In Other News, Peter Falk’s Daughter is Still Chipping Away at Guardianship

I thank my lucky stars for Catherine Falk, every day of my life. Daughter of TV’s famous, rumpled, delightful Lt. Columbo, she has been working hard to assure nobody else has to go through what she did. When her father was stricken with Alzheimer’s, Catherine was prevented from visiting him by his legal guardian. With the cooperation of the courts, she was not notified when he died. She was not notified of his funeral arrangements.

HIS OWN DAUGHTER.

For those who don’t know, a guardianship is anarchy. The guardian doesn’t have to abide by laws common in child custody. The guardian can do whatever he/she wants. These laws are regulated on a state-by-state basis. The courts are notorious for rubber-stamping them.

I’ve gotten the rubber stamp twice, after filing two petitions in two separate years and under two different judges, to get a visit with my sister Amanda.

Amanda has Down syndrome and in 2013 (following the death of our dad, of whom I was primary caretaker along with Amanda), she was swooped out to Arizona from our home state of Michigan. This was following a dispute between another sibling, our oldest sister Robin, and the current guardian, brother Ted. 

Amanda and I stayed together during those very painful months and we wrote a book, “The North Side of Down.” Immediately after we published it, our story won the Honorary Medallion from the Book Reader’s Appreciation Group. This made Amanda one of the few co-authors in the world with Down syndrome… And Perhaps the only award-winning co-author.

It was my first glimpse into what a horror show guardianship is. I was so relieved when Ted won that case. Amanda was terrified that Robin was going to win. But we both thought things would be just fine now.

WRONG.

Anyone who has followed this blog has seen the struggle I have been though, just trying to get quality time with my sister.

Who knew it was going to be so hard to get permission to take your sister out for movies and pizza?

Evil is rampant, and it isn’t just toward the elderly.

Amanda is a cash cow. Her disability check is “worth a lot more than people thought,” Ted’s wife Ruthie said, back when she was still talking to me.

I couldn’t have cared less about the money. But I am becoming very aware of how much others do.

Back during the days of more open communication, Ted told me he was afraid if Amanda spent too much time with me in Michigan, “she won’t want to come back.”

He transferred her case to Arizona in an attempt to thwart me from filing further petitions. 

It’s not going to work. 

The only thing that has prevented me this year is the influx of Covid-19.

Now, per this text message, he claims he has removed me from notices about Amanda’s legal status through the court. He said I refused delivery (not true) and I will not be getting any more updates. Ted has lied to me in the past, so it may not be true that he has requested me to be removed and the court agreed, but if it is, it wouldn’t surprise me. 

When I posted this latest update on Facebook, a friend asked, “How low can Ted go?”

I guess we are finding that out, eh?

I thought his real low point was when Amanda wept in the restaurant and begged him to let her have time with me.

This friend is not alone. There are a number of friends and relatives, including people who have known Amanda her whole life, who are aghast at the way Ted is treating her. They don’t speak out. Many of them have even withdrawn from Amanda because they are so disgusted by the situation.

I wish people had more courage. Granted, my sisters can be vicious. They are bullies. They will gang up on you.

So what?

Do the right thing. 

We need to shed a light on this unethical behavior of guardians. Thank you, Catherine Falk, for pegging away at it.

On September 24th, Amanda turns 50 years old. Hang in there, little sis. I’m not giving up.

Stop Guardian Abuse

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In Other News, Peter Falk’s Daughter is Still Chipping Away at Guardianship

Judge denies elderly woman’s move to thwart daughter’s control of assets

BELLEVILLE – Margaret Ashmann, 85, whose children claim she isn’t competent enough to be independent, understood a decision of a probate judge well enough to weep.

She broke down in front of Associate Judge Heinz Rudolf on Aug. 14, after he ruled that she could not live at her home in Fairview Heights.

Rudolf didn’t declare her an incompetent person and didn’t treat her as such – he conversed with Ashmann throughout a hearing that lasted an hour.

Yet, he denied her motion to dismiss the guardianship of daughter Kathleen Wilshire, a client of former chief judge John Baricevic.

Rudolf wrote that disability was contested, and he gave guardian ad litem Michael Rousseau additional time to evaluate her.

Rousseau stated in court that he just met Ashmann for the first time.

“She’s very with it, very sharp,” Rousseau said at a hearing Tuesday.

He said he asked questions and, “She answered them all.”

“She wasn’t confused,” he said.

Wilshire petitioned for an emergency guardianship order on July 27, swearing her mother was disabled and incapable of managing her estate and person.

A physician’s affidavit was attached to the petition.

Wilshire estimated the value of her mother’s personal estate at $450,000, and her gross annual income and other receipts at $20,000.

She listed nearby adult relatives as herself, sons David and Lance Ashmann, and sisters Catherine Ritzheimer and Rose Conyer.

Associate Judge Patricia Kievlan granted the petition on a temporary basis on the same day Wilshire sought emergency guardianship.

Ashmann then retained Margaret Lowery, who answered the petition and moved to dissolve the guardianship order on Aug. 6.

“Margaret Ashmann states she is capable of making her own decisions and denies that she is in need of a plenary guardian,” Lowery wrote.

Lowery wrote that for an appointment with Ashmann’s physician, her daughter intentionally removed her hearing aids. Ashmann suffers from significant hearing loss and would have been unable to properly respond to physician questions, she added.

She further wrote that Ashmann was placed at Cedarhurst, against her will. She feared her daughter would dissipate her estate.

Wilshire closed Ashmann’s credit cards and bank accounts, and left her mother destitute, Lowery wrote.

The physician’s affidavit – which stated that Ashmann couldn’t make decisions on her own due to dementia - contained “an inaccurate diagnosis, no foundation basis, and perhaps tainted facts,” she wrote.

Another physician examined Ashmann at Cedarhurst in Collinsville on Aug. 6 and rendered an opinion that she is not under disability, Lowery wrote.

“The guardian (Wilshire) has telephoned, but does not visit the ward,” Lowery wrote.

On Aug. 9, Baricevic filed a denial that any funds were misspent.

Before Tuesday’s hearing began, FCB Bank general counsel Kevin Stine brought Ashmann’s records to court under subpoena from Lowery.

Rudolf told Stine he could leave, but Stine stayed in his seat.

“I want to see these two titans go up against each other,” Stine said.

He meant Baricevic and Lowery.

Baricevic and Lowery entered, and Baricevic told Rudolf the motion to dismiss the guardianship was premature.

Rudolf told him Lowery alleged that the guardian would steal.

Baricevic said, “All she did was cancel her credit card.”

Lowery said Ashmann had no access to any money, and Baricevic objected to giving her access to it.

Lowery said, “It isn’t his money, it’s her money.”

Wilshire suddenly cried out, “Am I allowed to speak at all?”

Rudolf said, “You have counsel, don’t you? Speak through your counsel.”

He said he would leave everything in place for now.

Lowery said, “This woman worked all her life and doesn’t have any money, with a million dollars in the bank.”

Baricevic said, “She doesn’t have a million dollars in the bank.”

He said she had $280,000.

He said they found moldy food in her refrigerator.

Rudolf asked Rousseau if home care was an option.

Rudolf said his dad fell five months ago and, “That’s what I did.”

Ashmann began gasping, and then she wept.

She rose from her seat, and Rudolf said, “You don’t need to get up.”

She said she was sorry, and he said, “You don’t have to apologize.”

He told her he would free up some of the money.

She said the second installment of her property tax was due.

He said, “It will be figured out but you need to relax.”

She sat and wept.

Baricevic asked Rudolf if he denied the motion.

Rudolf said, “I am denying it at this time.”

He said Ashmann would be at Cedarhurst until Sept. 6.

He said she could have the general practice physician of her choice.

He approved $2,600 for Lowery’s fee at $200 an hour, and $400 for the physician Lowery hired to evaluate Ashmann.

Rudolf set a hearing in October, but not in his court.

He told the parties that William Stiehl, appointed as circuit judge until the November election, would hear further proceedings.

Rudolf then signed an order giving Wilshire control of Ashmann’s funds, “subject to expenditures being in the best interest.”

He wrote that Ashmann could choose her own primary care physician.

He granted Lowery access to Ashmann’s medical records.

He approved further evaluation at St. Louis University Hospital.

“Guardian’s account statements to be provided to Margaret Ashmann,” Rudolf wrote.

He granted Ashmann $300 a month on a preloaded debit card.

He denied her motion to dismiss the guardianship, but without finding disability.     

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Judge denies elderly woman’s move to thwart daughter’s control of assets

The perils of probate court: Former judge with Alzheimer's could lose her life savings

Superior Court Judge Betty Lou Lamoreaux in 1988

Retired Orange County Superior Court Judge Betty Lou Lamoreaux was such a force in juvenile justice that the seven-story family court building bears her name.

Every day, hundreds of children and their parents stream through the doors of the Lamoreaux Juvenile Justice Center in Orange. Some are in trouble with the law, some are from fractured families. All are hoping for justice tempered with mercy.

Now Lamoreaux is in danger of being financially drained, in part by the very justice system to which she dedicated her life.

Lamoreaux, 92, has Alzheimer’s dementia, according to court records. Her family – mostly nieces and nephews, as Lamoreaux has no children – is trying to care for her and preserve her estate. But they’ve fought over how best to do that, and about who should be in charge of Lamoreaux’s money, and they’ve taken the fight to probate court.

The family dispute has grown to include no fewer than three judges and nine lawyers and related professionals, with more attorneys set to join the fracas.

Now, some in the family are afraid the trip to probate court could end with attorney fees swallowing up “Auntie Lou’s” nest egg, forcing her to sell her $1.8 million house in Newport Beach.

They argue that the particulars of probate court are problematic.

“The very court system she served, and was honored by, is now bilking her of her life savings,” says Duff McGrath, her 58-year-old nephew and her trustee.

“It wouldn’t happen to Betty Lou Lamoreaux if it wasn’t happening to a lot of other people. The system is flawed.”

McGrath’s frustrations are echoed by many in probate court – where the affairs of a loved one can be taken out of the hands of family members and turned over to experts who often are paid hundreds of dollars an hour. Every year, nearly 5,000 probate-guardianship cases grind their way through probate court in Orange County.

In theory, the work is done by sincere professionals trying to protect their clients.

But by nature, the process of turning one’s affairs over to lawyers and their subcontractors can get expensive, even when fees must be approved by the court.

Good work, some argue, takes time. And in probate court, time definitely is money.

“Even if you’re trying to do a good job (on behalf of the client), the longer it takes to do a good job, the more money you get,” said Kurt Eggert, director of the Alona Cortese Elder Law Center in Orange.

“There is the incentive to prolong the case.”

Until 2014, Lamoreaux shared her Newport Beach home with her 87-year-old sister, Shirley, and a niece. Over the years, as Lamoreaux’s dementia worsened, her house fell into disrepair, to the point of being unhealthy, according to court records.

McGrath and some family members went to probate court in 2015, hoping to get a court order that would give them the authority to separate Lamoreaux from those they felt would do her harm.

McGrath had moved Lamoreaux from her house to a senior living center in Corona del Mar while her home was undergoing repairs.

The court responded by appointing two people to the case, an attorney and a guardian – who also is an attorney – to represent Lamoreaux.

That’s when the legal wrangling began.

The court appointees, after speaking with Lamoreaux, believed she wants to move back home with her sister. A judge agreed and ordered McGrath to help Lamoreaux return home, a ruling McGrath has appealed.

McGrath hired his own legal team, who argued that Lamoreaux should stay at the center, which they noted has the expertise and facilities to care for her.

Along the way, the case picked up more professional consultants, a fiduciary and a few more lawyers, all charging from $200 to $450 an hour.

McGrath said the total, when everybody is working – including his attorneys – is about $3,000 an hour.

Experts hired in the case declined comment or did not return telephone messages.

Lamoreaux’s fate now is in the hands of Judge Kim R. Hubbard. A hearing is set for Tuesday to determine whether McGrath should be removed from his trustee position.

Lamoreaux’s physician has indicated that she should not be moved at this time, and she repeatedly tells friends that she wants to stay at the center, according to court records.

The attorney appointed by the court to represent Lamoreaux, Ernest Hayward, requested this week’s emergency hearing to determine whether McGrath should be thrown out as trustee and replaced with a professional. McGrath accuses Hayward of attempting to wrest more control over Lamoreaux’s affairs.

Regardless of who is right, finding the answer may get even more expensive than it’s been so far.

“We fell into a spiderweb,” said McGrath. “It’s been a year and a half of hell.”

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The perils of probate court: Former judge with Alzheimer's could lose her life savings

Guardian accused of illegally placing Mary Montgomery in nursing home

A court-appointed professional guardian for Mary Montgomery — multi-millionaire widow of famed litigator Robert Montgomery — spirited the Palm Beach socialite from her mansion to an undisclosed nursing home where the 86-year-old is kept in a small room, fed institutional-style food and subject to substandard medical care, her daughter alleges in court documents.

Courtnay Montgomery claims guardian John Cramer violated state law by never seeking or obtaining a court order to remove Mary Montgomery — who suffers from dementia — from her Palm Beach home, known as Sin Cuidado, according to a blistering petition filed on Wednesday.

“This guardian has abused his powers and failed to properly discharge his duties,” wrote attorney Jennifer Carroll on Courtnay Montgomery’s behalf. “He has not acted in good faith and has acted contrary to the best interests of his ward.”

Complicating matters is the fact that Courtnay is facing charges she siphoned nearly $200,000 from her mother in Minnesota and has been ordered by the court there not contact her mother until a probable cause hearingis held. Carroll says people in Florida are pushing misinformation to law enforcement for their own agendas and that the Minnesota charges against her client are frivolous.

“This is an egregious case. I took it because I thought both Mary and Courtnay are not being treated right,” she said. “There are so many components to it. It is a mess that has to be unraveled.”

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Mary Montgomery and her daughter, Courtnay Montgomery during a recent Easter celebration. 

 

Cramer, contacted through e-mail, referred questions to his attorney, Mitch Kitroser, who said he will be filing a response with the court. Kitroser noted Courtnay Montgomery agreed in March to the appointment of a professional guardian for her mom.

“John Cramer is my client and he’s doing everything that he believes is in Mary’s best interest and any disagreements are best left to the courts and should not be fought out in the public. I’d like to respect the family’s privacy,” Kitroser said.

A Nov. 1 hearing is scheduled to sort out a lot of these issues with the aim of returning Mary Montgomery to her Palm Beach home, he said.

This is not the first time attorney Carroll and Cramer have squared off in a guardianship.

Carroll successfully fought to have Cramer removed as guardian for Boynton Beach senior J. Alan Smith when an appellate court ruled a senior’s advanced health directives trumps the court’s power to appoint a guardian.

Cramer also placed Smith in a nursing home — against the wishes of his wife — and then successfully annulled his marriage. The Smith guardianship is in front of the Florida Supreme Court on the annulment issue.

But unlike Smith, Mary Montgomery is worth millions and her daughter is her sole beneficiary. The octogenarian receives more than $1.5 million every four months from tobacco fee payments stemming from one of her husband’s crowning courtroom achievements, the landmark case that forced tobacco companies to pay $11.3 billion to Florida.

The couple were known for their philanthropy. Robert Montgomery died in 2008 after battling cancer.

‘Liquidate everything’
“This is an attempt to get rid of me so they can liquidate everything and then leave me nothing,” Courtnay Montgomery said. “There is a problem with guardians depleting seniors’ assets.”

The state legislature moved earlier this year to regulate the professional guardianship industry that has come under fire nationwide for bilking and abusing seniors. The Palm Beach Post series, Guardianships: A Broken Trust, found rampant conflict of interest and favoritism.

“The truth needs to come out and people need to know what is going on,” Courtnay Montgomery said.

The drama surrounding Mary Montgomery started last year when a routine trip to visit her daughter ended with her staying in Minnesota and firing all of her staff.

When Mary Montgomery didn’t return to Florida, her accountant Richard Rampell contacted Minnesota authorities. After a welfare check by Olmsted County sheriff deputies, Courtnay was charged with trying to bite an investigator. She was put on probation, but was charged last month in Minnesota with siphoning off more than $188,000 from her mother’s accounts.

Courtnay Montgomery denies the charges. She returned to Florida with her mother in December when a temporary guardianship for her mother expired in Minnesota. Cramer was appointed in March as Mary Montgomery’s guardian in a hearing that was closed to the media.

Cramer on July 14 moved Mary Montgomery to a secret location under the guise that he was taking her to physical therapy, according to the petition. As a professional guardian of person and property, Cramer has complete control over Mary Montgomery’s life and millions of dollars.

“Cramer caused Mary Montgomery to be taken from her family home of 20 plus years — away from her familiar and comfortable surroundings; away from her social life and care by her only daughter; away from her beloved parrots, swans and dogs,” the petition to remove the guardian states.

Courtnay later learned that her mother had been moved to a nursing home in downtown West Palm Beach.

Institutional food
Mary Montgomery is kept in a 500- to 600 square-foot room, fed on trays with “institutional food” and placed in front of a television for entertainment, her daughter claims in the petition. No telephone contact is allowed. Her medications have been replaced with generics in which she is known to be allergic, the petition states.

Cramer has sought the “least expensive” care for Montgomery even though she has the means to received the highest quality and is accustomed to such care, the petition reads.

Carroll argues in the petition that putting Mary Montgomery in a strange environment and away from her daughter is detrimental to the senior’s health. “The reasons advanced by this guardian are unsubstantiated and spurious at best,” the petition reads.

Furthermore, Cramer has canceled Mary Montgomery’s social memberships and she no longer goes to weekly lunches or the opera with her daughter.

“John Cramer removed Mary from an environment where she had social stimulation,” the petition reads. “It is believed that Mary, with the right care, in her home environment, can return to her normal social life once again.”

In a separate complaint filed last month, Courtnay Montgomery is seeking to remove former caregiver Hilda Santana as trustee for her mother. She accused Santana of financial exploitation of her mother.

Santana’s attorney, Ed Downey, said Mary Montgomery is “well taken care of and well provided for.”

“It is not a surprising filing because I just know she (Courtnay) is frustrated about all of the circumstances,” Downey said. “But we are working our way through it. Everything is working fine for Mrs. Montgomery.”

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Guardian accused of illegally placing Mary Montgomery in nursing home