Steve Miller: Ignored Letter to Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez-Masto

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February 25, 2013

Ms. Catherine Cortez-Masto
Office of Nevada Attorney General
100 N. Carson St.
Carson City, Nevada 89701

COMPLAINT: Re: Elder Abuse

Dear Ms. Cortez-Masto:

I am writing in regard to Mr. Guadalupe Olvera, a 93 year old World War II veteran who is clearly suffering guardian abuse at the hands of professional certified private guardian Jared E. Shafer.

Mr. Olvera suffered permanent frost bite damage, vision, and hearing loss fighting in World War Two. After his wife died in 2009, he was placed in the Nevada guardianship program because he had no relatives living in Nevada to help him settle his affairs, a requirement of Nevada law.

In 2003, Carmela and Guadalupe Olvera moved from Santa Cruz County, California to Sun City Anthem in Henderson. Soon after arriving in the Las Vegas area, Carmela attended an estate planning seminar given by John Dawson at the Sun City Anthem Community Center. She and several other residents hired Dawson of Lionel Sawyer Collins to create trusts and wills, only to discover he had made himself executor of many of their estates.

Carmela died in November 2009 leaving her then 91 year old husband to live alone in their 3,000 square foot home. The Olvera’s only living child, Rebecca Olvera Schultz, flew to Las Vegas to make arrangements to move her father to their home in Santa Cruz County. Rebecca was informed because her mother had been guardian over her father's 'person,' she needed a temporary guardian to settle Guadalupe's affairs so he can leave Nevada. For-hire guardian Jared Shafer was recommended by someone working in the Clark County Guardianship Commissioner's Office of Jon Norheim.

Against court policy, the court gave Shafer's unlisted home phone number to Rebecca. After hiring Shafer, Rebecca was reportedly told that it will take two or three months to "package things up."

She had no idea that she had just signed over her father's person and entire fortune to a stranger with a highly questionable background.

Mr. Olvera's Henderson home is free and clear and worth an estimated $500,000. He also has a late model Toyota and sizable bank accounts at Wells Fargo.

The first time Rebecca and her husband Robert Schultz were allowed to visit after Shafer established guardianship, they were not allowed to spend the night in Guadalupe’s home despite the fact that he had two spare bedrooms, forcing them to check into a hotel. During the next several months, Shafer allowed Rebecca and Robert to stay at Guadalupe’s home, but for no more than four days at a time. Patience Bristol, Shafer's assistant guardian, told Mr. and Mrs. Schultz that if they spoke to Guadalupe about the guardianship, they would have to limit their visits.

Months after becoming guardian, Shafer told Rebecca that it will take much longer to settle Mr. Olvera's affairs. In January 2010, with her patience exhausted, Rebecca hired a Las Vegas law firm to petition the court to have Shafer's guardianship terminated. Shafer's attorneys (at Olvera's expense) objected, telling the court that Schultz is an "exploiter" though she's Olvera's only living child.

On April 27, 2010, the eve of a court hearing, Shafer advised Patience Bristol to send a text to Guadalupe's caregiver stating "You are NOT to bring Lupe to court," denying Mr. Olvera the right to attend his own hearing the following morning.

On September 8, 2010, another hearing was held in the court of Family Court Commissioner Jon Norheim, and Guadalupe was reluctantly allowed to attend. After Norheim ruled he could not leave Vegas, Guadalupe demanded to be heard. He told the court that he wants to relocate to California, stating: "I'm going to go to California no matter what! I'm not going to live here. I don't need that man either. I don't need Jared (Shafer)."

In his 2 minute 27 second plea, Mr. Olvera unequivocally stated his desires to be relieved of Mr. Shafer’s guardianship.

He asked that he be allowed to spend his final days with his large family in Santa Cruz. In open court, Olvera was repeatedly interrupted by the judge and Shafer's attorney Alan Freer. He was mocked, condescended, and ignored after he said "Give me a Chance!"

(Continue reading on Guardelupe Olvera's Profile on NASGA's Victims page)

Sincerely,
Steve Miller, Friend of the Olvera family

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I mailed the above letter via Registered Mail to assure it was received by Ms. Cortez-Masto. After receiving my receipt, I waited patiently for her reply. None followed.

As a former public official, I am not one to waste my time researching and composing lengthy letters to public officials that go ignored.

In Mr. Olvera's case, my initial attempt to interest then-Clark County District Attorney David Roger was not expected to garner a response because of his friendship with Mr. Shafer, but in order to establish a paper trail, I tried nonetheless. Upon receiving no response, I turned to the Office of the Nevada Attorney General.

I was a resident of Clark County in 1976 when Ms. Cortez-Masto's late father then-Clark County Commissioner Manny Cortez initially appointed his friend Jared Shafer to the position of Clark County Administrator/Public Guardian. Since then, Shafer has stolen millions of dollars from those he was assigned to protect.

Because of Shafer and Manny Cortez' close friendship, I should also have assumed Catherine would be loyal to her father's crony, but I tried to inform her nonetheless believing she was a devoted public servant. I was wrong - again. Mr. Shafer's political influence reached all the way to Carson City at that time in Nevada history.

However, two years after my failed attempt to interest the Nevada A.G. in the racketeering enterprise mastermined by Shafer and his corrupt band of local Family Court judges, the Las Vegas Review-Journal took interest, and published the first in its series of front page stories about Shafer's victims, "Escape was only option for an old soldier trapped in guardian system."

After reading this story, and realizing that she missed her opportunity to be a true Nevada hero, Ms. Cortez should have been ashamed of herself.

Today, in spite of Cortez-Masto's indifference in 2013, several local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies are conducting in depth investigations of Las Vegas cases of guardianship fraud and abuse including that of Mr. Olvera. - SM

April 11, 2015
Escape was only option for an old soldier trapped in guardian system
By COLTON LOCHHEAD
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

That wasn’t the case a few years ago, when he was isolated and alone, a prisoner in his Henderson home — a ward of Clark County, surrounded by people he didn’t know who were supposed to protect him, but who ended up with more than $420,000 of his money, most of his estate.

More information on Jared E. Shafer

Jared E. Shafer

See Also:
NASGA: Guadelupe Olvera, NV/CA Victim

Attorney from Howard Beach stole $600K from the estate of a dead judge, prosecutors say

A lawyer from Howard Beach found himself in handcuffs this week after being indicted for allegedly stealing nearly $600,000 from the estate of a late civil court judge, prosecutors announced on Wednesday.

Frank Racano, 54, is accused of milking approximately $587,160.46 left behind by Civil Court Judge John L. Phillips Jr., a Brooklyn resident who died on February 16, 2008 without any heirs for his estate.

According to Kings County District Attorney Ken Thompson, a court-appointed administrator hired Racano in 2010 to sell Phillips’ real estate holdings, including the historic Slave Theater and an adjacent lot in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Two years later, the property went into contract for $2.2 million, and the prospective buyer issued a check for a 10 percent down payment ($220,000) made payable to “Frank Racano, as attorney.” The check was subsequently deposited into Racano’s attorney trust checking account.

The sale closed in February 2013, and the net proceeds of the sale, $517,339,65, were deposited into Racano’s trust account, bringing the total amount to $737,339,65.

Prosecutors said that Racano allegedly wrote and cashed more than 300 checks to himself from that trust account between February 2013 and May 2015 without proper authorization. The checks ranged in amounts from as little as $45 to as much as $7,500.

Along with legal, authorized payments for tax assistance and other services totaling more than $150,000, Thompson said, Racano’s alleged theft completely depleted the trust account.

“We will now hold him accountable for these shameful criminal acts,” Thompson said in a statement.

Racano was indicted on one count of second-degree grand larceny. At arraignment, he was ordered held on $250,000 bail and to return to court on August 10.

Full Article & Source:
Attorney from Howard Beach stole $600K from the estate of a dead judge, prosecutors say

Dr Henry Heimlich uses Heimlich manoeuvre for first time at 96

Surgeon employs anti-choking technique that bears his name to dislodge hamburger from woman’s airway in retirement home

The surgeon who gave his name to the simple but dramatic procedure used to rescue people from choking saved someone’s life with the Heimlich Manoeuvre for the first time this week aged 96.

Dr Henry Heimlich’s technique for dislodging food or objects caught in people’s throats has been credited with saving untold thousands of lives around the world since he invented it in 1974 – but he had never once had cause to use it in an emergency situation himself.

Last Monday, however, the retired chest surgeon encountered a female resident at his retirement home in Cincinnati who was choking at the dinner table.

Without hesitation, Heimlich spun her around in her chair so he could get behind her and administered several upward thrusts with a fist below the chest until the piece of meat she was choking on popped out of her throat and she could breathe again.

“It was very gratifying,” Heimlich told the Guardian on Friday by telephone from Cincinnati.

“That moment was very important to me. I knew about all the lives my manoeuvre has saved over the years and I have demonstrated it so many times but here, for the first time, was someone sitting right next to me who was about to die.”

After initial reports emerged of Heimlich and his son Philip declaring this was the first time the retired surgeon had used his technique to treat someone who was choking, an account emerged of an earlier incident.

A 2003 BBC Online report quoted Heimlich talking about using the manoeuvre on a choking diner in a restaurant in 2000. Interviewed again on Friday afternoon by the Guardian, the 96-year-old Heimlich said he did not recall such an incident. His son Philip also stated that he had no knowledge of his father using the technique in any prior emergency.

Heimlich lives in Deupree House, a senior assisted living centre in the city, where he and other residents have their own apartments but get together for meals in a communal dining room.

Fellow resident 87-year-old Patty Ris, who was quite new to the facility, sat down near Heimlich for dinner when she suddenly began choking on a piece of hamburger meat. A member of staff was heading over to attend to the emergency, when Heimlich calmly stepped in.

“I did the Heimlich Manoeuvre – of course,” Heimlich said. “She was going to die if she wasn’t treated. I did it, and a piece of food with some bone in it flew out of her mouth.”

Heimlich demonstrates the manoeuvre on Johnny Carson in 1979. Photograph: NBC/NBC via Getty Images 

 

Heimlich said that the woman never lost consciousness, but after being able to breathe again she was so startled she was unable to talk at first.  (Continue Reading)

Full Article & Source:
Dr Henry Heimlich uses Heimlich manoeuvre for first time at 96

Misdiagnosed And Overdosed, Grandmother Rescued From Hospice

Family members often feel powerless and hopeless when they realize that a loved one in hospice care has been put on the pathway to a speedy death. This is a story of one family’s vigilance and timely action, which saved Mrs. Jackie McGiboney’s life. 

“My grandmother has been alive for almost a year since our horrible overdose experience with the hospice,” Carly Walden wrote to the Pro-life Healthcare Alliance (PHA) on February 8, 2016. Carly aims to do everything possible to warn others about the invisible murders happening in many hospices and encourage others to save the lives of their loved ones when faced with similar circumstances.

Events leading to hospice admission
 
On December 12, 2014, Jackie fell at home. She was taken to an emergency room and, after being diagnosed with congestive heart failure and stage-4 chronic kidney disease, Jackie was admitted to a hospital in Covington, Georgia. Upon discharge from the hospital on December 16, she was moved to a nursing home rehabilitation center, where she remained until February 14, 2015. Her family visited her three times a day at the rehab center and noted that the only time a doctor saw Jackie was upon admission. Carly believes “the reason she was sick when she came home is because the medical director never came to see her in the two months she was there.”

On February 23, nine days after Jackie returned home, Carly again called 911 because Jackie was experiencing shortness of breath and very congested coughing spells. After admission to the hospital, she was diagnosed with congestive heart failure exacerbation and possibly some form of dementia.

When Jackie was due to be discharged, she was still sick and more than normally congested, so the family requested another X-ray. Subsequently, they were told she had bilateral pneumonia, for which she was treated until discharge on February 27. She was sent home to complete treatment with antibiotics, and a short-term rehabilitation program was suggested.

Jackie’s primary care physician (PCP) spoke with Carly on March 4, stating that her grandmother was never a candidate for a short-term rehabilitation program because the patient has to have an “achievable” or “attainable” goal, which she did not. According to Carly, the PCP also told her that, if her grandmother were hospitalized again, she would likely die. Thus he suggested that she be placed in hospice care.

The family discussed the seriousness of the doctor’s prediction and took Jackie to visit him on March 5. Carly writes, “We do not know if he reviewed personally any of her medical records from [the hospital]; however, we do know that he did not do any further testing and only examined her with a stethoscope that day. There was no blood work, X-rays, or any testing done. At the conclusion of this visit, Mrs. Jackie M. McGiboney received a prescription that stated, ‘Please initiate Inpatient Hospice Placement,’ with the diagnosis of ‘End Stage Cardiomyopathy, Renal Failure, and Pneumonia.’”

Family assured that the hospice does not “dope them up”

The following day, Jackie’s family contacted a hospice, which sent out a community liaison to educate them about the facility. The family told the liaison they wanted Jackie to “remain on her medications” and “not be overly medicated in any form or fashion.” The liaison responded, “If they need a little something for pain, we will give it to them.” Carly recalls, “At that time my father stated, ‘You all do not just dope them up, correct?’” The liaison assured him the hospice did not do that and that this would be a very short-term stay, with possible follow-up at home.

“During this consultation, my grandmother was alert and fully aware of the conversation and actually had to have a bowel movement,” Carly reports. “She was able to complete this task by herself with the help of her walker. [The liaison] commented that she does very well.

“My grandmother understood that this program would be for rest and comfort, and she would be able to continue all of her medications because they have an in-house pharmacy. Should she require a doctor’s visit, it could also be arranged. My grandmother agreed to the program. She was admitted that night and, as instructed, brought along all her medications.

“Upon arrival, we spoke with Mrs. T at the hospice, and she stated that my grandmother told her to talk to me and my father about all of her medications. Again, we specifically requested that she be retained on all present medications. Mrs. T agreed, but said, should she have pain, they may administer ‘a little morphine.’ That shocked us because my grandmother never takes any pain medication. We questioned this, and Mrs. T, in a very defensive manner, claimed it helps the elderly with breathing. She then said we would be surprised what a few nights [of] good rest could do for a person.”

The family’s questions and mounting concern

After getting Jackie checked in and settled, the family went home that night. The following day they noticed a catheter had been placed in her. They were baffled because she had been using the restroom by herself at home, with no problems. They expressed concern because her urine was a dark tea color. At home, her urine had been yellow. Carly observed, “A [certified nurse’s aide] went into the room with some sort of bottle, shut the door, came back out, and advised them that she did not have a urinary tract infection.”

The family also noticed a change in Jackie’s mental state and behavior. She was slow to speak. Carly states, “We were assured that she was okay, and were told to go home and get some rest and let them do their job.” On the following day, March 8, the family found her so groggy that she dropped her soup spoon into the bowl, and did not finish eating or drinking.

When a nurse came in with a syringe and squirted a clear liquid into Jackie’s mouth, Carly asked what it was for and was told it was for leg pain. At home, Jackie simply sat up when her legs hurt. Carly also noted, “We did not see any walkers or wheel chairs in the facility, and we did not see anyone on a walker or in a wheelchair. Everyone was bed-bound.”

Told that Jackie was being given a mixture of morphine and Ativan, Carly reports, “I asked how she could be given a dose of morphine and Ativan without a physician examining her. The physician would not be there until Monday, March 9. The nurse explained that all she had to do was e-mail their medical director for orders.” The nurse also told them to quit worrying; Jackie was not going to die today. Carly asked how could she tell and recounts that the nurse stated they can predict the time of death within hours. Again, the family was told to go home and let the hospice staff worry about Jackie.

Watchfulness and quick action save Jackie’s life

At home, Carly did some research and found that the mixture of morphine and Ativan can be “a lethal drug cocktail” when given to a patient who is not experiencing severe pain or agitation. The family immediately returned to the hospice, arriving around 10:30 p.m. on March 8.

“We found her in her bed, completely unresponsive to verbal attempts to rouse her and physical slapping of the hands and face,” Carly reports. “For several hours we attempted to wake her. We were not having any success and this was totally out of the ordinary for my grandmother, so we decided to call 911. We thought she had been severely overdosed. The dispatcher sent an ambulance and police officers. We discharged her and had her transported to a hospital in Monroe, Georgia. The paramedic’s summation was that she had been chemically sedated with an unknown amount of morphine.”

After admission to the hospital, the hospitalist stated the patient was lethargic and listless, most likely due to analgesics with opiates and benzodiazepine administered in the hospice. Another physician, Dr. M, discovered Jackie had a severe urinary tract infection. According to Carly, Dr. M also saw an order from the hospice for Ativan and forty milligrams of Roxanol (an unusually large dose of orally administered liquid morphine, particularly for a patient who is not experiencing severe pain) and felt this needed to be investigated, as the hospital has referred patients to this hospice.

Upon receiving further testing and proper medication, Jackie’s chronic kidney disease was upgraded to stage-1, meaning her kidney function had vastly improved. All of her blood tests came back perfectly normal for her age. The family was pleased with the care and diagnostics at the hospital in Monroe. Dr. M also told the family that Jackie was not at the end stage of cardiomyopathy or renal failure, and no longer had pneumonia.

“It is unfathomable to us how a person–with a two-day admission to hospice–can be given lethal doses of Roxanol and Ativan, when the person refuses to take Tylenol on a regular basis!” Carly states. “We feel that she was being euthanized by the hospice.” Carly has submitted a report to the Georgia Composite Medical Board and has asked for an investigation.

Jackie’s son, Mike Walden, a former police captain, adds this piece of advice: “Always get second or third opinions from doctors, preferably pro-life doctors, because misdiagnoses are a large part of this problem.”

Carly concludes, “The night we called 911 from the hospice, the paramedics told us to kiss her good-bye because they were not sure she would make it to the hospital. Off the record, they referred to this hospice as the ‘morphine hotel.’ There is so much that could be added to this story. But, most importantly, I questioned everything the hospice workers were doing.” She adds, “People need to make sure the patient’s healthcare power of attorney agent is always on hand, protecting and advocating for the patient, watching everything!”

The PHA advises interviewing a hospice agency before enrolling (see Informed: A guide for critical medical decisions, p.12). Also, even after admission to a hospice, follow the Walden family’s example: ask questions, remain vigilant, and be prepared to act quickly to save a life. Your loved one’s survival may depend on you.

Full Article & Source:
Misdiagnosed And Overdosed, Grandmother Rescued From Hospice

B.B. King's Estate War: 15 Kids, 15 Moms and a 'Totally Haywire' Fight

When bluesman B.B. King died last year, he bequeathed to the world a body of work spanning six decades that brought joy and comfort to millions. The crooner of "The Thrill Is Gone" and "Sweet Sixteen" transformed American music, inspiring such rockers as Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson and Buddy Guy. King was 89 when he succumbed to congestive heart failure in his Las Vegas home and died peacefully in his sleep on May 14, 2015.

The year since then has been decidedly less peaceful. While neither of King's two marriages resulted in children, he managed to leave behind a vast family: 15 kids from 15 women. If that family history weren't complex enough, King's authorized biographer Charles Sawyer wrote in his book, The Arrival of BB King, that doctors found the musician's sperm count too low to conceive children.

In 2015, Sawyer told The Guardian that he had given King the option to remove the reference and that King declined. Either way, King claimed 15 kids as his own - never disputing his paternity - and of the 11 who survive, many now are fighting with King's appointed trustee over his estate, a fortune that family members tell THR could be worth between $30 million and $40 million when royalties, asset sales and rights are taken into account.

Many of the kids point to a 2007 will and trust that they claim grant them generous allowances. But King's longtime business manager, LaVerne Toney, who is now the legal trustee of King's estate, asserts that she merely is following a 2014 trust, which names the children but doesn't provide for them with specific monetary gifts.

According to the trustee's own legal filings in Nevada, King's estate also is far smaller than the children allege: $5 million and change spread across a few Wells Fargo bank accounts. But the kids have assembled teams of lawyers to fight the estate's guardians. The litigation could continue for years.

While the value of King's estate is the subject of great contention, observers say it hardly is a case like Michael Jackson's estate, which has gone up in value roughly $1 billion since the enigmatic singer's death. In King's case, he wrote few of his hits, sold records for decades to a segregated America and made deals at a time in which black artists were hardly paid handsomely. According to analysis conducted for this story by Billboard, King's publishing and recording assets - including his catalog - are valued at roughly $7 million to $8 million, based on Nielsen Music data and consultation with a financial executive who buys publishing and master recording catalogs.

Full Article & Source:
B.B. King's Estate War: 15 Kids, 15 Moms and a 'Totally Haywire' Fight 

See Also:
BB King: coroner says there is no immediate evidence of poisoning 
Guardianship for Blues Great BB King Rejected

Two Plattsburgh women sentenced in grandparent scheme

PLATTSBURGH — Two Plattsburgh women were recently sentenced in federal court for participating in a scheme to defraud elderly victims.

Naromie Joseph, 29, and Christie Joseph, 25, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud for their roles in a grandparent scheme, according to a Department of Justice press release.

People would contact the elderly victims, telling them that their grandchildren and other relatives needed money for bail and other purposes.

Since they believed their loved ones needed help, the victims sent the money to various addresses in Plattsburgh that the Josephs arranged to use for the scam, the release said.

TIME SERVED, RESTITUTION

The Public Access to Court Electronic Records website also lists four counts of mail fraud on their indictment.

Naromie was sentenced Monday to time served — she spent about 13 months in custody awaiting the disposition of her case — and three years of supervised release.

She must also pay $27,200 in restitution to the victims, the release said.

On May 10, Christie was sentenced to four months of weekends in jail, three years of supervised release and payment of restitution. (Continue Reading)

Full Article & Source:
Two Plattsburgh women sentenced in grandparent scheme

Queens Lawyer Who Spent 30 days in Jail for Raiding Late Judge's Estate Thrown Back in Jail

Frank Racano

A Queens lawyer who spent 30 days in jail under a civil order for digging into the estate of the late Judge John Phillips was thrown back behind bars on Wednesday after Brooklyn prosecutors indicted him for the same crime.

 When the legendary Bedford-Stuyvesant Slave Theater and an adjacent lot sold at auction for $2.2 million in 2012, the executor of the estate Samuel Boykin and Frank Racano were to report to a surrogates court judge where the money would go.

 After several unanswered requests, the judge removed Boykin as the executor and held them both in contempt of court. In March, the Daily News reported, Racano was brought into Brooklyn Civil Supreme Court by city sheriffs where he admitted to selfishly writing over 300 checks to himself from the estate’s escrow account to pay bills.

Judge John L. Phillips

“The money disappeared, the account whittled down to $100 last year May,” said Assistant District Attorney Frank Dutis in court. Racano stole $587,160.56, prosecutors said.

 The judge sentenced Racano to 30 days in jail and gave him a $1,000 fine.

With Racano’s admission in civil court, prosecutors indicted him for one-count of second-degree grand larceny. “We will now hold him accountable for these shameful criminal acts,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson.

 Full Article and Source:
 Queens Lawyer Who Spent 30 Days in Jail for Raiding Late Judge's Estate Thrown Back in Jail

See Also:
Facility Kept Dying Judge Phillips Hostage, Lawsuit Says

Prospect Park Residence Owner to Pay $750,000. in Death of "Kung Fu Judge"

How to Protect Yourself or a Loved One From an Abusive Guardianship

(Editor’s note: This is the final installment of a three-part series on guardianship abuses appearing this week on Next Avenue. Here are Part 1 and Part 2.)

Most of us don’t think we would ever end up in a nursing home against our will. We can’t imagine having our hard-earned savings drained by someone assigned to take care of us. We would never believe that we might someday be kept away from the people we love the most. 

But those are the kinds of nightmares suffered every day by some of the estimated 1 million to 2 million people who have been placed under guardianship or conservatorship in the United States. 

Ordered by a judge, a guardianship or conservatorship is ideally a protection for older adults. But too often, it is a drastic measure often prompted by warring relatives, nursing homes that want to get paid or a “friend” who gains the trust of an older adult in order to take advantage of him or her. It’s based on a legal determination that the person is “incapacitated” and needs someone else to make decisions.
But there are things you can do now to make sure that becoming a victim of guardianship abuse does not happen to you or a loved one.

You clearly don’t want to appoint someone who has had money problems, because that person won’t be able to manage yours.

— Naomi Karp, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Plan Ahead

Not only can guardianships and conservatorships be exploitive, the process is public, expensive and time-consuming, said Naomi Karp, senior policy advisor at the Office of Older Americans of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington, D.C.
The key to avoiding an abusive guardianship — which is likely to be extremely difficult to escape from if it happens — is to plan ahead.
Karp and other experts advise taking the following steps (you can find a list of resources at the end of this article):

• Create a durable power of attorney for finances. This is a document in which you name a person to make decisions for you if you cannot. (A regular, or “nondurable” power of attorney ends if you lose mental capacity.) For instance, if you are severely injured in a car accident or incapacitated by a stroke, your “agent” or “attorney-in-fact” will be able to sign financial documents, pay bills and buy things you need.
• Create a durable power of attorney for medical care. With this document, also referred to as an advance directive, you designate a trusted person to make health care decisions for you if you cannot. The “agent” or “health care proxy” can get access to your medical records, talk to doctors about your condition, make decisions about getting you into a hospital or nursing home and grant or withhold permission for tests and treatments.
• Think carefully about whom you appoint as your agent. Said Karp: “You want someone who has common sense and good judgment. You clearly don’t want to appoint someone who has had money problems,” because that person won’t be able to manage yours if he or she has a bad history managing finances.
• Make sure your prospective agent agrees, and give him or her the necessary information to do the job. One excellent resource: a series of guides from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Managing Someone Else’s Money.
• Build in a safety mechanism. “I like to say, ‘Trust, but verify,’” Karp said. You can require in your financial power of attorney document that the person you appoint provide a periodic accounting with a third person you trust, she said. “It’s another set of eyes,” Karp noted.
• Revoke the document if you change your mind. If you decide the person you chose is no longer appropriate or cannot serve for some reason, you can revoke the original power of attorney and draft a new one naming a different person.
• Don’t put it off. Set aside some time for getting these documents filled out, or make an appointment with an attorney. If you plan to have an attorney draft a will, that’s the perfect time to ask him or her to complete the power of attorney forms as well, Karp said.

Karp acknowledged that this is an unpleasant topic. “A lot of people just avoid the planning and avoid discussing it in their families,” she said. But not only does preparing help you protect your interests, it saves your loved ones from confusion, complicated paperwork and heart-wrenching decisions.

Helpful Resources

You can find useful planning information and other resources here:

• Planning for Diminished Capacity and Illness, by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
• Giving Someone a Power of Attorney for Your Health Care by the American Bar Association; an easy guide that can be used in all but five states
• Making Medical Decisions for Someone Else: A How-To Guide by the American Bar Association
• Toolkit for Health Care Advance Planning by the American Bar Association
• MyHealthCareWishes smartphone app by the American Bar Association
• The Conversation Project, begun in 2010 by former Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman and others, to help people talk about their wishes for end-of-life care; resources include the Conversation Starter Kit
• Advance Care Planning tips from the National Institute on Aging
• Five Wishes, a living will by Aging With Dignity ($5 charge)
• Living Wills: A guide to advance directives, health care power of attorney, and other key documents by Harvard Medical School (available for purchase)
• Guardianship basics, by Center for Elders and the Courts
• Choosing Your Health Care Agent, by Nolo.com
• Financial protection for older Americans, resources from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

For information on guardianships and efforts against abuse, check these websites:

• Guardianship/Conservatorship Resource Guide from the National Center for State Courts
• National Center on Elder Abuse
• National Guardianship Association
• Center for Guardianship Certification
• National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse

If you or a loved one is being abused, call your local adult protective services agency; you can find the appropriate contact for your area at www.eldercare.gov or call 800-677-1116.

This article was written with support from the Journalists in Aging Fellowships, a program of New America Media and the Gerontological Society of America, sponsored by the Retirement Research Foundation.

Full Article & Source:
How to Protect Yourself or a Loved One From an Abusive Guardianship

See Also:
Next Avenue:  Guardianship Laws Are Improving, Problems Persist

Guardianship in the US:  Protection or Exploitation?"

Eagles’ Randy Meisner’s voluntary conservatorship ‘going very nicely’

An attorney for Eagles co-founder Randy Meisner said Wednesday that his client is doing well under a voluntary temporary conservatorship and criticized attempts by a former friend of the musician to have someone else appointed to look after his medical and financial needs.

Lawyer Bruce Fuller told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Barry that Meisner’s longtime friend, Arthur Ford, is making sure the 70-year-old bassist receives proper health care and that Meisner’s accountant, Thomas DeLong, is properly overseeing his business affairs.

“They are qualified and things are going very nicely,” Fuller said.

In April, the judge found that Meisner was of sound mind when he agreed to have Ford and DeLong as his temporary conservators.

But the selections of Ford and DeLong drew concerns from James Newton, who has filed a competing petition. Newton has said he often speaks with the musician’s children.

Newton’s lawyer, Troy Martin, states in his court papers that his client prefers that Donna Bogdanovich be appointed to oversee Meisner’s medical needs and his estate.  The lawyer further stated in court papers that Bogdanovich is a former social worker and case manager who specializes in mental health issues.

Barry scheduled a trial on the competing petitions for Aug. 11 and 12.

“I think we need to put it to rest,” Barry said.

Martin told Barry that Newton believes Meisner was not of sound mind when he agreed to the temporary conservatorships. He said Newton is concerned whether the bassist gets proper medical care.

Newton is concerned that unlike Bogdanovich, Ford may not have expertise in dealing with people like Meisner, who has a history of substance issues and mental health problems, according to Martin.

Martin said previously that Meisner’s suicidal thoughts once prompted him to say he wanted to kill people with an AK-47 and then take his own life.

Barry scheduled a July 7 hearing on Martin’s request that a medical examination be performed on Meisner.

Meisner, who has appeared in court for the conservatorship hearings, shook his head in disagreement as he heard Martin speak to the judge.

Meisner’s wife, Lana, suffered a fatal gunshot wound March 6 when she lifted a rifle that accidentally discharged in the couple’s Studio City home, according to police.

Fuller filed a petition on his client’s behalf five days later asking that a conservatorship be established to provide for Meisner’s care, maintenance and support.

Fuller stated in his court papers that his client was “in a profound state of grief” and “barely able to accept the sudden and tragic loss” of his 63-year-old wife.

The Eagles were founded in 1971 by Meisner, the late Glenn Frey, Don Henley and Bernie Leadon. Meisner co-wrote and sang the hit, “Take it to the Limit.”

—City News Service

Full Article & Source:
Eagles’ Randy Meisner’s voluntary conservatorship ‘going very nicely’

See Also:
Randy Meisner's Friend Calls For Conservatorship

Randy Meisner Fights Kids Over Conservatorship Plans