Tommy Thompson: Guilt-Ridden Children Are Spending Too Much On Grandma’s Health

Former Wisconsin governor and US health secretary Tommy Thompson offered up an intense psychoanalytic take on the thorny issue of end-of-life care this week, saying that “guilty” children who ignore their elders then overcompensate at their deathbed are responsible for spiraling costs.

“What happens? Mother or father or grandpa and grandma, you’ve been away, you haven’t done very much. Children come home, mother or father’s on their deathbed, they feel guilty because they haven’t being paying attention to mother or father,” Thompson said at a luncheon in Madison. He continued: “Let’s face it. So they say ‘let’s do everything we can for mother or father. Don’t spare the costs.’ I’m not talking about denying anybody anything. I’m just saying let’s let mother and father have their wishes. They may not want to be on a respirator the last six months of their life.”

According to Wisconsin Radio Network, Thompson, who is expected to run for Senate in Wisconsin, “said people need to have durable power of attorney to ensure their wishes are known, and he also said the nation’s medical schools need to start talking about death.”

Full Article and Source:
Tommy Thompson: Guilt-Ridden Children Are Spending Too Much On Grandma’s Health

91-Year-Old Who Can't Stand Unable to Get Voter ID in TN

If you’re trying to avoid being disenfranchised by your state’s voter ID law, it’s usually a good idea to avoid being a minority, a college student or poor. As it turns out you also probably shouldn’t be 91-years-old and have trouble standing for a long period of time.

Tennessee resident Virginia Lasater found out the hard way after she was unable to get the photo ID required to vote in her state because she wasn’t able to stand in a long line at a DMV:

Lasater told The Daily News Journal that she has voted and worked in campaigns for 70 years. She recently moved to Murfreesboro and on Wednesday registered to vote at the local election commission.

A new law requires voters to show a photo ID at the polls. Since Lasater doesn’t have a photo on her driver’s license, she went to get one. But the testing center was packed and there were no chairs available.

Her son says a clerk told them there was nothing they could do.

Since Tennessee isn’t covered under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, there’s not much the Justice Department can do about the law until after the 2012 elections.

Full Article and Source:
91-Year-Old Who Can't Stand Unable to Get Voter ID in Tennessee

Probate Sharks: Watch This Case Very Carefully

Editor's note:

Heard in the shark tank: This case in U.S. Federal Court, while not very great monetarily, is important for its content. Apparently, the Chicago FEDS are now moving against the fraudulent Medicaid, Medicare and Probate Cartels. We sharks have our suspicions as to the identity of "Individual A and Agency A". If our suspicions are true and correct, a turning point of monumental importance has been reached in the war against the Probate Court Terrorists.

United States of America vs. Jay Canastra

~Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

Source:
ProbateSharks

Press Release: NY Lawyer Comments on Unconscionable Abuse of Facilities in Brooklyn

Residents at the Garden of Eden Home in Brooklyn charge that they were abused mentally, emotionally, and financially by adult home administrators responsible for taking care of them.

In response to the allegations of the adult home abuse, legal action was filed against the New York State Department of Health (DOH), charging that the state Health Department failed to enforce the laws and regulations protecting adult homes residents from psychological abuse and financial exploitation.

"Thousands of individuals are abused each year in adult homes, nursing homes and other facilities responsible for their care," said New York nursing home abuse lawyer David Perecman. "This is a tragedy that needs to be stopped and, in a number of cases, legal action appears to be the most effective way to send the message."

According to Garden of Eden residents, head administrator Martin Amsel repeatedly bullied them into attending optional treatment meetings and would threaten them with eviction or unnecessary hospital visits if they didn't do as he dictated. They said they were also bullied for complaining about conditions and requesting help with medical problems, reported by the New York Daily News.

Adult abuse and nursing home abuse lawyers in New York understand unsanitary living conditions at the facility were significant issues for complaint.

As reported by the Daily News, the DOH noted that residents at the Garden of Eden Home complained they were served stale and moldy food.

Financial abuse was another major issue of complaint.

One resident complained she was forced into a $1,000 contract for the use of air conditioning in her room.

In another incident, the home illegally deducted money from a resident's monthly personal needs allowance, which residents receive to cover all expenses beyond room and board. These deductions are prohibited by law.

Incidents of adult home abuse and nursing home abuse often go unreported. Residents may be reluctant to complain for fear of retaliation or embarrassment, caretakers may cover up abuses, and family and friends of the abuse victim may be unaware of the warning signs of abuse, explained Perecman, a New York nursing home abuse lawyer with over 30 years of experience helping adult home abuse and nursing home neglect victims.

Full Article and Source:
New York Nursing Home Lawyer from The Perecman Firm Comments on the Unconscionable Abuse of Adult Home Residents in Brooklyn

Audits Show Alabama Conservator Zondra Hutto Mismanaged Ward's Cases

A former Tuscaloosa County conservator has been ordered to reimburse more than $100,000 of unwarranted and undocumented expenditures she made from the accounts of 17 people.

As the county's conservator, Zondra Hutto was responsible for the finances of elderly people who were unable to manage their affairs. Hutto resigned from her position after she pleaded guilty to a federal charge of not reporting the crimes of an employee.

Hutto's law clerk, Brian Lunceford, has been accused of using credit cards belonging to one of Hutto's wards to buy clothing, a designer purse, gas and a trip to Mexico. Hutto pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony because she knew about the charges Lunceford allegedly racked up. She is scheduled to begin a three-month federal prison sentence in January.

Since Hutto resigned as conservator for about 30 people in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court, the wards' newly- appointed guardians have scrutinized the final accounting she submitted in the cases. They have found that Hutto overcharged their accounts and kept sloppy records.

Circuit Judge Brad Almond has presided over court hearings in many of the cases and has ordered Hutto to reimburse $110,008 of unwarranted and undocumented expenditures to 17 wards. She will likely owe more once the remaining cases go before Almond in November.

Full Article and Source:
Audits Show Conservator Mismanaged Ward's Cases

CA: Elder Abuse Can Soon be Reported Confidentially

A new state law that takes effect on Jan. 1 allows California counties to offer a confidential internet system for reporting instances of elder abuse.

“This bill provides an important tool to ensure the safety of our seniors,” said Nick Macchione, director of the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency. “By providing our mandated reporters, such as law enforcement and financial institutions, the ability to submit prompt and complete reports online, SB 718 will enable our staff to quickly address situations that put our most vulnerable residents in danger.”

The secure internet system would require that mandated reporters provide the same information as required in writing or over the phone. This service would be made available at no additional cost to the State of California.

Full Article and Source:
Elder Abuse Can Soon be Reported Confidentially

Supreme Court Hears Case Of Man Committed Against His Will

Man's Daughter Can't Sue Probate Court, But Why Can't She Sue His Lawyer, Conservator?

I wanted to shout out, sitting in the dignified, ornate chambers of the state Supreme Court Monday morning, as a string of lawyers debated what should be a basic right.

If somebody you have hired absolutely ruins your life — shouldn't you be able to sue them?

And yet, the Supreme Court is being asked to grant immunity to lawyers and conservators appointed by the probate court, no matter what devastation they create.

The court Monday began considering this fundamental question because of the abuse that Daniel Gross, an elderly New York man, suffered during 2005 and 2006 at the hands of a Waterbury probate court after he became sick while visiting his daughter.

The long-running Gross case has become a battleground for probate court, Connecticut's separate judicial system that handles wills, estates, adoptions, name changes — but also very delicate and controversial questions such as whether an elderly or sick person can live independently.

After he was hospitalized and his children fought over his care, Gross was conserved by probate court in Waterbury, which meant all his rights were taken away. A lawyer, Jonathan Newman, was appointed to advocate for him. A conservator, Kathleen Donovan, was appointed to represent him.

Newman failed to object to the conservatorship, despite knowing Gross' opposition. Donovan made sure Gross was placed in a locked ward of a local nursing home for 10 months.

Donovan and Newman (supported by the state's probate judges, by the way) are looking for special treatment for the lawyers and conservators who make a living off the courts. We all know that if a physician seriously injures a patient, that person can sue. Yet in this case, the Supreme Court is being asked to protect the people who are appointed to work for the elderly and frail — even if they royally screw up.

A lawyer for Gross, Sally Zanger, reminded the justices that "people lose their freedom" when a conservator is appointed. "We really need to be concerned about frail and elderly people who are conserved,'' Zanger said.

Richard Roberts, a lawyer for Donovan, argued that a conservator "is but an agent of the court,'' merely carrying out the court's wishes. "You shouldn't have to look over your shoulder when you are making these judgment calls."

These judgment calls left Gross, a man who lived independently in his own home on Long Island, locked in a Waterbury nursing home for nearly a year.

These judgment calls meant that even when Gross fled home to New York at one point, his conservator pulled him out of a Long Island hospital and brought him back to Connecticut.

These judgment calls can destroy someone's life.

Full Article and Source:
Supreme Court Hears Case Of Man Committed Against His Will

Voting Vulnerable Adults at Issue

Last year, as a 35-year-old vulnerable adult, Jim [Stene]lived in the Clark Lake Home in Brainerd and voted in the 2010 election via absentee ballot on Oct. 29 in the Crow Wing County historic courthouse along with other group home residents.

Monty Jensen, Crow Wing Township resident, who was also in the courthouse at that time, said he was concerned by what he saw as voter fraud.

On Nov. 1, Jensen filed a complaint with Crow Wing County Attorney Don Ryan’s office.

In his affidavit, Jensen said he witnessed what appeared to be staff members from a group home filling out a client’s ballot and verbally instructing a client who to vote for during absentee balloting.

In March, Ryan said what Jensen observed was somewhat substantiated but he didn’t have evidence of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. It is legal for people in guardianship status to vote in Minnesota and be assisted if needed.

Lynn Peterson, owner of Clark Lake Home, did not return a call seeking comment for this story.

On April 26, Al Stene testified before the House of Representative’s Civil Law Committee along with Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, who authored a bill this spring regarding changes to voter eligibility requirements, including those directed at people placed in guardianships.

The allegations of voter fraud were taken by some as a partisan issue. Stene has maintained that is not his focus.

Full Article and Source:
Vulnerable Adults as Voters at Issue

ImpeachRandyKennedy: Fifth Third Bank, Co-Conspirator in the Probate Racket

It’s a well-established fact that banks conspire with the crooked probate courts to loot estates and facilitate the looting thereof.

Such is the case with Fifth Third Bank in The Conservatorship of John Daniel Tate.
The atrocious and criminal conduct of this banking institution is an example of how our government has become corrupt within itself at a level never before in the history of the United States.

As the economy went south, Uncle Sam bailed out the banks, but where has he been for “we, the people”?

The nineties created an era of greed and, with the historic downturn in our economy during the new millennium, it has morphed into an era of thievery. The banking institutions are no longer a safe place for your money. Beware.

Fifth Third Bank’s participation in the corruption tied to the 7th Circuit Court is so egregious that this institution alone should be shuttered post-haste.

Danny Tate was told he was the “lab rat” for all the musicians on Music Row, an experiment in the probate court’s intentions of marching up Music Row to the Fifth Third Branch that sits at the mouth opposite the Judge Randy Kennedy’s court.

Fifth Third Bank continues to refuse Danny Tate access to the conservatorship account they housed from the illegal inception of the conservatorship even though they have had an Order from the 7th Circuit Court terminating the conservatorship on May 24, 2010, nunc pro tunc (the minute it rolled off the judge’s tongue).

They participated illegally in the fraudulent and hostile take over of Danny Tate’s account when David Eugene Tate showed up with a cooked DPOA (this is already well established) and allowed David Tate to proceed in cleaning out the accounts for his own use (we will start a series very soon specifically on David E. Tate and his illegal, deviant actions, for it will take a series to cover it all, and we will present the necessary documentation to substantiate every allegation).

Though they have been notified of their criminal conduct by counsel pro se, Fifth Third Bank continues to withhold evidence and conspire with David Tate (the conservator), Katerina Tate (ex-wife divorced on the grounds of bigamy) and Judge Randy Kennedy’s probate court and refuse access. We have documentation to prove this allegation with clear and convincing evidence.

Michael Hoskins, former attorney to Tate, has been fired. His duty to his oath was to report all the criminal, not to mention unethical, conduct he observed and participated in, and has refused to date.

Charges against all parties are pending.

The branch manager of Fifth Third Bank, who managed the conservator account, is NO LONGER WITH THE BANK, approximately the same time period that Tate’s “final hearing” took place.

The Guardian Ad Litem, Robert Stratton, left his practice and the state the week that Tate’s story was “outed” in the press, though investigators have located him and charges are pending.

In closing, no banking institution is safe anymore, but Fifth Third Bank is especially egregious, for it appears as if they had positioned themselves to be the basket for all the low hanging fruit at the far end of Music Row as Judge Randy Kennedy and his court of thieves marched, picked and deposited their stolen bounty there.

David Tate, Katerina Tate (ex-wife divorced on the grounds of bigamy), Fifth Third Bank, Judge Randy Kennedy, Judge Phillip Smith, attorney Paul Housch, these are just a handful of those that have used the probate instrument illegally and subverted the law resulting in Danny Tate, long time singer/songwriter/composer, being adjudicated a “pauper” in the same court charged with “conserving” his estate, while all the parties mentioned above continue in the looting process.

See documents:
ORDER ALLOWING FILING ON PAUPER’S OATH

#67 SUBPOENA ISSD PERSONAL FIFTH THIRD BANK, Post Termination of Conservatorship

There are an abundance of other documents, but these are the ones we will release to the public. These two documents alone,morally and criminally condemn all parties attached.

If you have an account at Fifth Third Bank, get your money out before they won’t let you in.

Fifth Third Bank,2000 Wedgewood Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212-3734(615) 320-4950

And, apparently, we’re not the only ones who think Fifth Third is a dirty bank. The complaints are all over the internet if you Google them. Beware, beware!!!

Full Article and Source:
Fifth Third Bank, Co-Conspirator in the Probate Racket