Probate Showdown

More than a year after the retired Baytown refinery worker died, a showdown still looms in the costly court fight that pits Perry "Bit" Whatley's widow against the dead man's former guardians and the Harris County probate judge who appointed them.

Two attorneys appointed by Probate Judge Mike Wood to represent Whatley during his final years — as well as the judge himself — could face trial in June in a civil lawsuit.

The suit alleges Whatley's guardianship was improperly handled and lawyers should not have been allowed by Wood to manage Whatley's life or his savings.

At stake are hundreds of thousands in court-ordered legal fees and living expenses that consumed much of Whatley's $2 million nest egg, which he built over a lifetime of investments, primarily in his former employer, oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp.

As the litigation drags on beyond Whatley's death, the case remains a cause celebre among critics who allege Texas probate courts are being misused and abused at the expense of the elderly and infirm.
Full Article and Source:
Possible trial pits widow against her spouse's former guardians

The Whatley case, first reported by the Houston Chronicle last year, has been fraught with accusations of financial greed.

See also:
When probate court threatened to take away his assets, Perry Whatley gave up and fled — and ultimately died far from his home - Perry Whatley battles probate court to the end

Judge Mike Wood and Harris County Probate Court #2 is registered with the National Guardianship Association

Elder Abuse: A Silent Shame

The Sigma Delta Chi Awards are administered by the Society of Professional Journalists and date back to 1932. More than 1,000 entries were submitted this year in 48 categories. The staff of the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison won the public service award for newspapers with circulation of less than 100,000 for "Elder Abuse: Silent Shame." Source: JS Online

The Series:

Day 1: How can this happen?
An elderly recluse starves to death. A con man bleeds nearly $250,000 from two women in their 90s. A nursing home aide sexually assaults a 73-year-old Alzheimer's patient. An eccentric 88-year-old woman with $50,000 in her handbag is shot to death and left in a farm field. The stories, all from Wisconsin, outrage us and capture our attention — for a while. But thousands of senior citizens here, and millions nationally, are suffering silently at the hands of family, caregivers and even themselves.

Day 2: In others' hands
Every year, more elderly move into nursing homes and other long-term care facilities -- dependent on the skill and dedication of nurses, aides and others. Now the aging baby boom generation is poised to further stretch a system that becomes dangerous when homes don't have enough staff, don't train workers well and suffer from high turnover, experts said.

Day 3: Hurting themselves
She had drifted into a hellish life. By the age of 62, the Dane County woman was firmly in the grip of alcohol abuse and her condition was deteriorating. She was picked up by police many times, sometimes landing in the hospital. One time, her hair was so filthy and matted that hospital staff had to cut it off. Her problems had grown worse with age as she refused help from a brother and from county social workers.

Day 4: Easy targets
They have cash and property. Some are alone and frail. Others are sharp and socially connected. And they're being robbed, sometimes losing small sums, sometimes life savings, to family, friends, caregivers and scam artists.

Day 5: Afraid to cry out
In old age, they absorb bruises, rage — even sexual violence. Although society has awakened to the problem of domestic violence between younger people, an entire category of victims remains, for the most part, an afterthought.

Day 6: Caregiver crisis
To countless elders, paid and unpaid caregivers provide companionship and invaluable help with eating, taking medicine, bathing, toileting and safety. But sometimes, those caregivers abuse, neglect and steal in the ultimate betrayal of the most vulnerable among us.

Day 7: Breaking silence
Most people wouldn't let someone hurt a child and get away with it. The growing problem of elder abuse hasn't inspired that kind of resolve. A change, some experts say, may be provoked by the very group about to further strain the public safety net: aging baby boomers.

Elder Abuse: A Silent Shame


Kathleen Simane, a court-appointed guardian, used her position to steal more than $75,000 from her dying great-aunt, Helen Fabis, and is mentioned in the series - Day 4: Easy targets

See also: From TV to Prison

More Connecticut Probate Abuse

According to friends, Margot Claus, a German citizen, is a fiercely independent New Yorker who wanted to spend her last years in her native land.

The 79-year-old, despondent and now hospitalized for dehydration, had been living in an assisted-living facility in Woodbridge, her estate in the hands of a distant relative and her life overseen by Connecticut's probate court.

Alarmed German authorities are asking for an investigation into how Claus was taken from New York and moved to Connecticut. A probate court judge in February named a North Haven woman, Linda Eger, conservator of Claus' sizable estate.

The odyssey of Margot Claus appears to be yet another misadventure within Connecticut's byzantine and sprawling probate system, where life-altering decisions are made in obscure mom-and-pop courts with little outside scrutiny.

"Friends and family are very alarmed and have contacted German authorities in both Germany and the United States," wrote Katja Hoffman, vice consul in Boston, in a recent letter to Probate Judge Michael Brandt. "The conservator, Linda Eger, has changed Ms. Claus' residence repeatedly without court approval and has removed Ms. Claus' personal property without court approval."

Full Article and Source: Probate Abuses Yet Again

Comments on Article: Topix - Hartford Courant

Rick Green's column appears on Tuesdays and Fridays. He can be reached at rgreen@courant.com

Invitation to Comment

San Mateo Court is proposing to make changes to its Local Fees and the Local Court Rules. These new changes will become effective on July 1, 2008 when adopted. The court invites you to review and provide your comment on these proposals as required by the State of California Rules of Court, Rules 10.613 and 10.815.

You may send your comments to: smsccomment@sanmateocourt.org
with a subject line stating “Comments on Proposed Fee or Rule changes. Please state the proposal number, the line number of the section on which you are commenting and your comment.

Comments must be received no later than 4 PM, May 15, 2008.

The Proposals are:

SP08 –01 Proposed Local Court Fee Change for Investigations conducted by Court Investigators in Guardianship or Conservatorship cases

SP08-02 Amendment to Local Rule 5.6 E. – Family Law Ex Parte Orders, Notice Requirements

Source: San Mateo Court

Fleecing of the Elderly

Remember that old axiom? "Work hard, pay your taxes and........"

You know, a house, kids, little white picket fence, 2 dogs, 2 cats..... the Great American Dream! Save a couple bucks, retire, spoil your grandchildren and enjoy the golden years. Sounds good, huh?

In America the golden years are not too "golden" as so many - too many - will attest! But, actually, the golden years have become a gold mine for many others, and the "fleecing of the elderly" has become the hottest game in town!

Or more commonly called Guardianship/Conservatorship!

If that isn`t a contradiction in terms - "Guardianship", "Conservatorship?" The terms in the code and statutes are even more confusing, given the wording and the actual real life accounts of conservatees and their families.

The Public Guardianship program was created to help and protect vulnerable elderly who have few resources and no loved ones to help them as they struggle with physical or mental decline.

PROBATE CODE CALIFORNIA
SECTION 2920-2922
2920. If any person domiciled in the county requires a
guardian or conservator and there is no one else who is
qualified and willing to act and whose appointment as
guardian or conservator would be in the best interest of
the person: (a) The public guardian may apply for appointment

as guardian or conservator of the person, the estate, or the
person and estate.
(b) The public guardian shall apply for appointment as
guardian or conservator of the person, the estate, or the
person and estate, if the court so orders. The court may
make an order under this subdivision on motion of an
interested person or on the court's own motion in a pending

proceeding or in a proceeding commenced for that purpose.
The court shall not make an order under this subdivision
except after notice to the public guardian for the period
and in the manner provided in Chapter 3 (commencing with
Section 1460) of Part 1,consideration of the alternatives,
and a determination by the court that the appointment is
necessary. The notice and hearing under this subdivision
may be combined with the notice and hearing required for
appointment of a guardian or conservator...........

What the statutes describe is not what is happening in our country today. The Public Guardians look for wealthier men and women to "protect."

Judges and their favorite professional conservators and guardians, expert witnesses and court investigators have embedded agendas: Money, power and control!

In a continuing trend that seems to threaten America's successfully aging population, judges are imposing an increasing number of unwanted and unnecessary conservatorships and guardianships upon the allegedly "incompetent" men and women, to "manage" their property and personal affairs.

When an elderly person is brought into court and forced to prove his or her competence, we soon see that the system does not work!

It is similar to the Mob extorting "protection" money from small business owners in the `40s. What the business owners really needed was protection from the Mob!

Frankly, I have more respect for the Mob than our guardianship system of court-sanctioned corruption!

Written by a NASGA member

Probate Judge Misconduct

A Plymouth County probate and family court judge has apologized and resigned in exchange for having judicial misconduct charges dropped.

Judge Michael Livingstone has agreed to begin a 40-day leave today and retire from the bench on June 12 under the deal with the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct.

He also agreed to waive his right to a public hearing and acknowledged running a real estate business and collecting fees as an attorney while serving on the bench, in violation of judicial conduct rules.

Source:
Plymouth probate judge resigns following misconduct charges


It was previously reported that it is only the fifth time the commission has brought charges against a judge in the last 20 years.

See also:
Plymouth judge accused of breaking rules of conduct

Commission files misconduct charges against probate judge

Probate Judge apologizes, agrees to retire

Probate Court Manager Sues

James Locke fought for the rights of elderly and disabled people to be free from abuse by court-appointed conservators, and for that he was fired by Sacramento Superior Court, he claims in federal and state lawsuits.

Locke started in May 2001 as an investigator for Probate Court. With excellent performance reviews, he rose through the ranks and became probate manager. He was terminated without an administrative hearing May 7, in violation of his rights under federal and state laws and the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of due process, according to the suits, filed by lawyer Stewart Katz.

The suit alleges it was retaliation by the Superior Court and its executive staff for Locke's persistent, outspoken and constitutionally protected advocacy of needed improvements to the court's legally mandated oversight of conservatorships.

Locke said in an interview: "I never quit harping on it."

Locke recalled that his role as a whistle-blower, not appreciated by the executive staff, came to a head when Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, contacted probate's then-supervising judge. Jones cited Locke's testimony before a judicial panel and expressed concern that the court was not in compliance with the law.

Locke said: Judge Jerilyn Borack told him "You're dead," after her January 2007 conversation with the assemblyman.

Full Article and Source:
Sacramento County Probate Court manager sues over job loss

Sacramento court official sues over his dismissal


About the writer:
Denny Walsh, (916) 321-1189

dwalsh@sacbee.com

Raise the Ceiling

North Carolina's House Bill 794, entitled "Raise the Ceiling/Personal Property Sale/Guardianship", proposes increasing the limit from $1500 per reporting period of the guardianship to $15,000 per reporting period for the value of personal property that can be sold without court order from a ward's estate.

17)a. Without a court order to lease any of the ward's real estate for a term of not more than three years, or to sell, lease or exchange any of the ward's personal property including securities, provided that the aggregate value of all items of the ward's tangible personal property sold without court order over the duration of the estate shall not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) .fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000). When any item of the ward's tangible personal property has a value which when increased by the value of all other tangible personal property previously sold in the estate without a court order would exceed one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500), .fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000).

(14)a. Without a court order to lease any of the ward's real estate for a term of not more than three years, or to sell, lease or exchange any of the ward's personal property including securities, provided that the aggregate value of all items of the ward's tangible personal property sold without court order over the duration of the estate shall not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) .fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000). When any item of the ward's tangible personal property has a value which when increased by the value of all other tangible personal property previously sold in the estate without a court order would exceed one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500), .fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000).

Source: General Assembly of North Carolina - House Bill 794

Massachusetts Elder Abuse

The number of elderly residents being abused or neglected is on the rise in Massachusetts, and advocates for the elderly say the state is not properly funding a program that was designed to protect vulnerable seniors.

Elder service agencies northwest of Boston say they do not have enough money to run the state-sanctioned protective services program, so they are forced to pull funds from other important programs. As state officials work on next year's budget, advocates for seniors are putting on a full-court press to draw attention to the problem.

The protective services program responds to reports of elders in situations that include physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, neglect by a caregiver in the home, self-neglect, and financial exploitation.

In fiscal year 2005, the state received 11,503 reports of elder abuse, all of which were reviewed and investigated by local agencies. Of those, 3,713 were confirmed cases of abuse. In fiscal year 2007, the number of cases rose to 14,197 and of those, 4,292 were confirmed. Advocates for the elderly say the numbers continue to rise each year.
Source: Elder abuse up in state

See also:
Massachusetts Senior Citizens

Client Saved from Guardianship Abuse