A Deal is Reached in the L'Oreal Case

France's richest woman and her daughter have resolved a protracted legal dispute over more than euro1 billion ($1.3 billion) that swelled into a national scandal and raised questions about the future of the family fortune, lawyers said.

"There is no more case as far as we are concerned," lawyer Olivier Metzner told The Associated Press.

L'Oreal cosmetics heiress Liliane Bettencourt, 88, and her daughter Francoise Bettencourt Meyers have reconciled, Metzner said, adding, "We are bringing an end to all procedures given this familial reunion."

The daughter had publicly accused photographer Francois-Marie Banier of abusing her mother's alleged mental frailty and abusing her trust to bilk Liliane Bettencourt out of euro1 billion ($1.3 billion) in cash, artworks and other gifts. Banier, a longtime friend of Bettencourt's, has insisted he did not take advantage of her, but the dispute prompted a string of legal cases.

Metzner said the photographer "has renounced many of the benefits he received. And we are renouncing any procedure regarding him."

The photographer's lawyer confirmed an agreement was signed, but provided no details.

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Peace Pact Resolves Ugly Family Feud at L'Oreal

Priest's Estate Leads to Big Fee Battle

When Monsignor Edward Ryle died in December 2005, he left behind a reputation as "God's lobbyist" at the state Capitol, a modest estate and no will.

His extended family hired a private fiduciary to gather, liquidate and distribute the Catholic priest's assets: a downtown condo, a car, some cash and a small pension.

The fiduciary firm estimated the total cost of services would be about $3,000, to be paid out of Ryle's assets. The fiduciary's attorney estimated his fees at up to $5,000.When the bill arrived, it totaled $33,607, more than four times the original estimate, according to the priest's relatives and bills seen by The Arizona Republic, although it eventually was reduced.

Ryle's case is an example of how probate cases can sometimes become far more expensive than families expect when they turn to attorneys and for-profit fiduciaries for help when a relative dies without leaving instructions about their assets.

When people die with no trusts or wills that spell out how an estate should be divided up, the Maricopa County Probate Court may appoint a fiduciary, sometimes at family members' request, as a "personal representative" to sort out the cash and assets.

The fiduciary's fees, and its attorney's fees, can be predictable and modest - or, as in Ryle's case, can be higher than anticipated and anger family members.

Ryle's nephew, Michael Petty, said family members were "absolutely shocked" when the fiduciary's bill arrived in the mail.

"It was the irony that impacted us. Uncle Ed lived his life to defend people who had no voice," Petty said. "That's what he did. Of all people to take advantage of."

Greg DoVico, owner of Southwest Fiduciary, which handled the case, and Southwest's attorney, Jay Polk, said the estate was more complicated than expected and the family was kept informed.

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Maricopa County Probate Court - Priest's Estate Leads to Big Fee Battle

Editorial: Legislature Should Protect Citizens

I would like to thank The Arizona Republic for investigating the Probate Court system in Maricopa County and how the incapacitated seem to fall victim to the private fiduciaries that are appointed by the courts ("In Ariz., probate controls minimal," Sunday). Our state legislators do not seem to care that the life savings and investments of the victims are eaten up by horrible fees imposed by their "guardians."

It would seem there are laws in other states that limit the fees charged by fiduciaries. I had always thought that a guardian was supposed to look out for someone's welfare, not spend them penniless. Our legislators seem overly interested in federal issues and are not howling about the almost helpless citizens in this state being overcharged or victimized. I, for one, would like to see the Legislature start tending the home fires and quit carping so much about the federal government.

- Charley Gwinn, Phoenix

Source:
Editorial: Legislature Should Protect Citizens

Lawyers Often Ratchet Up Guardianship Fees

When people incapable of caring for themselves or their money end up in Maricopa County Probate Court, judges turn to a list of contract lawyers who have been pre-screened to represent those clients.

A Phoenix firm has handled hundreds of the cases, and some of its attorneys have raised their hourly rates on clients without notifying them in writing, court records show, an apparent violation of ethics rules that require such disclosure.

The firm of Theut, Theut and Theut increased its hourly rates 2.5 percent to 70 percent in half of 50 cases examined by The Arizona Republic. Most of the increases were at least 20 percent. The cases lasted months to several years. The firm, among the Valley's busiest with court-appointed probate cases, netted thousands in additional fees.

Although hikes in any one case may have yielded only a small amount of additional revenue, the increases went into effect unquestioned by judges and commissioners. That, some lawyers and a judge say, illustrates how the Probate Court has failed to provide oversight for the incapacitated clients it is supposed to protect.

An ongoing Republic investigation of the county Probate Court has found that attorneys and private fiduciaries charge fees that can quickly deplete an incapacitated person's life savings. Judges rarely reverse or stop the charges, even when the ward ends up broke and in state-paid care.

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Maricopa County Probate Court: Lawyers Often Ratchet Up Fees

AZ : Lawyers Substituted Despite Law

Contracts for court-appointed attorneys in Maricopa County Probate Court require that any lawyer assigned to protect an incapacitated adult personally handle the entire case.

But court records show some law firms have taken on clients in the name of one attorney and gotten another lawyer in the firm to do the work. Court contracts have banned that practice for years to prevent lawyers on the contract rotation list from getting a disproportionate share of cases or farming out work to non-contract attorneys. Court observers say the practice could allow some lawyers to bill at higher rates than those charged by the person doing the actual work.

Yet county administrators are not raising objections.

Court records show that the Phoenix law firm of Theut, Theut and Theut, whose attorneys are assigned more probate cases than nearly any other, substituted lawyers in more than half of the cases it handled in 2007 and 2008.

The firm's lawyers, who are brothers, say they were given verbal permission to substitute attorneys on cases by the county agency in charge of overseeing contracts. They say no judge has ever raised it as an issue.

Court contracts state that a contract attorney can provide a substitute only in the event of illness, approved vacation or when otherwise physically unable to appear in court. It mandates that the "contractor is expected to personally attend each and every court or court-related proceeding."

Lawyer Mark Kennedy, who ran the Office of Public Defense Service from 2000 to 2007, said the contract provisions were added years ago to stop rampant problems involving lawyers from taking out contracts and farming out the work to partners or outside firms.

"This is a personal-services contract," said Kennedy. "It is not awarded to firms."

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Maricopa Probate Court: Lawyers Substituted Despite Law

Greed v. Guardianship: 'Isolate, Medicate, Liquidate'

The ABC15 Investigators have spent most of 2010 exposing serious flaws surrounding Maricopa County Probate Court. Families accuse the court of allowing victims to be isolated and heavily medicated while their assets are liquidated.















Banding Together to Change Probate Court

Families Torn Apart, Financial Ruin and Extreme Emotional Toll… All Taking Place in a Maricopa Court

Is Valley Guardian Group Taking Care of Your Loved One, or Taking Advantage?

Guardianships in Arizona - Elder Care or Elder Abuse?

Greed v. Guardian: Initial Thoughts

NY: Elder Abuse More Prevalent Than Previously Thought

A new study has found alarming rates of undetected elder abuse, neglect and exploitation. Although limited to New York State, the study suggests that elder abuse is far more prevalent than was previously known. For example, the study found that for all types of elder abuse, there are 23.5 unreported cases to every one reported to any agency.

Researchers conducted random telephone surveys of 4,000 New York residents 60 years and older, and compared the occurrence of elder abuse uncovered by the surveys to the numbers of cases reported to adult protective services, law enforcement and other officials or providers. In the case of financial exploitation, the study found 43.9 self-reported cases to every one reported to an agency. The ratio of neglect cases was even higher, with 57.2 cases going unreported for every one that comes to the attention of any services system. A previous study reported by ElderLawAnswers found that for each case of abuse reported, there are at least four that go unreported.

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Study Finds That Elder Abuse is More Prevalent Than Previously Thought

Multimillionnaire on a Budget

For more than four decades, multimillionaire oil heir Ugo di Portanova has been all but powerless over his vast fortune.

His three Mercedes-Benzes, his chartered plane trips, his yacht excursions and the rest of his spending are all controlled by a small militia of Harris County probate court guardians, financial trustees, lawyers and judges.

Despite $65 million-plus in assets, di Portanova — described as one of the world's wealthiest "partially incapacitated" men — controls a single credit card that maxes out at $1,000 a month.

Fluent in Italian and English, a poet and patron of the arts, di Portanova has suffered from schizophrenia and has, say those who know him, a distaste for litigation and financial mumbo-jumbo. Though judged unable to manage his money or most personal decisions, he did successfully fight the courts to regain his right to marry, write his own will and control pocket money.

Over the decades, at least $50 million of his inheritance has gone to more than two dozen court-appointed guardians, trustees, attorneys, accountants and bankers - about $4.5 million of which was consumed in the latest yearlong battle that ended only weeks ago. Those estimates are based on the Chronicle's review of accountings, related records and interviews with various participants in the long-running probate case.

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A Multimillioinnaire Who Rarely Gets to Spend a Dime

TX: Tarrant Judge Collects Cars and Canines

A probate judge for nearly 30 years, Pat Ferchill spends much of his time dealing with the dead, dying, legally incapacitated or mentally ill.

It's a stressful job that could consume him.

But Ferchill, 64, has plenty of passions at home that also need his attention.

Like Hadley, Cato, Merle and Lowretta -- his indoor "dog collection."

And then, there are the nine classic cars out back.

"A lot of people in politics or the judiciary, their jobs become their life," said Ferchill, who has been judge of Probate Court No. 2 for 29 years and was recently elected to another four-year term. "I've always had a steady interest in something other than my profession. ... During my retirement, whenever that is, I think I'm going to be busy.'"

On a recent afternoon, the judge's two pastimes came together in the driveway his west Fort Worth home, where he and his wife, Cantey, 63, have lived for years. At Ferchill's encouragement, the dogs eagerly jumped into his gold, 1965 Eldorado convertible.

"I pile them in and we go ride around the neighborhood," Ferchill said.

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Tarrant Judge Collects Cars and Canines