Mom Alleges Conspiracy

After her daughter was abused, Brenda Bryant spent a decade fighting on her behalf. Now, two years later, a court-appointed guardian is fighting to end all contact between the two, saying Bryant is a controlling parent who refuses to allow doctors and social workers to treat her daughter.

Bryant alleges a conspiracy between the state and the caregivers who now watch over her daughter, a 34-year-old mentally retarded woman.

Bryant: "It's been orchestrated."

The latest troubles began in May, when Bryant learned a probate judge had appointed a Greenville attorney to act as guardian ad litem - a volunteer appointed to work on behalf of children - for her daughter. Within a week, Bryant says her daughter refused to take her calls at the group home where she lives, and the guardian soon filed a petition seeking to remove Bryant as her daughter's legal and financial custodian.


Full Article and Source:
SC mom known for daughter's fight now shunned

Missing Money Over 300K

A final report shows that nearly $335,000 is missing from the estates of past clients of Karyn McConnell Hancock, a former Toledo attorney who is being investigated for thefts.

A report indicated $34,632.46 was missing from the Chapman estate, bringing the amount missing from Ms. McConnell Hancock's probate clients to the more than $300,000 figure. She is also being investigated for thefts from other clients.

Full Article and Source:
McConnell Hancock clients' missing money tallied

See also:
Money Missing From Estates

The Experts Say...

"If an elderly loved one needs a conservator you need to understand how much they are spending. Be watchful of the costs, access to bank accounts or personal items the conservator might have - so that they are not taking things they should not, or influencing the writing of a Will."

- Jonathan Fielding, Director of Public Health Los Angeles

Saving Our Parents DVD - 2007 National Mature Media Awards Winner

Source:
Saving Our Parents - Signs of Problems with a Conservator

See also:
Saving Our Parents

Class Action Filed

A class-action lawsuit was filed asking that the Jasper County public administrator be removed as conservator of her 450 to 500 clients or be ordered to refund any fees she has charged them that the court deems excessive.

The lawsuit was brought by the same attorney who won dismissal of criminal charges against a California woman and her husband who had been charged with kidnapping the woman’s Carthage mother while she was a ward of the public administrator. The attorney recently filed a lawsuit against the public administrator, Rita Hunter, over the case.

The attorney, R. Lynn Myers, said that he has studied about 90 of the probate court files of public-administrator cases since he initially took the case of 95-year-old Emma France and her 67-year-old daughter, Dolores Forste.

One of the issues in the lawsuit is an allegation that Hunter was careless in obtaining guardianship and conservatorship, and that she charged the woman about $4,500 for her services.

Full Article and Source:
Class-action lawsuit filed against public administrator

See also:
Former Ward Files Suit

Rita Hunter is a registered with National Guardianship Association

Who's Paying the Price?

YOU!

That's right. You're picking up the tab - Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer!

Our grandparents and parents are from a generation of savers; people who worked hard, sacrificed, and saved every possible penny for their golden years - and for their children. While not all wealthy, they have amassed enough funds to see them through their lifetime, with hopes and dreams of travel, spending time with family and friends, or pursuing new interests.

When the guardian/conservator has picked the Ward's financial bones, the Ward becomes a public charge, on Medicaid, for the remainder of his/her life.

In other words, the guardian and other fiduciaries pauperize the Ward and then leave the Taxpayers holding the bag while those fiduciaries are working with their headhunters to find new victims.

No one knows how many billions of dollars this "welfare racket" for unethical guardians and other fiduciaries costs the Taxpayers. If anyone is keeping track, no one has been concerned enough to end it - until now!

Not even the IRS. The NY Post's article "Judge Money Melee Guardians Lax on Tax" reports retired Judge John Phillips' two former guardians failed to file his tax returns for five years, running up a million dollar tax bill against his former ten million dollar-plus estate. Why? Because they wanted their share first! Judge Phillips, thanks to his court-appointed "protectors," only has a few hundred thousand dollars left and he's in pretty good health. So, who's going to pick up the tab for his care when they finish picking his financial bones? The guardian? The guardian's attorney? No way! You are!

See Also:
The Kung Fu Judge

Stop Guardian Abuse - Who Else is Paying the Price?

The Cruelest Age

Once a dashing young couple that dressed to the nines and had a new car every year or six months, Louie and Lee are now old — 87 and 88. They have a house with a mortgage, two small pensions, Medicare and no real plan for their final years.

The years that once stretched out ahead of them have closed in tighter and tighter, slowly grinding them into a crisis they never saw coming.

Families all over have similar tales.

They’ve worked all their lives and never thought to ask for a handout. But they don’t have enough set aside to carry them through as their health care needs steadily and dramatically increase.

They have no plan for how to handle their assets as their mental functions dim.

Although they have family — in particular, a grandson who’s put his life on hold to help out — family members have their own lives and don’t have the expertise to handle serious medical issues.

Any one of those problems is tough.

Put them all together and add denial, guilt and emotional baggage, and caring for aging parents can be a thorny thicket.


Full Article and Source:
THE CRUELEST AGE: A local family confronts Alzheimer's, nursing home care

Video:
Louie and Lee Tessandori

Investigators: The Power of One: Starting To Crack

The evidence is mounting as courts take action against a powerful conservator the FOX 9 Investigators have been telling you about for months. And now real change may not be far behind; change that may help your family if you ever need someone to take care of a parent or a child. Reporter Trish Van Pilsum has the details in this exclusive story on "The Power of One."



Source:
My Fox Twin Cities

See also:
Investigators: The Power of One: A Call For Change

Investigators: The Power of One

Public Guardian Replaced by Coroner

Janet Rivera suffered a heart attack in 2006. She's been on life support for for more than two years. Her condition got worse and she was admitted to community regional medical center.

Janet's husband, Jesus Rivera, was the public guardian. He was replaced by county coroner Dr. David Hadden.

Hadden says Jesus was not fit to be her guardian. Hadden seeked advice from 5 physicians. All agreed Rivera's situation was bad and said it would be best to remove Rivera from artificial life support saying her condition was "untreatable and irreversible".

The family disagreed and requested a temporary restraining order to keep life support measures in place.

Source:
Sanger Woman Stays on Life Support


A judge ruled that Fresno County must restore all medical needs to keep Janet Rivera alive.

The family took the case to court after the county guardian ordered Janet to be taken off life support. After 10 days without food or water, the guardian allowed food and water to resume. The judge ordered it to stay that way until further information about the case can be obtained.

Source:
Temporary Ruling Could Save Janet Rivera

See also:
Fresno County Has Change of Heart for Rivera

Elder Mistreatment

The disturbing stories surface in the news with too much frequency. The victims are elderly, and the abuse they face takes various forms. The insidious offenses, collectively known as elder mistreatment, are a pervasive, though still often overlooked, public health problem.

At its June Annual Meeting, the American Medical Association adopted policies to address this serious state of affairs. AMA House of Delegates endorsed policies encouraging physicians and other medical professionals to become more proactive in recognizing and treating seniors who may be victims.

The term elder mistreatment covers physical and sexual abuse, emotional abuse and financial exploitation. The unifying feature across this spectrum is that its victims are unable to protect themselves. It occurs in both community and institutional settings and cuts across geographic, class, gender and racial lines. And often, the abuse gains public attention only after it is too late.

Full Article and Source:
Taking action toward prevention of elder mistreatment