, did not respond to messages seeking comment.
The
alleged conspiracy spanned from January 2017 to July 2024, a timespan
that predates Bradley-Baskin's tenure as a judge. The case portrays her
as conspiring with others to enrich herself by embezzling money and
using false pretenses to keep money and property belonging to multiple
incapacitated wards of the probate system.
The victims of the alleged conspiracy were easy
targets, suffering from dementia, old age and health problems with no
support system.
Lawyer worth $5M targeted
Kamin, 92, is one of the wealthiest victims in the case. The retired
bachelor, who died in 2021, had no spouse, children or immediate family,
but was worth millions of dollars.
Kamin, like all victims in the case, is referred to in the indictment by
initials, “W.K.” But dates and dollar amounts in the indictment match
details from Kamin’s file in the Wayne County Probate Court, including May 25, 2022, the date Avery Bradley was appointed to represent the estate.
Kamin died in January 2021 and spent his whole
life in his childhood home, a brick bungalow 20 blocks west of his alma
mater, the University of Detroit Mercy. When he died, he had more than
$5 million in assets, mostly investments and life insurance proceeds, court records show.
Avery Bradley, a veteran lawyer in the probate court system, is accused of stealing more than $161,000 of the dead man's money.
Bradley
was appointed by the Wayne County Probate Court to gather Kamin’s
assets, pay bills and disburse money to his heirs as prescribed in
Kamin’s will.
Those heirs included Affelt, 75, a distant cousin.
“He was kind of a loner,” Affelt told The News about Kamin. “I never got to know him or meet him.”
Kamin's alma mater was supposed to receive a much larger piece of Kamin’s estate. For starters, Bradley cut a $17,437 check to the university in June 2023.
“Bradley never dispersed the funds for the benefit of the estate of W.K.,” the indictment reads.
Instead, Bradley deposited the money in his law firm’s account at Comerica Bank, prosecutors allege.
That same month, Bradley transferred $60,000 from Kamin's estate to his law firm's bank account, according to the government.
"Bradley never dispersed any of these funds for the benefit of the estate of W.K.," the indictment reads.
The same day, Bradley transferred $261,072 from Kamin's estate to the attorney's law firm, according to the government.
Bradley sent $185,964
to Detroit Mercy, consistent with Kamin's will. But the attorney never
dispersed the rest of the money, more than $75,100, the indictment
alleged.
Bradley, 72, is charged with
conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and three counts of money
laundering. If convicted, he faces more than 20 years in prison. Bradley
did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Feds: Bradley directs widow's cash to daughter
The federal investigation into the finances and treatment of Kamin and others in the probate court system surfaced in July when The News obtained sealed FBI documents and search warrant records.
The records showed FBI agents had raided multiple locations in Metro
Detroit and seized more than $580,000 while targeting the judge, her
father and others.
In September, an investigation by The News
revealed Bradley-Baskin teamed with two criminals to help buy and sell
homes belonging to vulnerable people in the probate court system for far
less than the properties' market value.
In several instances, those homes were sold to the
boyfriend of a probate court guardian after Bradley-Baskin proposed the
sale or drafted the deeds. That includes a Dearborn Heights ranch that
was flipped in less than a month for a 72% profit.
Ethel Ciotti was a 92-year-old widow who worked at an insurance company,
at a Lincoln Park bowling alley and as a greeter at Meijer before dying
in 2018. Ciotti, who is referred to in the indictment as "E.C.," left
behind an estate worth more than $493,000, including almost $385,000 in
the bank and a bungalow.
A judge appointed the firm Guardian and Associates
to serve as the elderly woman's guardian in early 2017. The firm is
headed by Nancy Williams, a probate court veteran and criminal convicted of trying to influence the 2020 general election.
Williams and her boyfriend, group home owner Dwight Rashad, are charged alongside Bradley-Baskin and Avery Bradley.
During
the conspiracy, Williams placed court wards in homes owned and operated
by her boyfriend, prosecutors allege. She also authorized payments from
the wards' bank accounts of up to $6,000 a month to Rashad's firm,
Empowerment Homes.
In all, Empowerment Homes was paid approximately $2 million, the indictment alleges, which includes money for legitimate services.
Since
last year, FBI agents have seized at least $69,981 from Williams,
Rashad and their companies. Prosecutors also slapped a lien on
residential and commercial properties linked to Williams and Rashad in
Oakland County.
Bradley, meanwhile, was appointed to manage Ethel Ciotti's finances in April 2018.
One year later, Bradley cut a $4,460 check from Ciotti's bank account and gave the money to a landlord who owned a home in Westland rented by Bradley-Baskin, according to the government.
"The $4,460 check was not used for the benefit of
(Ethel Ciotti)," the indictment reads. "Bradley fraudulently issued the
check to benefit Bradley-Baskin."
Williams took
$25,000 from another victim and Bradley-Baskin used the money to
pre-pay a year's worth of rent at the Westland home, prosecutors allege.
Judge had money problems
During the alleged conspiracy, Bradley-Baskin's fortunes changed dramatically.
Before prosecutors said Bradley-Baskin started stealing people's money, she had big cash problems.
Bradley-Baskin
and her ex-husband filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2013, listing more
than $278,000 in liabilities and $6,550 in assets, according to court records. The debts included $17,644 owed on the future judge's new Mercedes-Benz.
Bradley-Baskin overcame the financial problems by stealing from the vulnerable, prosecutors alleged.
That included Frankie James, a 70-year-old, incapacitated woman with health problems from Detroit. Her finances were being handled by Williams' firm, Guardian and Associates, in 2019.
Frankie James died May 11, 2020. Three days later, Williams gave the elderly woman's stately brick Colonial-style home to Bradley-Baskin's half-brother, prosecutors alleged.
The deed was drafted by Bradley, according to the indictment.
In December 2020, seven months after James died,
Bradley-Baskin took $26,500 from various wards' bank accounts and bought
the dead woman's home, according to the indictment.
In March 2024, the home was transferred for $1 to CAB Realty, a company owned by Bradley-Baskin's husband, Corey Baskin, prosecutors alleged.
"A little more than a year later, on or about April 25, 2025, CAB Realty sold the property for $140,000," the indictment alleged.
Corey Baskin did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Judge travels abroad, feds say
The judge's personal life, meanwhile, was improving.
Bradley-Baskin traveled the world in recent years, including jaunts to the Caribbean, Spain, France and Cancun, a court official said during the judge's arraignment. She bought a dive bar in Detroit and reaped an insurance windfall.
And in March 2024, Bradley-Baskin withdrew $54,250, and the money was used to lease a $900,000 Brush Park townhouse, according to the FBI.
The property is owned by Felix Weller, the former vice president of Cadillac in China, according to public records.
The 2,425-square-foot, three-story City Modern townhouse, across
Woodward from Little Caesars Arena, has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half
bathrooms, a private rooftop terrace and a one-car garage for
Bradley-Baskin, who leased a new 2023 Ford Expedition King Ranch SUV
with more than $20,000 stolen from another victim, prosecutors allege.
The judge’s life in the townhouse soured last fall as prosecutors prepared to indict the judge.
Landlord Greythorne Management LLC sued Bradley-Baskin and her husband
on Oct. 15 and accused the couple of failing to pay $8,650 in rent.
The lawsuit, since dismissed, was filed in the 36th District Court in Detroit — the judge's own courthouse.
Andrea Bradley-Baskin is a district judge on Michigan’s 36th District Court
By Greg Norman-Diamond
A Detroit judge and three other residents were
charged by federal prosecutors for their alleged roles in a "years-long
scheme" to embezzle money from incapacitated and vulnerable individuals.
The
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan said Andrea
Bradley-Baskin, 46, who is a district judge on Michigan’s 36th District
Court, is alleged "to have used $70,000 in a ward’s funds
to purchase an ownership stake in a local bar" and "money embezzled from
the estate of a ward to pay a two-year lease on a new Ford Expedition
for herself."
"We respect the authority that covers a black robe.
This state judge and her cronies allegedly abused that high honor for
personal gain by preying on the needy protected by the court," U.S.
Attorney Jerome Gorgon said in a statement. "This would be a grievous abuse of our public trust."
"Regardless of a person’s position in society, no one is above the law.
These four defendants allegedly conspired to steal from some of our most
vulnerable citizens — looting bank accounts, exploiting legal
authority, and profiting off those who relied on them for care and
protection," added Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office.
The Attorney’s Office said Nancy Williams, 59, Avery Bradley,
72, Dwight Rashad, 69, and Bradley-Baskin, all Detroit residents, were
charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
"The indictment also
charges Bradley with one count of wire fraud, Bradley, Bradley-Baskin,
and Rashad with several counts of money laundering, and Bradley-Baskin
with a single count of making a false statement to federal law
enforcement agent," it added.
Lawyers representing Bradley-Baskin did not immediately respond Saturday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
The Attorney’s Office, citing the indictment, said "probate courts
regularly appoint guardians and conservators to manage the personal and
financial affairs of adults, known as wards, who have been found by the
court to lack the capacity to do so themselves."
U.S. Attorney Jerome
Gorgon said Judge Andrea Bradley-Baskin "and her cronies allegedly
abused" her "high honor for personal gain by preying on the needy
protected by the court."(Brian A. Jackson/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
"The indictment alleges that Nancy Williams owned Guardian and
Associates, an agency that was appointed as a fiduciary by the Wayne
County Probate Court for incapacitated wards in over 1,000 cases. Avery
Bradley is an attorney, who, along with his daughter (and fellow
attorney) Andrea Bradley-Baskin, operated a law firm that often
represented Guardian and Associates in Wayne County Probate Court and
otherwise practiced regularly in that court," it continued. "Dwight
Rashad operated a series of group homes and residential facilities for
elderly individuals, including wards, who needed support and care."
"The indictment alleges
that the four defendants conspired to systematically embezzle funds
from wards, and to obtain and retain money for themselves that rightly
belonged to the wards and the wards’ estates," it also said.
Prosecutors
described how in one case, Bradley, Williams, and Rashad allegedly took
around $203,000 in funds from a ward’s legal settlement, with "none of
the money being used to benefit the ward."
"Williams is alleged to have paid Rashad rent for wards who did not live in one of Rashad’s homes," they said.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations.
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Michigan
DETROIT
- Four Detroit-area residents, including a sitting judge and a local
attorney, were charged for their roles in a years-long scheme to
embezzle money from incapacitated individuals, United States Attorney
Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. announced today.
Gorgon was joined in the
announcement by Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation Detroit Field Office, and Karen Wingerd, Special
Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations
Detroit Field Office.
Nancy
Williams, 59, Avery Bradley, 72, Andrea Bradley-Baskin, 46, and Dwight
Rashad, 69, all Detroit residents, were charged via indictment with
conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The indictment also charges Bradley
with one count of wire fraud, Bradley, Bradley-Baskin, and Rashad with
several counts of money laundering, and Bradley-Baskin with a single
count of making a false statement to federal law enforcement agent.
According
to the indictment, probate courts regularly appoint guardians and
conservators to manage the personal and financial affairs of adults,
known as wards, who have been found by the court to lack the capacity to
do so themselves. Guardians and conservators are fiduciaries who are
obligated to act in the best interests of their wards. The indictment
alleges that Nancy Williams owned Guardian and Associates, an agency
that was appointed as a fiduciary by the Wayne County Probate Court for
incapacitated wards in over 1,000 cases. Avery Bradley is an attorney,
who, along with his daughter (and fellow attorney) Andrea
Bradley-Baskin, operated a law firm that often represented Guardian and
Associates in Wayne County Probate Court and otherwise practiced
regularly in that court. Bradley-Baskin is currently a district judge on
Michigan’s 36th District Court. Dwight Rashad operated a
series of group homes and residential facilities for elderly
individuals, including wards, who needed support and care.
The
indictment alleges that the four defendants conspired to systematically
embezzle funds from wards, and to obtain and retain money for themselves
that rightly belonged to the wards and the wards’estates. The
indictment sets forth numerous examples of the co-conspirators working
together to misappropriate money belonging to wards. In one instance,
Bradley-Baskin is alleged to have used $70,000 in a ward’s funds to
purchase an ownership stake in a local bar. In another, Bradley,
Williams, and Rashad are alleged to have taken for themselves some
$203,000 in funds from a ward’s legal settlement, with none of the money
being used to benefit the ward. Williams is alleged to have paid Rashad
rent for wards who did not live in one of Rashad’s homes.
Bradley-Baskin, in yet another case, is alleged to have used money
embezzled from the estate of a ward to pay a two-year lease on a new
Ford Expedition for herself.
“We respect the authority that covers
a black robe. This state judge and her cronies allegedly abused that
high honor for personal gain by preying on the needy protected by the
court. This would be a grievous abuse of our public trust,” said U.S.
Attorney Gorgon.
“Regardless of a person’s position in society, no
one is above the law. These four defendants allegedly conspired to
steal from some of our most vulnerable citizens — looting bank accounts,
exploiting legal authority, and profiting off those who relied on them
for care and protection," said Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge
of the FBI Detroit Field Office. "Let me be clear: if you prey on the
vulnerable, we will find you and bring you to justice. Finally, I want
to recognize our FBI Detroit Area Corruption Task Force, alongside our
partners at the IRS Criminal Investigations Detroit Field Office, for
their dedicated work on behalf of these victims, as well as the Wayne
County Probate Court for bringing this matter to our attention and
assisting the investigation."
“No matter who you are, or what your
position is, it is entirely unacceptable to help yourself to money that
is not yours. What makes these allegations so disturbing is that the
victims are part of very vulnerable population and trusted the accused
to act in their best interest,” said Karen Wingerd, Special Agent in
Charge, Detroit Field Office, IRS Criminal Investigation. “IRS-CI is
proud to work alongside our law enforcement partners to protect the
financial well-being of the vulnerable and root out those who threaten
their security.”
If you have information concerning a ward of
Guardian & Associates or Tri-State Guardian Services, please visit
the FBI website at
An
indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. All
defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable
doubt in a court of law.
This case is being investigated by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue
Service-Criminal Investigations.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert A. Moran and John Neal.
A 36th District Court judge is among four people facing federal charges in connection with what officials call "a years-long scheme to embezzle money from incapacitated individuals."
GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. — The
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division recently charged a former
employee of the Greenville County Probate Court with breach of trust and
embezzlement of public funds.
According to arrest warrants
released on Wednesday, between July 1, 2023, and March 7, 2025,
26-year-old Tyler Edge-Partington of Fort Mill embezzled public funds
entrusted to him for safekeeping and transfer to the Greenville County
Treasurer's Office.
On Nov. 7, Partington was charged with breach of trust with
fraudulent intent - value $2,000 or less, and embezzlement of public
funds - value less than $10,000.
Partington was booked into the Greenville County Detention Center.
The case will be prosecuted by the 13th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
The probate court manages the execution of wills, estates, guardianships, ensuring debts are paid and assets are distributed.
The Michigan Court of Appeals recently answered these questions. In re Guardianship of AMS, No 372183, 2025 WL 452248 (Mich Ct App Feb 10, 2025) (unpublished).
AMS was married to Thomas, and she had two daughters, Theresa and
Kristin. The daughters each petitioned for guardianship and nominated
themselves to serve as guardian, but husband Thomas was appointed her
guardian. Daughter Theresa filed a petition to modify the guardianship
because she alleged Thomas as guardian was restricting access to her
mother. In her petition, Theresa sought unrestricted access to her
mother and did not ask for Thomas’s removal as guardian.
At the hearing on Theresa’s petition, the court removed Thomas as
guardian and appointed a professional guardian. Thomas appealed.
The Court of Appeals addressed the procedural requirements before a
probate court can remove a guardian. The probate court removed Thomas as
guardian when there was not a pending petition asking the court to
remove him. Rather, Theresa’s petition was asking the court for
unrestricted access to AMS. Thomas argued that Michigan statute/EPIC,
MCL 700.5311, has notice requirements for the removal of the guardian
which include notice to the guardian as well as personal service of the
petition seeking removal of the guardian on the ward (here AMS). Thomas
argued he was never served with a petition seeking his removal as
guardian (because that was outside the scope of what Theresa was asking
of the court), and AMS was not personally served with Theresa’s petition
(which was undisputed). The Court of Appeals reversed the probate
court’s removal of Thomas as guardian because proper notice was not
provided to Thomas or AMS.
The Court of Appeals also addressed the standard for removal of a
guardian. “[T]o remove a guardian under MCL 700.5310, the probate court
must find that the guardian is no longer suitable or willing to serve.”
“[T]he EPIC thus makes clear that the guardian's focus of concern must
be on the ward, that decisions made on behalf of the ward must be in the
interests of the ward and not the guardian, and that the guardian must
be qualified to achieve the purposes set forth in EPIC.” “[S]ince a
suitable guardian is one who is qualified and able to provide for the
ward's care, custody, and control, it logically follows that
particularly relevant evidence would include (1) evidence on whether the
guardian was still qualified and able, and (2) evidence on whether the
guardian did, in fact, satisfactorily provide for the ward's care,
custody, and control in the past.” (Internal quotations omitted.)
The Court of Appeals determined that the probate court had to conduct
the above analysis and determine whether Thomas was suitable before
removing him as guardian, and the probate court was ordered to do so on
remand.
Finally, the Court of Appeals agreed with Thomas that the probate
court could not appoint a professional guardian for AMS without first
establishing that no other individuals with priority of appointment were
either willing or able to serve as guardian. Michigan statute/EPIC
provides the priority list for appointment as guardian at MCL 700.5313.
The statutory scheme prioritizes the appointment of a family member over
a professional guardian. Thus, even if there was a basis to remove
Thomas as guardian on remand, the probate court would need to analyze
whether Theresa or Kristin were suitable to serve as guardian if they
remained interested in doing so before the court could appoint a
professional guardian.
When someone passes away, the probate process ensures that the
deceased’s estate fulfills its debts and that the heirs receive their
assets. The deceased’s will dictates how to settle and distribute their
assets and debts. (If no will exists, state intestacy laws apply.) When a legal dispute arises during the process of probate, probate litigation may ensue.
Most
matters the probate courts handle, like admitting wills and assigning
executors, are standard operating procedures and go uncontested.
However, legal contests arising from a person’s death or mental capacity
may lead to probate litigation over powers of attorney, will and trust
contests, guardianships, and living wills.
Common Legal Concerns in Probate Court
Some common problems leading to probate litigations include the following:
Will Contests
Questions sometimes surface about the validity of a will.Interested
parties may dispute the deceased person’s will or allege undue
influence or fraud. Or they might argue that the person who made the
will (testator) lacked the mental capacity to create a valid will. (Read
more about how a no-contest clause in your estate plan can help prevent challenges to your will or trust.)
Estate Administration Disputes
Likewise, disagreements may arise among heirs, executors, or administrators regarding the management and distribution of estate assets. These arguments can include allegations of mismanagement or conflicts over the interpretation of the will or trust provisions.
Claims Against the Estate
Creditors or individuals may believe they have a rightful claim to
the deceased person’s assets. They then may seek to file claims against
the estate. Claims can include outstanding debts, unresolved contracts,
or disputed property ownership.
Guardianship Disputes
In disputes over appointing a guardian for a minor or a disabled
adult, probate litigation can also result. Concerns about the actions of
an appointed guardian or conservator may lead to probate litigation,
too.
Breach of Trust
By law, executors, administrators, and trustees must act in the best
interests of the estate and its beneficiaries. Allegations of
misconduct, self-dealing, or failure to fulfill these obligations may
lead to litigation.
Document Interpretation
Disputes may arise over the interpretation of a will, trust, or other
estate planning documents. These conflicts can involve disagreements
about:
the intended meaning of certain provisions,
the scope of powers granted to trustees or executors, or
the distribution of assets among beneficiaries.
Family Disputes
Family dynamics can often lead to probate litigation, especially with
strained relationships, blended families, or unequal distributions of
assets. Sibling rivalry, disputes with former spouses, or decisions to
cut off certain heirs can result in legal challenges.
Individuals marrying multiple times without a prenuptial agreement
are also likely to incite probate litigation upon their death. Life insurance trusts can be a valuable way to separate the interests of the decedent’s spouses and children.
Probate, Estate, and Trust Litigation Attorneys
If you anticipate probate litigation, an experienced estate
administration attorney can provide you with guidance. They will be able
to explain your rights and options to prevent future problems. If you
are involved in a dispute, a probate litigation attorney can help you
navigate the legal system and resolve it. Some attorneys specialize
specifically in conflicts with trust administration and litigation.
Consider
your legal situation as well as an attorney’s experience, reputation,
and track record when handling similar matters. Feeling comfortable
working with them is essential.
Early Steps in Probate Litigation
In probate litigation, your attorney plays a key role in representing
your interests while navigating the legal process. All things begin
with an initial lawyer consultation to discuss your case’s details,
goals, and concerns.
Your attorney will evaluate the strength of
your claims or defenses. They also can explain the legal process,
potential outcomes, and available strategies to achieve your objectives.
Most states have strict statutes of limitations, so the earlier you
contact a probate litigation lawyer, the better.
An experienced
attorney can thoroughly research your case’s relevant laws, precedents,
and regulations. They will analyze the facts and circumstances to
develop a legal strategy tailored to your situation. They’ll also review
all relevant documents, including wills, financial records, trusts, and
other evidence relating to the dispute. Your attorney will then prepare
and draft such legal documents as complaints, petitions, answers,
motions, and discovery requests.
Probate Court Processes
Probate litigation hearings and trials usually take place in the
county probate court where the decedent died. The attorney you choose to
work with should be familiar with the county probate court where the
case is being tried.
Your attorney will engage in the discovery
process by gathering evidence, documents, and depositions from other
parties. They will also respond to discovery requests from the opposing
party. Each side will advocate for their client’s interests and work to
reach a favorable settlement if possible. They will also advise them on
the merits of accepting or rejecting settlement offers.
Trial
preparation and representation will occur if the settlement phase fails.
In this situation, your lawyer would prepare you for trial, make legal
arguments, examine and cross-examine witnesses, and present your case to
the court. Throughout the process, they are responsible for helping you
make informed decisions regarding the direction of your case.
Find an Estate Planning Attorney
Probate court can elicit high emotions and tense interactions. You
may, for instance, see significant disruption to family relationships.
These sorts of disputes could open the estate to creditor lawsuits as
well.
Estate administration and probate litigation attorneys
assist in preventing these kinds of estate-related contests. With a
qualified professional, you can execute a proper estate plan. This can
reduce the likelihood of probate litigation happening in the first
place. Search for an estate planning attorney near you today.
Judge James T. Walther during the Graduation Ceremony for Keith Jackson from the Veterans Treatment Court Program on Nov. 7. Credit: JEFF BARNES / CHRONICLE
by The Chronicle-Telegram
Lorain County Probate Judge James Walther announced Monday that his office has returned of $114,271.42 to Lorain County's general fund, ahead of upcoming county budget hearings.
In a news release, Walther said giving the money back underscores "his commitment to fiscal responsibility and transparent governance."
The decision resulted from what Walther called "the unforeseen challenge of being unable to hire a magistrate for the current fiscal year."
Walther asked the Board of Commissioners for the money in January to create a new magistrate position to handle guardianship programs, oversee the guardianship docket, a new guardianship mediation program, the visiting Guardian Angel program and the Volunteer Guardianship Program.
Guardianship is "a court-ordered relationship" in which an appointed guardian acts on behalf of or in the interest of someone who is not able to care for themselves or their property due to age or health. It is one of the more-than 600 responsibilities of the Probate Court and takes up a large amount of Walther's time on the bench, he said earlier this year.
Walther said he plans to fix the staffing situation in 2024.
"While we faced challenges in hiring a magistrate this year, I am committed to ensuring that the necessary positions are filled for the effective functioning of the Lorain County Probate Court," he said in the news release. "Therefore, I plan to allocate funds to hire a magistrate for the fiscal year 2024."
Walther also praised the clerks in his office for their "collaborative efforts, hard work, and dedication," their "diligence" and "their vital role in the efficient operation of the Probate Court."
Families are frustrated by the probate courts’ handling of loved one’s estates and final wishes.
Peter and Mary Ann Brickfield split their time between Washington,
D.C., and Islesboro, an affluent island community off the coast of
Maine.
By their late 60s, they had given up high-powered careers as a lawyer
and the chief of the Neurocytology Unit at the National Institutes of
Health for a quiet retirement in their $1.7 million home on the island.
Mary Ann’s plan was to care for Peter, who had been diagnosed with
dementia. The Waldo County Probate Court appointed her to be his
guardian and conservator.
But Mary Ann developed a terminal illness that left the childless
couple looking to Michael Boucher, the longtime caretaker of their
properties, to manage the final years of their lives. More than $3
million was spent during the next three years to care for the
Brickfields while Boucher was conservator and trustee, probate court
records show.
Boucher’s accounting of the trust’s spending caught the attention of
the probate court judge, who ordered Teri McRae, a nationally certified
guardian, to review how a multimillion-dollar trust set up by the
Brickfields was being spent. McRae said in court reports that it
appeared that $400,000 may have been overspent “grossing up” wages and
paying taxes for employees — some of whom were Boucher’s family members.
Yet even when supplied with a report of alleged mismanagement and
with nearly half a million dollars in dispute, no one — not the private
company that eventually took control of the Brickfields’ trust nor the
state attorney general’s office that oversees charitable trusts — tried
to recoup the money. No one was charged with a crime, and Boucher
himself denies any wrongdoing.
Buried in Maine’s overburdened probate courts are the life savings of
people in a state with the oldest average population in the country. In
one example after another, those savings have been spent down by
conservators, taken by family members, or sometimes redirected in wills
to once-trusted lawyers for their personal gain.
The state’s probate courts do not have investigators or accountants to track the finances of vulnerable adults and make sure they are protected from theft, an investigation this year by
The Maine Monitor uncovered. And some probate courts have failed to put
safeguards in place even after blind spots in their systems were
exploited.
“We need to have something more in place — reporting and looking out
for people, whether they’re under the state’s care or under private
care, whether it’s a guardian or a conservator,” said Catherine Moore,
register of the Lincoln County Probate Court.
An estimated $4 million is lost annually by older Mainers as a result of financial exploitation, according to a study
by the state’s Adult Protective Services office and the legal-aid
nonprofit, Legal Services for the Elderly. That includes all types of
fraud, from diversion of cash to shady contractors to the loss of a
home.
The probate courts are unlike any other court in Maine. They are 16
independent courts with budgets set by each county and run by elected
part-time judges. A constitutional amendment passed by voters 56 years
ago said probate courts must be overhauled and assigned full-time
judges, but lawmakers did not make that happen.
The antiquated, underfunded and understaffed
probate courts have left Mainers vulnerable to being ripped off. A
Monitor survey earlier this year of 10 of the state’s probate courts
revealed that many do not audit conservators or guardians.
States such as Minnesota and Florida created independent offices
within their court systems more than a decade ago to detect fraud and
financial exploitation of people under the jurisdiction of the probate
courts. Maine has stuck with paper accountings and informal reviews.
Supporters of Maine’s probate courts say they are efficient and save
money, allowing families to avoid hiring a lawyer to divide up assets
after a death. But the courts rely heavily on people acting in the best
interest of the estate rather than themselves, and there are few checks
built into their operations to protect the integrity of a person’s final
wishes.
Near the end of his life, Peter Brickfield was practically bedridden
and unable to communicate. He was overfed and his life was being
medically prolonged against his written wishes, said McRae, who visited
the Islesboro home. She was moved to tears when she left their house,
McRae said.
Boucher told the Monitor he acted in the best interests of the
Brickfields and did nothing wrong. He asserted that he had been vilified
and had to spend thousands of dollars to defend himself in probate
court against McRae’s allegations. He has not been accused of criminal
wrongdoing and no civil complaint has been made against him.
The Brickfields had a team of doctors and in-home nursing care,
Boucher said. He added that McRae did not understand that the
Brickfields wanted the same lifestyle they had always enjoyed in their
home through the end of their lives.
“They lived exactly the way they died, except for the last few months
where there was a conservator who didn’t know them and didn’t
understand their wishes,” Boucher said. “They made their choices and I
vowed to follow their wishes.”
The probate judge temporarily appointed McRae as Peter Brickfield’s
conservator. McRae moved Peter Brickfield to hospice, and he died at age
77 on Nov. 16, 2020.
“For me, keeping someone alive against their will and treating them
that way is horrible. If you want to talk … (about) being cruel to
someone, he was right up there,” McRae said of Boucher. “That’s so much
worse than just money.”
Million-dollar questions
McRae has worked on probate matters from the inside and outside. She
served for four years as the Cumberland County Probate Court register,
which is the top probate court clerk position. Now, as a private
guardian and conservator, her services come at a premium, costing $210
an hour.
Conservators are appointed to manage the property or financial
affairs of a person under a protective order of a probate court.
Guardians are also appointed by the probate court and have more sweeping
powers to make decisions about an incapacitated adult’s living
situation, health care and money.
McRae said her job as a conservator is to protect the assets. If the
adult under conservatorship had given their grown children money in the
past, and could afford to keep doing so, she would approve it. But when
family members try to remodel homes under the guise of caring for the
person, she objects. Each time she has to weigh the cost of clawing back
money she believes has been misspent.
“I’m not going to spend $20,000 to find $100. It’s not happening,” McRae said.
But the Brickfields’ trust was different, McRae said.
Approximately $1 million a year was spent from the trust to care for
the Brickfields, which seemed “exceedingly high for one or two people
who are homebound,” McRae reported to the probate court. A portion of
the spending could be ascribed to their wealth, which included two
homes. But a large portion of the rest of their expenses tied back to
personnel in the house, according to her analysis.
“I don’t know how you would spend a million dollars. You’d have to
pay people $45 or $50 an hour, and that’s not what care costs,” McRae
told the Monitor.
Boucher tells a very different story. McRae’s inspection was “bogus,”
Boucher said in an interview. He worked with the Brickfields as a
caretaker of their island home for 35 years, and they nominated him to
make health care decisions, serve as conservator for Peter Brickfield
and trustee of their assets. Before they fell ill, the Brickfields made
clear they wanted to stay in their home, surrounded by 24/7 nursing
care, a chef and gardens, Boucher said.
“It was a multimillion-dollar scandal, and hijacked by the state
court system,” Boucher said. “Basically, I can tell you that both the
Brickfields, especially the last survivor, died a very miserable,
unhappy death because of the court system and a court-appointed
conservator who hijacked the Brickfields’ finances.”
Islesboro
is an affluent island community off the coast of Maine. Peter and Mary
Ann Brickfield split their time between their home on the island and
Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy the Republican Journal.
McRae raised questions with the probate court about other purchases
made from the trust, including a $14,000 lawn mower, $6,300 paid to
Boucher’s wife, and thousands of dollars of undocumented purchases at
auto- and home-repair stores.
Boucher, through his lawyer, told the probate court that his wife was
paid to go through boxes of personal items to assist accountants with
the Brickfields’ taxes. He added that he did not recall the exact reason
for many of the other expenses, but that decks, handrails and stairs
were built and other items improved the property.
Boucher was late with some required annual conservator accounting
reports and had to be reminded by the probate court to file, probate
records show. Boucher said this was true, but blamed the tardiness of
the reports on an accounting firm that was hired around the time Mary
Ann set up the trust. A friend of the Brickfields who lived in
Washington, D.C., was also named as a co-trustee, but could not be
reached for comment.
A private company that later took control of the Brickfields’ trust
notified the beneficiaries of McRae’s report and did not file a
complaint against the trustees. Trust money that has been allegedly
mismanaged does not need to be recouped if a lawsuit would be
“uneconomic,” then-Waldo County Probate Judge Sean Ociepka decided.
Ociepka declined an interview request by the Monitor.
Records reviewed by the Monitor show the state attorney general’s
office spoke with at least two lawyers involved with the case, and did
not file criminal charges. Both lawyers declined the Monitor’s request
to comment about the case. The attorney general’s office also declined
to comment further.
As they wished, about $4.6 million from the Brickfields’ trust was
distributed after their death to Georgetown University, the University
of Pennsylvania, George Washington University Law School, and nonprofits
in Maine and D.C., probate records show.
Finding fraud
Guardianship and conservatorship are good public policy, but it is
the state’s responsibility to ensure there is integrity in those
systems, said Anthony Palmieri, chief guardianship investigator for
Florida’s Office of Public and Professional Guardians, which investigates and disciplines guardians of indigent seniors.
Palmieri, a career fraud investigator, also works as the deputy
inspector general at the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller
office for Palm Beach County.
Palm Beach County set up one of the nation’s first guardianship fraud
hotlines, which receives 150 to 250 calls a year from neighbors,
attorneys and judges who suspect an incapacitated person is being preyed
upon by a guardian, Palmieri said.
The Division of the Inspector General also audits and does risk
assessments of conservators’ reports to match account balances to bank
statements. The division is accredited like law enforcement and employs
investigators to do unannounced, surprise visits with guardians,
conservators and their wards, he said.
“It sounds simplistic, but if you don’t have a program designed to
look for fraud, you’re not going to find fraud,” Palmieri said.
Maine’s probate courts don’t have any of that.
Moore, the register of the Lincoln County Probate Court, said there
is not enough time or personnel in the register’s office to audit
conservators’ accountings, or follow up on the details in many estates.
Once the paperwork is filed with her office, it is sent to the probate
judge to review and the probate court’s work is done unless the judge
asks for more information, Moore said.
“I don’t have enough time. With everything else that we do in our
office, I wouldn’t have the time to sit down and to audit or to go
through all the reporting that we get on the filings,” Moore said.
Catherine
Moore is the register of the Lincoln County Probate Court, which is run
by two full-time employees. The office does not have enough time or
people to audit conservators or follow-up on most estates. Photo by Fred
J. Field.
Financial exploitation is the third most common allegation investigated by Adult Protective Services in Maine, according to a report released this year.
The agency substantiated 15% of the 1,696 financial exploitation
allegations reported in the past two years involving people over age 60
who were not receiving developmental services. Financial exploitation
cases took the longest to investigate because they often involved
working with financial institutions, credit card companies and
professionals to obtain documents, according to the report.
Adult Protective Services can ask a probate court to appoint a public guardian
or conservator to protect a person who cannot make decisions for
themselves. But the agency is required to exhaust all other options
before seeking a public guardian, according to the report.
Maine needs to do more, said Moore. She and Kennebec County Probate Judge Elizabeth Mitchell were asked by state lawmakers in October to explain the probate courts’ guardianship process after the Monitor reported that eight adults assigned public guardians had died in unexplained ways.
The legislative hearing primarily focused on the state’s ability to
monitor the care people receive under guardianships, which is another of
the probate court’s responsibilities along with oversight of estates.
State lawmakers concluded there needs to be better communication
between Adult Protective Services and the probate courts so there is
more intensive oversight and frequent reviews of guardians to identify potential abuse, neglect or exploitation.
“I don’t have an answer, but I feel sometimes there’s not enough being done. We could do more,” Moore said.
Maine probate courts lack audit process
Family members told the Monitor they have few places to turn when
they believe a loved one’s money is being misspent while the probate
court is supposed to be a watchdog.
Shirley Cooney’s conservator, for example, spent $2,800 during
Cooney’s last seven months for 56 “companionship visits” from a woman
hired to bring Cooney’s dogs to visit her at an assisted living
facility, then sit and chat for an hour.
There were also thousands of dollars of legal fees, hundreds of
dollars reimbursed to Cooney’s guardian, and various charges for clothes
and home heating oil.
Her daughter, Elizabeth Cooney, tried to get actual receipts for
those visits and the other expenses. But her grievances were mostly
dismissed by the Cumberland County probate judge.
“It’s a … nightmare,” Elizabeth Cooney said of the operation of Maine’s probate courts.
One potential model for more rigorous oversight of conservators can
be found in Minnesota. The Minnesota Judicial Branch led the nation in
2012 by launching a statewide Conservator Account Auditing Program to
protect the assets of people in conservatorships.
The state audits each conservator after their first year and every
four years thereafter. A review team also checks conservator accountings
yearly for red flags — such as excessive fees or cars purchased when
the person under conservatorship didn’t have a license.
Jamie Majerus oversees both programs in Minnesota. They review an
average of 5,400 accounts a year, which include $1.2 billion of bondable
assets and does not include real estate, she said. Majerus is a
certified public accountant, certified internal auditor and certified
fraud examiner with a degree in accounting.
“People know they’re going to be audited. It’s not a question of “if I
will be audited,” like the IRS,” Majerus said. Conservators “will be
audited because we have these programs,” she added.
The audit program has proved a strong deterrent to anyone who would
consider taking advantage of a person under conservatorship, and
Minnesota saw a steep decline in conservators committing fraud from the
start of the program until about a year ago when her office started to
detect an increase in attempted fraud, Majerus said.
Conservators self-report transaction-level details and upload
supporting documents through an online platform. Minnesota no longer
accepts paper filings because the level of detail is so poor they are a
“waste of time,” Majerus said.
All of Minnesota’s reviews and audits are done by 18 state employees
with degrees or work experience in finance. The work is too complicated
to be done by local court clerks, Majerus said.
The reviewers and auditors send a report with their findings and
recommendations to the judge, who can order a conservator to repay
money, go after the conservator’s bond or criminally prosecute a
conservator who has appeared to have acted improperly.
“We want to ensure that the money that’s being taken care of by the
conservator is being protected and that it’s being well-managed. That’s
ultimately the goal,” Majerus said.
Several Maine probate courts said they do not audit how conservators
are spending money, according to a Monitor survey. But a few do.
Knox County for example, has a probate clerk review the accounting
reports that are filed once a year by conservators. The clerk looks to
see that the expenses and incomes balance, and reviews supporting
documents the conservator submits to see if money is being spent on
anyone other than the person under conservatorship. Yet, conservators
aren’t required to provide supporting documents.
Roughly two decades ago in Maine, conservators had to bring canceled
checks at the end of the year to the probate court registers to review
and approve, said Knox County Register Elaine Hallett, who has been with
the probate court for more than 45 years.
“It’s just how it was done back then,” Hallett said.
Maine’s probate courts still rely on paper forms, which are scanned
and made public online. Unlike Minnesota, the financial data that is
collected cannot easily be analyzed.
Maine’s conservator accounting form
requires less information than in the past, Hallett said, although she
did not believe it was a bad change. She said she didn’t think Knox
County needed more oversight of its few conservators, who are often
parents of adults with intellectual disabilities who receive Social
Security.
Majerus said Maine’s process to review conservator accountings has gaps: “My opinion is yes, things will get missed.”
Multiple lawyers disciplined for probate misconduct
Lawyers disciplined for professional misconduct during probate
matters make up a small portion of overall attorney misconduct in Maine,
but probate work is a factor in an oversized portion of cases that lead
to actual disbarments.
Of the nine lawyers disbarred in Maine since 2015, five committed
misconduct that involved probate cases in Maine or other states.
Ellsworth attorney Christopher Whalley was disbarred in December 2022
amid allegations he used client money to write dozens of checks to his
law firm while he was the personal representative of the client’s
estate, the Monitor reported. It took three years and multiple complaints for the state to detect what Whalley had done.
On Dec. 6, 2022, Whalley wrote a check for $207,109.42 to the estate,
which “fully reimbursed the estate for the misappropriated funds,”
Washington County probate records show.
A grand jury indicted
Whalley on felony theft charges in February. A grand jury indictment is
not a finding of guilt. Whalley pleaded not guilty to the charges, and
no trial date has been set. Whalley did not return a phone call seeking
comment by the Monitor.
Another lawyer, Jonathan Hull of Newcastle, was disbarred in 2020 and pleaded guilty to taking money from two nonprofit organizations in August of that year, The Lincoln County News reported.
A decade earlier, Hull withdrew approximately $47,300 from an estate
for which he was serving as personal representative in the Lincoln
County Probate Court, discipline records show. The attorney general’s
office investigated Hull related to the estate money but did not
prosecute him because the six-year statute of limitation had passed,
according to discipline records.
Hull declined to comment when reached by the Monitor in November.
The Lincoln County Probate Court didn’t make changes to prevent
misspending of estate funds. Moore, who is now the court’s register and
was working at the probate court while the case was happening, said she
didn’t know what the probate court could have done differently.
Moore,
register of probate, worked for the Lincoln County Probate Court while
attorney Jonathan Hull is alleged to have withdrawn money from an
estate. No additional safeguards were put in place after to prevent
something similar from happening again, Moore said. Photo by Fred J.
Field.
Complaints are taken seriously, Moore said. But even the complaint
process lacks a clearly defined procedure. With no set protocol, Moore
said she would likely write a note, pull the case file and talk to the
probate judge.
“The only trigger would be if a family member came forward and said,
‘Gee, something isn’t right,’ or they have questions or concerns,” Moore
said. “I’m not aware of any safeguards.”
The state Board of Overseers of the Bar is supposed to keep a
watchful eye on lawyers found to have committed acts of professional
misconduct, but that isn’t always an effective deterrent.
In another case, Jeffery J. Clark testified that his Christian faith
compelled him to become the caregiver of Eugenie “Genie” Landry. Clark
then wrote a will for her that made Clark the primary beneficiary, discipline records show.
“I made a huge error, which I admitted and for which I was
suspended,” Clark wrote in response to questions from the Monitor. He
said Landry was a friend. “She was much more than a client. I regret
what occurred and I am mad at myself for disappointing Genie.”
In 2004, while Landry was in a hospital, Clark asked an attorney with
his law firm to witness a will that left the vast majority of Landry’s
oceanfront property to Clark. Clark received about $325,000 after
Landry’s death, which he used to pay off his mortgage, board records
show. He later returned the money to the estate, probate court records
show.
“His claims of humanitarian service, based upon Christian ideals, are
rendered hollow by his participation in his client’s estate,” state
Supreme Court Associate Justice Andrew Mead wrote in a 2008 decision to suspend Clark.
Mead ordered Clark to stop practicing law for a month and report all
his clients age 60 and older to the Board of Overseers of the Bar.
But Clark surfaced in another case that same year.
That case involved John Goodwin, a Cape Neddick man in his late 60’s.
Documents reviewed by the Monitor show Clark was retained in 2004 and
revoked a daughter’s power of attorney to make medical decisions on
Goodwin’s behalf, after Goodwin had a devastating stroke where he lost
most of his ability to speak.
By 2008, though, Clark told the Monitor, Goodwin was no longer a
client of his. Clark did not report Goodwin as a client to the Board of
Overseers of the Bar when Clark’s court-ordered monitoring began in
February 2008.
Just 13 days before Clark’s license to practice law was to be
suspended on April 1, 2008, Goodwin signed a new will prepared by one of
Clark’s law partners and notarized by Clark. It dramatically changed
how Goodwin’s properties would be divided between his daughters,
grandchildren and acquaintances.
Jennifer
Goodwin filed a lawsuit in state court alleging interference in her
inheritance, after her father’s will was substantially changed. The
lawsuit was dismissed and is being appealed. Photo by Fred J. Field.
“When you look at it, you say ‘How did this happen? How could this
possibly happen?’ ” said his daughter, Jennifer Goodwin. “… My dad had a
really comprehensive estate plan, so for any of this stuff to happen
was just, like, mind-numbing.”
Clark said he served only as the notary, and explained that his role
was to determine John Goodwin’s capacity to sign the new will. Jennifer
Goodwin said her father could not write or speak and was unable to
communicate or express himself at that time.
“John had trouble speaking because of his stroke, but I determined
that he could communicate adequately his desire to execute his will,”
Clark wrote in response to questions from the Monitor.
Clark said he did nothing wrong and he never communicated with John
Goodwin about his estate or family. Clark is now retired. He said
Jennifer Goodwin was consumed with bitterness.
Jennifer Goodwin later filed a lawsuit in state court alleging Clark
and others interfered with her inheritance. Clark and other respondents
denied wrongdoing. The case was later dismissed because Jennifer Goodwin
did not add her sister and others quickly enough to the case. An appeal
of the dismissal is pending with the state Supreme Court.
Torn apart
Even in death, Mainers have few protections in probate court.
Rebecca Theriault’s estate, for example, was presented to the
Kennebec County Probate Court on a four-page form submitted by her
husband, Tim Theriault, the former China Village fire chief and state
Republican legislator. He checked off a box that indicated Rebecca left
no will, and he signed the form under the penalty of perjury.
But there was a will from 1987 that left everything to Rebecca Theriault’s three children.
Tim Theriault said that he did not know that Rebecca, who was a widow, had written a will before they married.
The will set off a two-year legal battle after she died in August
2021, fracturing the family and ending in a settlement that divided the
properties and remaining money.
“This is tearing the whole family apart,” said David Marceau, who is
Rebecca Theriault’s brother and the person she nominated in 1987 to
oversee her estate after her death.
The family was still in shock and grieving Rebecca Theriault’s death
from cancer when a letter arrived saying her husband had been appointed
to oversee the estate, Marceau said. Rebecca’s youngest daughter,
Crystal Chappell, said she was surprised by the probate court’s lack of
diligence in checking to see whether there was a will.
Tim Theriault spent money from Rebecca’s estate to continue building a
home while serving as the personal representative, according to a
deposition he gave in April 2022. It was a new two-story lakefront house
with a deck overlooking China Lake in Kennebec County. Tim Theriault
later said the house was not a part of the estate.
Marceau’s lawyer submitted the missing will and asked the probate
court to remove Tim Theriault as personal representative of the estate.
Chappell also subpoenaed her mother’s bank records.
“The bank statements confirmed what we thought, which was that while
he was acting as personal representative and there was a petition in
place for removal, that he had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in
estate funds,” Chappell said.
Rebecca and Tim Theriault owned multiple properties in Maine, but his name was not on all the deeds or bank accounts.
Surviving spouses have a right to a portion of the deceased’s
property under Maine law, and Tim Theriault testified during a
deposition that, “That law protected me from her will. I thank God for
that.” Otherwise, he said, his wife’s will would have left him
“homeless.”
Tim Theriault told the Monitor that he could not find all of
Rebecca’s money, which became a major controversy in the probate court
case. He knew bank accounts existed but not where they were located, he
said. He used the bank account he was able to locate with the belief he
was entitled to half as her spouse under state law, he said.
Tim Theriault said his three stepchildren are “ungrateful and disrespectful.”
“I tell everyone I’m seeing right now, ‘If you don’t have a will, go
get a will, because it’s just horrendous these kinds of things can
happen.’ It’s sad,” Tim Theriault told the Monitor.
David
Marceau, left, was named as personal representative of his sister,
Rebecca Theriault’s, will. Crystal Chappell, right, and her two siblings
were the sole beneficiaries named in her mom’s will, but their
stepfather spent money to build a house while the case was pending in
the Kennebec County Probate Court. Photo by Fred J. Field.
But it took five months to schedule a court date, at which Tim
Theriault voluntarily resigned as personal representative of his wife’s
estate. The probate judge ordered an independent fiduciary to take over
and later to produce an accounting of the estate. Mediation after
mediation failed as the family tried to determine what belonged to the
estate.
Tim Theriault told the Monitor that his experience with the probate
court was “miserable.” The probate judge did not want to make decisions
about anything, Tim Theriault said.
Chappell agreed and said the probate court wasted time by not making decisions to its own detriment.
“Not only would it have saved the siblings money in legal fees, but
think about all the time that the judge had to spend. We went back to
court at least half a dozen times in a court system that is already
overburdened and doesn’t have time for these cases,” Chappell said.
In the end, five lawyers for various family members hashed out the
details of what Rebecca Theriault’s final wishes would be. The lawyers
huddled in the probate court’s hallways and scribbled out the settlement
by hand on lined paper, which their clients then agreed to and signed.
