Dr. Sam Sugar has a pretty clear picture of how he thought life would be after he retired to Miami from Skokie, Illinois
The
physician saw himself in a bathing suit, on the beach, spending time
with his wife and grandchildren. He’d travel, read and have time for
himself.
But after his wealthy, widowed mother-in-law became a
ward of the state — her affairs controlled by a coterie of lawyers,
nurses and a court-appointed guardian — Sugar channeled his anger into
political activism. Now he is on the verge of a breakthrough.
With
Sugar and the organization he started, Americans Against Abusive
Probate Guardianship, leading the charge, Florida lawmakers are in the
process of overhauling the state’s guardianship laws. The changes are
aimed at installing some checks and balances to ensure that guardians,
who have considerable power once they are appointed to a case, are
qualified and that their actions can be reviewed.
“We have accomplished something monumental,” said Sugar, who has testified in Tallahassee on behalf of the overhaul.
Sugar,
who lives in Aventura, spent countless hours researching the laws after
he and his wife engaged with her siblings in a brutal years-long
squabble over the well-being of his mother-in-law, Idelle Stern, also
known by her Hebrew name Rebbetzin Chaya'le Stern.
As often
happens in such situations, there were fingers pointed in multiple
directions. Sugar claims the guardian and lawyers, in cahoots with the
courts and his wife’s siblings, siphoned millions from Stern’s accounts
while keeping her isolated from him and his wife. The siblings and the
guardian claimed that the Sugars moved to South Florida with designs on
Stern’s money, and that they were simply protecting Stern from
exploitation.
One of the few things that is not in dispute is that
the guardianship process and associated litigation cost everyone a lot
of money. Stern, whose late husband was a rabbi and successful investor,
died in 2013, leaving an estate partially drained and a family utterly
divided.
It is hardly an isolated case. In December, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune published a series of stories,
The Kindness of Strangers,
asserting that Florida's guardianship system ignores basic rights. The
news organization documented instances where guardians removed seniors
from their homes and sold off their belongings, to cover the cost of
providing services.
With roughly 3.7 million Floridians over 65,
guardianship is big business. Many come to Florida from elsewhere upon
retirement, and they bring their savings with them. As they age, some
lose the capacity to manage their affairs, falling prey to exploitation —
sometimes by family members or “friends,” sometimes by strangers. The
guardianship apparatus is meant to protect them. When some children live
close by and others don’t, it can exacerbate problems.
Under
current law, family members, nursing homes and other people and
institutions can petition the court system to have someone declared
incapacitated. A judge will appoint a three-member panel, consisting of
medical personnel or social workers, to examine the individual and
render a judgment. They might ask questions such as who is the
president, to determine the person’s grasp of the world around them.
If
the individual is deemed incapacitated and there is not an appropriate
family member to step in, he or she can end up a ward of the court. In
such instances, the ward’s financial, medical and legal decisions are
made by strangers, under court supervision.
It’s a growth
industry, one reason the number of professional guardians has soared
from less than 10 to 465, according to the state Department of Elder
Affairs. To become a guardian requires 40 hours of training and no
felony conviction. Guardians, who have a legal duty to inventory their
wards’ property and invest and manage the assets “as a prudent investor
would,” are paid for their services at a rate approved by the court.
The
Miami New Times and others have documented cases where the judges
appointing guardians have received campaign contributions from those who
benefit from the appointment.
 |
| Jetta Getty |
Jetta Getty, the president of the
Florida State Guardianship Association, said professional guardians are
appointed as a last resort. In a letter to the House of Representatives,
Getty said appointments come only “when dysfunction, exploitation,
neglect, abuse or strife warrants.”
“Several testifying at the
hearings [in Tallahassee] offered testimony from the family member
perspective stating their view as victims of perceived wrongs and
actions attributed to Professional Guardians,” she said in the letter.
“Might I offer, if these family members were as innocent in their roles
as they profess, no Professional Guardian would be considered for
appointment by the Courts as the Courts under Statutes do give
preference to family members serving in the role of guardian over the
Professional.”
Getty said there are positive aspects of the
proposed new legislation, but there are also concerns. She cited one
measure that would require courts to appoint guardians on a rotating
basis, taking any potential favoritism out of the process.
Elder
law attorney Steve Martin from Lakeland told a Florida Senate panel that
a rotation might not solve the problem in smaller counties.
“You’ll be rotating from a list of two or three people,” he said.
Added
Shannon Miller, a guardian and elder care attorney from Gainesville:
“It's going to really create a problem because guardians are people and
wards are people, and they need to fit properly.”
Sugar’s story
begins in 2010. He and his wife had moved to Florida. Stern, his
mother-in-law, had her own apartment in Miami Beach and had
round-the-clock care. The other siblings began to question whether the
Sugars were exercising undue influence over Stern, whose husband died in
2004.
According to Sugar, on April 15, 2010, there was a knock on his door and he was told he had 24 hours to get to court.
He
said his mother-in-law was immediately assigned a temporary guardian.
He said that meant that all of her life decisions — things like the
purchase of groceries, the selection of a doctor and the spending of her
own money — were now out of her control. He said he later would see
invoices charged to the estate that disturbed him, everything from legal
fees to bills for answering emails and opening envelopes. (
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Guardianship horror stories may lead to change
