Saved from Government-Sanctioned Starvation

Heart attack victim Janet Rivera, who, like Terri Schiavo, was denied food and water for 11 days in July, was saved from the specter of death by starvation Sept. 9, when her brother was named her permanent conservator.

The victory marks the final win for the Rivera family who has fought unceasingly for her life since she was placed in the hands of Fresno, California government officials in June. Rivera's public guardian ordered her death by starvation in July and had her feeding tube removed.

Public outcry ensued and Rivera's feeding tube was reinserted.

Judie Brown, president of American Life League in response: "Praise God, this woman was snatched from such an excruciating death." "Janet was spared the fate of Terri Schiavo, but still we hope this case exposes the threat that hangs over us all - government euthanasia for the sick, elderly and disabled."

Source:
Disabled California Woman Saved from Government-Sanctioned Starvation

See also:
Public Guardian Replaced by Coroner

Probate Attorney Jailed

Charles Barnes has worked as a probate attorney for many years, and now he stands accused of embezzlement and forgery. Prosecutors say he spent nearly $150,000 that belonged to a client. The prosecution says he was holding the money for a family's estate, but when they tried to get it back, it was gone.

According to court records, Barnes was hired in February, 2007, to handle the probate of Faye Glenn's estate - including her checking account, transferred to Barnes' Attorney Trust Account at BancFirst.

Court records say that Barnes told investigators that he had spent the money because he had gotten into a financial hole. Investigators say that Barnes later attempted to cover his tracks by writing the family a check from his wife's account that he knew was closed. He is also accused of forging his wife's signature on that check.

According to Stephens County District Attorney Bret Burns, despite the fact that Barnes was supposed to reimburse $150,000 to the executor of the estate, Barnes had yet to do so after the probate period ended. Burns said:"So there was a large sum of money just sitting there." "They had been asking for that money back for the past year and they got different excuses, until they finally found out it was gone."

Barnes was booked into jail earlier in the week and released on a $148,000 bond - the amount he is accused of embezzling. The district attorney is asking anyone else who may have had a financial problem with Charles Barnes to contact his office or the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

Full Article and Source:
Duncan lawyer accused of embezzlement

Involuntary Redistribution of Assets

Probate instruments such as wills, trusts, guardianships and powers of attorney are being used to redistribute property in a manner contrary to the intended wishes of hard-working Americans. These are folks who mistakenly take the "bait" put forth regarding estate planning documents. Lawyers are the first to extol the need to avoid "the high cost of probate" or "government intrusion" as well as to protect one´s estate from "greedy heirs and lawyers." During this process, however, the real "switch" potential is rarely discussed. That is, members of this same industry (maybe your lawyer) turning the tables and using your estate documents to deny assets to rightful beneficiaries/heirs and instead perpetrating an Involuntary Redistribution of Assets (IRA). Disgruntled family members excluded from the plan or else wanting more than their specified share easily connect with attorneys willing to assist. It´s an unflattering reflection on the legal industry but with this backdrop, IRA actions are quietly happening everyday.

Estate planning that includes applicable legal instruments (will, trust, powers of attorney - medical and otherwise, etc.) continues to be a critical component of any financially responsible person´s life. People must, however, become aware of estate management´s dark side. The dangers posed by unscrupulous attorneys, a pay-to-play legal system and would-be looters with an inflated sense of entitlement are increasingly visible. IRA actions are affecting Americans from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. With the large transfer of wealth coming in the next 20 or so years, these cases will likely skyrocket. People think proper estate planning will protect them – wrong! People think they don´t have enough assets to be a target – wrong!! There is no inoculation from the threat of IRA. Forewarned, however, is forearmed.

Estate of Denial will continue to "shine light on the dark side of estate management" in hopes of educating more people regarding the dangers ahead.

Source:
Probate and Switch

Trust Funds Failure

Funds tapped for fees, not for their needs; Lawyers, courts fall short on oversight

In 2006, close to $50,000 sat in a trust fund that was intended for Paul Riley.

But over 22 years, not a dime was ever spent on Riley. Instead, the account has been tapped to pay $17,000 in legal fees, annual investment management charges of nearly 2 percent of assets, and court fees.

For Riley and many of the 910 other mentally retarded adults for whom the trust funds were created, little of the estimated $30 million in the accounts is ever spent on their behalf. Instead, the money has been siphoned off for bank management charges and legal bills. And for fees charged by the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court system, which has long neglected its obligation to ensure the funds are expended for the benefit of some of the state's most helpless citizens.

A Globe investigation found serious failures at every level of the system. In most probate courts there has been scant oversight of the trust funds. The bank trustees, who manage investments for the funds, failed, in many cases, to file required financial reports for several years. And most of the personal trustees - the individuals who decide when to tap the trusts for people like Riley, and who almost always stand to inherit leftover funds - did not spend anything for their mentally retarded wards.

For years, probate judges had ample opportunity to step in on behalf of the trust beneficiaries, but did not. In Riley's case, for instance, judges three times appointed lawyers to review his trust's spending. Yet neither the attorneys nor judges who received their reports ever noted that Riley received no benefits from his trust fund.

Full Article and Source:
Trusts for mentally retarded neglected

Life at 50+ Event

Senators McCain and Obama will be speaking to thousands of AARP supporters at the Life@50+ event in Washington, DC., September 4 - 6, 2008. Even if you can’t be there, you can still make your voice heard.

Demand real answers from McCain and Obama!
Every question you send will be personally delivered to the candidates.

Type your question to the candidates Here.

Life@50+ | National Event & Expo

Avoiding Probate with TODD

A new Minnesota law makes it easier and cheaper for Minnesotans to plan for the transfer of real property upon their death. The transfer on death deed (or TODD) legislation that went into effect last month allows a person to sign and record a deed transferring real estate directly to a named beneficiary when the person dies, thereby avoiding probate on the property. The transfer proceeds much the same way as financial accounts that have a “pay on death” designation.

Under the new law, the transfer on death deed must be recorded prior to the grantor’s death.

The grantor retains full ownership rights over the property while living, including the right to revoke the deed or sell the property.

In addition, a TODD may direct the transfer of real estate to one or more named beneficiaries, to a class of beneficiaries or to the trustee of a trust, and because the beneficiary has no ownership interest until the grantor’s death, the property is protected from potential claims by the beneficiary’s creditors.

According to real estate practitioners, the TODD is especially useful for small estates, where it will avoid probate when the only asset might be one particular piece of property, like a homestead.

Full Article and Source:
Avoiding probate made easier under new law

Guardianship Firm Resigning

ADDMS Guardianship Services Inc., whose fiduciary responsibilities in estate cases are under scrutiny, and its owner, Alan Polack, removed themselves from dozens of cases and are expected to continue to do so.

Probate Court Administrator Donald Housey said: "They are resigning from them whenever they come up."

ADDMS and Polack resigned from cases after ADDMS' request to disqualify Judge Pamela Gilbert O'Sullivan was turned down by Sullivan and Chief Judge Kenneth Sanborn.

ADDMS and Polack had been appointed as guardians to estates and conservators to individuals in nearly 100 pending cases early this year.

In a state-funded audit of the court by the Whall Group, ADDMS was questioned about "multiple problems in accounts for assets and income" in its cases, according to a summary of the audit by Carl Gromek, state court administrator. It also said Probate Judge Kathryn George "demonstrated poor oversight" in assigning an inordinate number of cases to ADDMS.

Full Article and Source:
Guardianship firm resigning from probate court cases

See also:

Shake Up in Probate

Hearing For New Guardians

Guardianship Agency Removed

Probate Judge removed

Dangerous Guardianship Petition

I believe that the Massachusetts Guardianship Petition sets a dangerous precedent. You know how lawyers love to twist words and redefine their meanings when they write laws for themselves. The problems are their redefinitions:
Incompetent = any one disabled or having an illness; Mentally ill = anything they can pay a shrink to list as a diagnosis - usually some version of institution-intolerant behavior, such as normal anger, smiling, crying, or other emotional display. For that offense, they are drugged and miserable, isolated, and die.

Here's the other major problem: WE ARE DESPERATE TO KEEP OUR AUTONOMY as human beings. As far as the judiciary is concerned, the devil we know is better than the devil we don't know! We know family members, and even better, our chosen friends - or at least they know us. Even if they spend too much of an elderly person's money, if that person is happy, so what? If my mother's money had run out, I would have sold my house to take care of her, not expecting any reward in return. I never had that chance.

However, if that petition goes through everywhere, people could not beat a greedy lawyer as court-appointed guardian, but would be reluctant to file many court documents proving that they were honest and carrying out the Ward's best interest.

Many do not need a shrink. You may chose a doctor very carefully and he/she would have answered to you, not to the court. The doctor may use holistic remedies, where possible. You will be hard pressed to dins that kind of doctor here, especially one that is acceptable to the court! No toxic synthetic drugs, no nursing home, no shrinks - just happiness and peace, visits from animal friends, doing what they like, having visitors they love, and delicious home-cooked meals. The guardian's doctors may prohibit you from knowing the records, the toxic drugs they use may kill the Ward - they are the puppet of the guardian/executor team - they have their orders!

Strangers don't care, but they are paid plenty. The MA petition is a preparation for guardianship - first requiring that you fill out the assets - yours and the wards. That money is now the goal of the guardian/executor! Unnecessary expense and legal hassle is an impediment to most people who would otherwise be glad to protect you in the lifestyle to which you are accustomed.

If the lawyers or the court never intervened at all, you could settle a problem as a family at little cost. We should instead, be making laws to strengthen autonomy of the person to make their own decisions - and enforce that! You can always have an over-sight by asking a periodic visit of some official.

CAVEAT: Do not allow the lawyers or the courts, to make laws that force a family member or friend to jump through legal hoops in court - friends who were kind enough to allow themselves to be named as potential guardian because they know and care about you, will be discouraged, if they are forced into a red tape quagmire. Making life difficult and expensive for friends and family is a goal of the judiciary, who can see profits and favors with court-appointed stranger (public) guardians. There are very few activists in the world. Most people do not want to be bothered if laws are written to make the task of caring for a friend/family member too difficult.

KISS - 'Keep it Simple Stupid'- and families can usually work it out for themselves. Make it real hard, and we will be left with miserable, incarcerated, lonely, poor, then dead, wards - our former loved ones or even ourselves.

Written by a NASGA member

Controversial Deathbed Will

The Texas Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in the long-running battle for ownership of an aging Swiss Avenue mansion, once the crumbling centerpiece of former model Mary Ellen Bendtsen.

4949 Swiss Ave. remains the focal point of ongoing legal battles – including state felony charges of attempted theft against three men.

Mrs. Bendtsen's daughter and her attorneys said they hope the Supreme Court's refusal will be the impetus for closure in a sweeping saga that began long before Mrs. Bendtsen signed a controversial deathbed will.

The court's refusal effectively upholds previous court decisions that declared Mrs. Bendtsen's daughter the rightful heir and rejected a bid to block the home's sale. A Dallas probate court previously rejected a will that left Mrs. Bendtsen's stake in the house to Deep Ellum antique dealers Mark McCay and Justin Burgess, whom she befriended late in life.

Frances Ann Giron, Mrs. Bendtsen's daughter, called the legal drama that has ensued since her mother's 2005 death "unmitigated hell."

"I haven't had an opportunity to grieve my mother in three years."

Full Article and Source:
Texas Supreme Court won't hear appeal in case of Swiss Avenue mansion

See Also:
Mary Ellen's Will - The Battle For 4949 Swiss by Lee Hancock