Judge calls for independent scrutiny of guardianship case

Julie Ferguson of Sarasota, and her mother, Marise London

By Barbara Peters Smith

SARASOTA - A circuit judge appointed an independent court monitor on Friday to investigate the case of a Siesta Key resident and former art gallery owner who has spent the last two and a half years under the control of a professional guardianship, after attorneys for her daughter argued that the hasty procedure making her a ward of the court was a violation of due process.

In January 2013, the 12th Judicial Circuit Court named the nonprofit agency Lutheran Services Florida as the guardian of Marise London, 86, at the request of the Department of Children and Families’ Adult Protective Services division. The agency was paid from London’s assets to make decisions about her finances and health, at the rate of $85 an hour — while her daughter, Julie Ferguson, maintained she could provide better care for free, and had a right to do so under a Power of Attorney document her mother signed before suffering from cognitive impairment.

This week’s hearing hinged on an esoteric point of law. But after an hour of debate, Chief Judge Charles E. Williams caught Ferguson’s attorneys off-guard by asking them what outcome they really wanted for London.

“Let’s not lose sight of the big picture,” Williams said. “I don’t want people to think the court gets caught up in the minutiae of the law and doesn’t care about the best interests of the ward.” If London does not need a guardian, or if her daughter would be a more suitable guardian than her current one, Williams added, “we can address those issues.”

In December, the Herald-Tribune published a series of articles — “The Kindness of Strangers: Inside Elder Guardianship in Florida” — examining the experiences of people who believe they were denied due process when elders were found to be lacking capacity to make important decisions, stripped of their civil rights and placed under a court-appointed guardianship. The series highlighted the potential for conflicts of interest among professionals who work closely together within the system. Because wards’ cases are confidential, there is often little opportunity for oversight.

Ferguson, whose story was part of the series, said she first called the state for help more than four years ago, on the advice of an attorney. She had become alarmed that her mother’s progressive dementia was leading her to give away assets she could not afford to lose. But when authorities finally asked the court for an emergency temporary guardianship for London, the petition listed Ferguson’s address as “unknown” — “despite knowing her address,” Ferguson’s attorneys claimed in court filings. This led to insufficient notice about her mother’s initial hearing, they argued, and left her no time to obtain an attorney.

“The record would reflect that she was never served with a copy of that petition,” William B. Eppley, the Brooksville attorney Ferguson hired to reopen her mother’s case, noted at a hearing in Williams’ courtroom Thursday. “She tried to get a lawyer, and couldn’t get a lawyer.”

A state advocate 

Ferguson has become an advocate for guardianship reform, testifying on behalf of bills in Tallahassee this year and using social media to connect with others in the cause.

Dozens of her supporters attended the hearing Thursday, crowding into one side of the courtroom like guests at a wedding.

The attorney for Lutheran Services Florida, Edwin M. Boyer, asked Williams to dismiss Ferguson’s motion to vacate the guardianship. Because of complex legal rules, Boyer said, the only way a judge can nullify a guardianship based on a denial of due process is if the case had been declared adversarial from the outset.

“The guardianship rules and statute are set up to be nonadversarial,” Boyer argued. “The enduring arguments as to whether or not due process was violated, whether or not there was fraud, are irrelevant.”

On Friday, Williams agreed with Boyer’s point, and granted his request to strike the motion. Ferguson’s case could have ended there, but the judge chose to take the extra step of appointing Osprey attorney Jeffrey Morris to investigate further. As the circuit’s new chief judge, Williams asked the Sarasota County Commission in June to fund an extra court monitor position for the sole purpose of handling complaints about guardianships.

“The Court needs to have a better understanding of the dynamics of this case,” Williams said in his order, “and be certain of the motives of the various parties to make certain that the needs of the ward are being met and the current situation is in the best interests of the ward.”

Absorbing this new development on Friday, Ferguson said she would consult with her attorneys — including the director of litigation for Disability Rights Florida, who recently joined her team — and take a wait-and-see approach. But her mother’s guardianship experience has made her wary.

“Having all these strangers involved in making these decisions has been so terrible,” Ferguson said.  “How would anyone feel about that kind of power being wielded by one person over a loved one?”

Full Article & Source:
Judge calls for independent scrutiny of guardianship case

Florida: A Day in Court for Marise London, an Elderly Jewish Woman

It was much better than a breath of fresh air or a refreshing swim in the sea; for I could see real jurisprudence.  Dissecting the word into its meaningful units, “juris” means judging, and “prudence” means with wisdom; but how often are the two actually combined into one?

Marise London

Today, sitting in a Sarasota County, FL court as a spectator and an elder advocate for a lonely Jewish woman locked in guardianship in Florida year after year without due process that it rightfully due to her, I heard her new Probate judge press and press the battling lawyers in her case, drumming up thousands of dollars per hour in legal fees, to put her fate into perspective.  While the lawyers, at least seven of them in the courtroom on August 6, 2015, were preoccupied with rules and laws, the presiding judge kept a keen eye on the greater purpose of the hearing, that being what best serves the needs of Marise London, artist, mother, and beloved elder to so many advocates who stand with her in her ardent quest for dignity and freedom from the human bondage of guardianship.

What else could you call a system in which precious human beings are deprived of their most basic rights in life and to life?  A Ward of the State of Florida, where guardianship has become a major asset to the State and a tragic liability to the lives of its elders, is mentally, physically, and emotionally trapped in a network of professionals loyal to their livelihoods often more so than to the lives they are sworn to protect.

Guardianship is, in many respects, human trafficking, in which an elder is most commonly isolated from family and deprived of her rights to move and communicate freely according to her own choices.  She cannot marry or write a check.  She cannot contract or decide where she wants to live.  She cannot select her doctor or refuse a specific medical treatment, psychotropic, or narcotic.  She lives in isolation, subject to the will of her guardian, not of herself.

In a courtroom packed with Marise’s supporters, some of whom traveled hundreds of miles to advocate for her with their feet, a patient judge listened to lengthy proclamations of law for over an hour and then rightfully turned the entire focus of the hearing to Mrs. London, asking three crucial questions, the only ones that really matter: “Does Marise really need a guardian at all?” “Is there a less restrictive circumstance instead of guardianship that will meet Marise’s needs?” “Is there a better guardian available for Marise’s needs than the one she has had for years?”

The questions repeated by the judge a number of times were songs in my head because they were judging the fate of Marise prudently that she may face her future as the free woman she so truly deserves to be.

Full Article & Source:
Florida: A Day in Court for Marise London, an Elderly Jewish Woman

Who's guarding the guardians of the elderly? Pa. courts urge action

By James McGinnis Staff writer

Leasing an apartment may be more complicated than assuming legal guardianship of an incapacitated person in Pennsylvania and dozens of other states across the U.S.

On Friday, the Register of Wills/Orphans’ Court Association of Pennsylvania released a set of new “best practices” for government agencies managing thousands of cases of adult guardianship. Such cases, filed in Orphans’ Court, typically involve older Pennsylvanians in the care of family, friends or professionals.

The new recommendations come as Pennsylvania’s senior population explodes. In 2010, the U.S. Census estimated 2.7 million, or 21 percent of the state population, was over age 60. By 2030, the Census anticipates 3.6 million Pennsylvanians could be 60 age or older.

At the same time, the number of “substantiated” elder abuse cases is climbing. The Pennsylvania Area Agency on Aging reported 4,991 cases of “substantiated” elder abuse in 2013, the latest figures available. The number of cases was up 7 percent from the year prior. Most involved neglect; 16 percent involved stolen money.

Among the recommended best practices, county governments should contact court-appointed guardians who fail to submit required paperwork, said Don Petrille, Bucks County’s register of wills.

“We want to make sure the guardians are filing annual reports,” Petrille said. “The majority of counties do not contact them.”

Three years ago, Bucks created an electronic filing system to immediately contact guardians who failed to file required follow-up paperwork.

“Nothing would have happened before,” Petrille said. “The statutes that exist right now do not prescribe a penalty.”

Bucks had no exact figures on adult guardianship available on Tuesday. Some of the cases stretch back decades, Petrille said.

The National Center for Court Statistics believes more than 1.5 million Americans are under adult guardianship, though that’s only a guess, officials admit.

“We’ve tried to collect these statistics,” said Brenda K. Uekert, director of the Center for Elders and the Courts for the NCCS, based in Washington, D.C. “I wish I could say the situation is improving, but it’s not.

“Only two states keep a record of financial assets held under guardianship — Minnesota and Idaho,” Uekert continued. “In those two states, we found more than $1 billion in assets under control. People take advantage of the system all of the time.”

In 2014, the Social Security Administration commissioned a NCCS study on adult guardianship cases and government payouts to court-appointed guardians. Two-thirds of court officers surveyed said they didn’t know how much of the Social Security benefits paid to an incapacitated person was going to guardians.

Nationwide, most court officers surveyed said they didn’t require criminal background checks or review credit reports on prospective guardians.

Responding to such concerns, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court commissioned a 38-member elder law task force. In November, the task force released a 284-page report with 130 recommendations for attorneys, caregivers, county administrators, courtroom clerks and judges.

The list includes new standards for guardians who could be subjected to criminal background and credit checks, periodic reviews and mandated training on liability and ethics.

The task force recommended professional certification for so-called “professional guardians,” caring for more than two persons at a time, and legal guidebooks for Pennsylvania’s judges.

Falls District Judge Jan Vislosky said she’d love some guidance. Legal disputes involving the elderly can be among the most difficult cases, Vislosky said.

“We have established guidelines for the mentally disabled and physically disabled,” Vislosky said. “If there were some tips for us and some direction, then that would make things easier.”

The district judge described a recent landlord-tenant dispute. The case involved an older woman sharing a home with her adult children.

The older homeowner alleged she was being denied access to her kitchen, but the adult children, renting part of the home, told the judge their mother had a history of leaving the stove on.

“If I start to dive into these issues with questions, then I start to take on the role of counselor or adviser,” Vislosky said. “As a judge, I have to maintain a judicial distance.”

At the same time, the courts need to be careful about regulations imposed on guardians, Petrille said.

“We don’t want compliance regulations to be so strict and so onerous that it keeps people from guardianship,” said Petrille. “We don’t want people to throw their hands up and say I can’t do this anymore.”

Also, families aren’t trained on how to handle the guardianship paperwork, Uekert said. “If you were in charge of your mother’s or father’s estate, could you file a decent audit of the finances?”

Full Article & Source:

Who's guarding the guardians of the elderly? Pa. courts urge action 

Attorneys general in 2 states face serious charges in same week

Washington (CNN)On Thursday, a rising star in the Democratic Party in Pennsylvania was charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy after allegedly leaking secret documents to a reporter to harm her predecessor, a criminal complaint says. 

Just three days earlier, another top law enforcement official, this time a Republican in Texas, was charged with counts of securities fraud; he's accused of soliciting investors in a hometown company without disclosing he was profiting.

These types of cases -- unconnected except for their timing and elements of political retribution -- are not uncommon, legal analysts say.

"Attorneys general are politicians, and they run into the same problem that other politicians do," CNN Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin said. 

"These two cases are common cases of white collar crime -- abuse of power and fraud -- and it just so happens that these two defendants are attorneys general," Toobin added.

Both defendants maintain their innocence, but the allegations and timing raise similar suspicions of political motives behind the charges and what happens when the top law official tasked with upholding the law allegedly goes rogue.

The case in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania State Attorney General Kathleen Kane was charged Thursday with obstruction and conspiracy after she allegedly leaked confidential information about grand jury deliberations to the media and then attempted to cover it up. 

The back story -- allegations riddled with political motives and retribution -- is primarily rooted in two newspaper articles. 

It began in March 2014, the criminal complaint says, when The Philadelphia Inquirer published a story called "Sources: Kathleen Kane shut down probe of Philly Democrats."

See what Inquirer published online in 2014 

That investigation at the center of that article was into individuals "who had been caught in an undercover sting involving politicians accepting bribes." The investigation was inherited by Kane from former Chief Deputy Attorney General Frank G. Fina before he left office, the criminal complaint said.

Kane "was angry about the article," the complaint alleges, and that same day wrote an email to her media strategist, saying "I will not allow them to discredit me or our office," and ending with, "This is war."

Her media strategist replied, "make war with Fina but NOT to make war with the Inquirer."

The criminal complaint alleges that Kane then orchestrated the leaking of secret 2009 grand jury documents conducted under Fina and a senior deputy attorney general that looked into the misuse of grant money by an NAACP boss. 

The NAACP boss was never charged with any crimes pertaining to that investigation, the complaint says.

Accused of scheming to leak confidential information

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, a Republican who filed the charges against Kane, said that Kane had "devised a scheme to secretly leak confidential information and secret grand jury materials" for retribution against Fina. Montgomery County is just north of Philadelphia.

Ferman said Kane did this "in the hopes of embarrassing and harming former state prosecutors whom she believed, without evidence, had made her look bad."

The other charges brought by Ferman allege that Kane then lied under oath to a grand jury about knowledge of the 2009 documents and her involvement in leaking them to journalists, among other things, to help cover up the crime.

Kane, elected in 2012 and talked about by Pennsylvania Democrats as a top political contender in the state, vehemently denies the allegations.

"I intend to defend myself vigorously against these charges," she said in a statement. "A resignation would be an admission of guilt and I'm not guilty."

Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf called on her to step down Thursday, calling the charges "troubling."

"She is entitled to her day in court. She is entitled to due process under our system of government and law, and she will have time to defend herself and I think she needs to do that," Wolf said.

"But in the meantime, I'm calling on her to step aside, step down as attorney general, because I don't think she can do what she has to do as the top law enforcement officer in Pennsylvania while she's facing these serious charges," he added.

"The chief power an attorney general has is to bring cases and the risk is that they abuse that power for political gain and that is where they get in to trouble," Toobin said.

Full Article, Video & Source:

Attorneys general in 2 states face serious charges in same week

Kim Richards' Latest Arrest: What Is a 5150 Hold?

"Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Kim Richards has fought a public battle with addiction. From on-screen meltdowns to repeated rehab stays and relapses to her most recent arrest for shoplifting, the former child actress has watched her struggle with alcoholism play out in a very public forum.

"Kim is clearly in crisis because we find that she's drinking again, she's getting arrested, she's been found to be shoplifting," psychotherapist Dr. Robi Ludwig told ET on Wednesday. "These are all indications that Kim is not doing well and that she's deteriorating or decompensating."

Ludwig explained to ET that Richards' cycle of addiction, rehab, and relapse is not uncommon for someone who has not found a solid plan for sobriety.

"Anyone who watches the Beverly Hills Housewives knows that Kim is really the person who is very much in denial about her alcoholism," she said. "And she hasn't quite found a strategy to stay sober. And so what we know as psychotherapists and people in the mental health field is that she's probably trying to self-medicate depression or anxiety, and she's going about it in a way that isn't healthy and is self-destructive."

After Richards' latest arrest, a source close to her family tells ET that they are considering a 5150 hold on the former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star. Ludwig detailed what that could mean for the reality star.

"A 5150 is basically when someone is hospitalized on an involuntary basis," Ludwig explained. 'Which simply means that they did not sign themselves into the hospital and they cannot sign themselves out.

They're basically there involuntarily and why this can help certain people is because it keeps them in the hospital longer and helps them to get treated longer. It's usually a person who is in a sicker state that ends up in a hospital involuntarily because other people have decided that they can't make decisions on their own behalf and they usually are considered a danger to themselves or others at least for a period of time."

Ludwig believes that a 5150 hold could be beneficial for Richards as it would keep her in treatment for an extended period of time and prevent her from leaving rehab early and succumbing to the stressors in her day-to-day life. But it won’t be an easy process.

"Very often the person who is involuntarily committed to a hospital, they get very angry with their family members," Ludwig admitted. "They almost feel like they're being put in prison, that their will and their freedom is being robbed from them. So it can create a lot of chaos and sometimes family members aren't always in agreement about whether the person needs to be in the hospital involuntarily or not.

But, it basically creates some bad feelings for a period of time until the person gets well."

Full Article & Source:
Kim Richards' Latest Arrest: What Is a 5150 Hold?

Rana Goodman: Into The Devil's Arms She Went

Rana Goodman,
The Vegas Voice and
NASGA Nevada

I have been writing for months now about using extreme caution to make sure that you don’t fall into the clutches of a private-for-profit guardian.

This story however is greatly different. This story is about a lady and her daughter who fell into the clutches of a couple who befriended them.

This story I’m about pass along to you has all the elements of a movie script in the making, except that, I’m sad to report, it is painfully true. For Yvonne Frank, the remaining family member living a world away in Switzerland, the loss of her mother and sister at the hands of a couple who they trusted is as fresh today as it was a few years ago. And still, she has no answers, no charges have been filed and as far as we know, there is no open investigation.

Here is the story in Yvonne’s words:

Margaret Brown

My mother, Margaret Brown, immigrated to the United States and took her US citizenship in 1964 and lived in Las Vegas along with my younger sister Mona. Mona lived close to our mother, who had some dementia issues as she aged, but lived a comfortable life with her long time significant other, Stanley. Mona, who was a full time finance manager at UNLV had taken care of our mother’s finances since 2003 so that part of daily life was removed and our mother could enjoy her day to day life.

There came a time in 2006 when mother’s dementia worsened and a decision was made amongst the three of them for Stanly to sell his home and for him and mother to move in with my Mona. At that time Mona still had her great job at UNLV which she had held for many years. Sadly, the tide began to turn when suddenly in 2007 Stanly suddenly passed away. He had not forgotten Mona’s kindness or help, and left her about $125,000 as thanks for the care she had given him and mother over the years.

I learned, sometime in October, 2008 that mother and Mona had gone to the law offices of Jeffery Burr Ltd. And saw one of the attorneys there. (keep in mind that my mother already had dementia and was incognizant at the time, the result of a stroke years before). At this meeting my mother modified her trust that had been created in 1993 naming Mona as the primary trustee. Mona and myself as trust beneficiaries. The trust was to pass from mother to Mona and then to me.

Mona Brown

Mona then, for some reason, signed naming a friend of hers, Jeanette Ann Hill a secondary durable power of attorney over our mother and trust management with mother in the event that Mona died before mother. Taking into consideration our mother’s mental state and the fact that there was another living child, it is hard to understand any attorney making this recommendation. Mona’s friend Jeanette was also named co-trustee to Mona whose estate was worth more than $500,000 at that time.

Just eight weeks later, on December 3, 2008 Mona died very suddenly and without any known cause in her home. I was notified that “there was some kind of kidney problem” but was never shown proof or an autopsy report of any kind I immediately called my mother to find out what had happened. I went to Las Vegas for Mona’s funeral and afterward asked my mother to return to Switzerland and live with me. However at that time she preferred to stay in the US.

In January I again asked my mother to go to Switzerland and live with me since at that time Jeanette was discussing placing her in an assisted living home. However, when Mona’s home was sold and my mother received 60% of the estate, suddenly Jeanette announced that she and her husband were buying a larger home and my mother would live with them and remain in Las Vegas.

It was after visiting with my mother in May of 2009, and then returning home to Switzerland that I began to do some research. I discovered that the home Jeanette and her husband purchased had actually been bought by my mother. I could not fathom why no one would question an 83 year old woman deemed incognizant, yet purchasing a home for $249,990. The home, located on Pacific Opal Street was listed on the assessors list clear as day? I found that very odd and what mortgage company would not find it fishy, then I discovered that my mother had paid for the house in full. . Shortly afterward, Jeanette changed mother’s trust with the help of an attorney named John Mugan, bequeathed the house to herself and on 12/9/09 the house on Pacific Opal was “resold” to Jeanette and Robert Hill.

Not one to sit idly by, I tried many things to get help for my mother who was clearly distressed over the situation. For example, my son placed a call to the American Embassy who suggested that we try to get guardianship of mother. Well that could not be done, not only were we not residents of the state, we were not US citizens. By the time my mother passed away in 2011 an estate of close to one million dollars was decimated and no one could or would lift a finger to stop it.

We filed police reports to no avail,it seemed like the detectives had no interest even though two people had died on Jeanette Hill watch under odd circumstances and now this real estate scam. Jeanette Hill had tax warrants, unpaid liens, and still the police say they can do nothing “because she was my mother’s guardian”.

In closing I would like to quote Yvonne Frank when she wrote “My mother, sister and I had a very close relationship. The Hills have brought much sadness into my life, through their constant lying, deceit and fraud and my inability to help my mother when she was clearly in distress. I believe the court system and the Jeffery Burr law firm assisted Jeanette Hill in the fleecing of my mother. I hope the investigation into guardianship abuses in Clark County will one day bring these people to justice."

~Yvonne Frank

Source:
Into the Devil's Arms She Went

Lawsuit: Fla. dominatrix took house, $500K from elderly client

A man in Orlando is suing a local dominatrix, accusing her of taking more than $500,000 and his house, ClickOrlando reports.

Judith Gumbrecht, known as “Goddess Jude,” advertised on her website that “she enjoys spanking, flogging, whipping and other fetish activities” as well as “financial slavery for clients who wish to pamper their mistress,” according to ClickOrlando.

Former client Alex Abrams, 68, filed a lawsuit in Seminole County claiming Gumbrecht took more than $500,000 after he added her name to his financial accounts, and took ownership of his 1,450-square-foot townhome in Casselberry.

The lawsuit accuses Gumbrecht of exploitation of an elderly person, theft, and unjust enrichment, ClickOrlando reports.

"Gumbrecht continued to reward Abrams with sexual favors …Abrams would be punished if he failed to adhere to the dominatrix's financial requirements,” the lawsuit states.

Abrams’ attorney, Brian Mark, claims Abrams suffers from clinical depression, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and said this affected his decision when adding Gumbrecht to his bank accounts and signing a deed in 2014 to transfer his home to her.  Abrams met Gumbrecht after he divorced his wife of 32 years about four years ago, according to Mark.

Mark said while it is not illegal for Gumbrecht “to offer financial slavery services,” she knew about his diminished mental state.

“She went with him to the doctor when he was diagnosed. She was fully aware,” Mark told ClickOrlando. "When you're in that professional relationship with them, you cannot exploit them. You cannot take advantage of their physical or mental incapacities or diminished capacity to profit."

Gumbrecht's attorney, Lawrence G. Walters, told ClickOrlando that "our client has not been served with the lawsuit, so we are not able to provide any comment on it." 

In February, Orlando Code Enforcement received complaints from Gumbrecht’s neighbors who claimed she was illegally running her business out of a home without a permit, but no further action was taken. Her website now states she is running her business from a different location, ClickOrlando reports.

Read more at clickorlando.com

Full Article & Source:
Lawsuit: Fla. dominatrix took house, $500K from elderly client  

Letter: Elder guardian law needs updating

The need for guardians of our vulnerable population -- incapacitated seniors and adults with mental impairments -- was well-articulated by state Supreme Court Justice Arthur Diamond ["Our elderly neighbors need guardians," Opinion, July 19]. Lawyers who serve as unpaid guardians at the request of the court are no more qualified to make medical and personal decisions, or handle day-to-day tasks for their wards, than anyone else who may act as a volunteer guardian.

Yet, the issue of unpaid guardians is the tip of the iceberg, and the problem continues to grow. In a soon-to-be-released statewide study, the policy organization Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging will reveal that 26 percent to 29 percent of all court guardianship filings are made by law firms representing -- and paid for by -- nursing homes and hospitals. Their purpose is not to secure the personal safety, quality of life and medical decisions for an incapacitated client; it is to secure an institution's payment for care, typically from Medicaid.

The New York State Legislature has proposed laws that would prohibit the appointment of a guardian solely for the purposes of bill collection.

On Long Island, there are at least three nonprofit organizations trained to manage the affairs of incapacitated persons, providing them with friendly visits, securing services, and advocating for them in the community and institutional settings. The Vera Guardianship Project, EAC Network, and Family and Children's Association Community Guardian Program train and pay social workers as guardians, usually overseen by a paid attorney.

Beth Polner Abrahams, Garden City

Editor's note: The writer is the chair of the state bar association's elder law and special needs section mediation committee.

Full Article & Source:
Letter: Elder guardian law needs updating

How the Daughter of One of America's Most Beloved Actors and Others Are Calling for Change

by  Martha T.S. Laham

The Asbury Park Press Investigations Team ran a shocking four-part series exploring guardianship abuse. "Betrayal of Trust: Stealing From Seniors" features the story of a New Jersey elder law attorney and court-appointed guardian who stole millions of dollars from over 16 wards under her supervision, including seniors in their 80s and 90s.

The court-appointed guardian threw some elderly wards into nursing homes and sold the wards' homes. She even changed their wills to financially benefit her at the time of the wards' deaths, according to the article.

If you think that this case is rare, think again.

Cui bono, or To Whose Benefit?

In the second blog post of the series, we learned that managing the incapacitated person's estate for the benefit of him or her is a major responsibility of the conservator, also known as the guardian.
Yet localized studies on conservatorship and guardianship proceedings found "little benefit to the incapacitated persons" but instead suggested that many petitions were filed for "the benefit of third persons," according to a report titled "Wards of the State: A National Study on Public Guardianships."

Court-Appointed Protectors Often Overstep Their Authority 
 
Conservators and guardians are often given overbroad authority over conservatees' and wards' lives. Stories of conservatees and wards being isolated or imprisoned by court-appointed protectors are far too common.

Catherine Falk, the daughter of the late Peter Falk, fought for her right to visit her father after a California Probate Court granted a conservatorship over her father by appointing his then-wife as Mr. Falk's conservator.

Catherine Falk founded the Catherine Falk Organization which is not a fundraising foundation nor takes any donations whatsoever; however, the organization advances and advocates wards rights visitation legislation nationwide. Falk and her former probate attorney from 2009, drafted the Peter Falk Bill completed in 2011 that was aimed at protecting, preserving and respecting the right of all adult children to visit an ailing or incapacitated parent who is either under power of attorney or under guardianship.

"When I first embarked upon the visitation legislation idea, I realized along my journey and crusade that my lens broadened with the realization that visitation legislation must encompass all wards, non wards in or out of guardianship or under POA as well as realizing the silent epidemic of guardianship abuses that are not just with the aging population but among spouses and siblings in guardianship situations." Falk also investigates elder abuse cases and advocates for victims experiencing their most treasured freedoms that are being violated by offering wonderful resources and support to those in need of help.

"My ultimate goal is to have model visitation legislation in every state that emphasizes wards rights legislation, not just parental visitation with an adult child because isolation happens among all family members including siblings, spouses, aging parents etc...that the legislation will empower wards by safeguarding their most fundamental and constitutional innate rights while maintaining personal autonomy. An ideal piece of legislation should encompass both," she added.

Poor Court Oversight Is an Open Invitation to Guardian Abuse
 
As guardianship abuse has gained national attention, the public wants to know "Who's guarding the guardians?"

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report titled "Guardianships: Cases of Financial Exploitation, Neglect, and Abuse of Seniors" that explored the widespread allegations of elder mistreatment by guardians.

In one case, a guardian embezzled over $640,000 from an 87-year-old Alzheimer's patient. The guardian, a former taxi cab driver, spent the stolen funds on things like a Hummer and exotic dancers. When county employees caught wind of the guardian's misdeeds, they discovered that the victim, who was wearing nothing more than an old knit shirt and a diaper, was living in the filthy basement of the guardian's home.

Guardianships Can Violate People's Civil Rights

The Associated Press published a series entitled "Guardians of the Elderly: An Ailing System" that found the guardianship system is "a dangerously burdened and troubled system that regularly puts elderly lives in the hands of others with little or no evidence of necessity, then fails to guard against abuse, theft, and neglect."

Court-appointed attorneys are assigned to represent the rights and wishes of conservatees (clients) but often fail them. According to Linda Kincaid, MPH, of the Coalition for Elder and Dependent Adult Rights (CEDAR):

"Unscrupulous court-appointed attorneys will sometimes oppose their client's wishes, civil rights, and medical needs. Each time a family petitions the court to protect a loved one, the court-appointed attorney can generate billable hours by opposing the families' requests. Those billable hours are then charged to the estate of the conservatee. Substantial estates are depleted by charges from court-appointed attorneys."

"A Broken System" That Needs to Be Fixed

Los Angeles Times ran a series of articles on conservatorship, calling it a "broken system." Situations were brought to light in which "judges frequently overlooked incompetence, neglect and outright theft" committed by conservators, the The Times reported.

Many conservators abused their authority over frail elders by "ignoring their needs and isolating them from loved ones," according to one Times article.

Instances of predatory practices by professional conservators--who exploited the elderly and stripped them of their possessions by manipulating the legal system--surfaced. Other shady conservators drained elders' estates or chewed up seniors' estates by charging outrageous fees.

Watchdog Group Blows the Whistle on Abusive Guardians 

National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse (NASGA) is a longstanding organization that posts, blogs, tweets, and reports on guardianship abuse and rigorously advocates for guardianship reform.
The NASGA calls the guardianship system "a growing menace which feeds on greed." It criticizes the judicial system for its complicity in usurping people's liberties and property. According to Elaine Renoire, president of NASGA:

"It is an appalling, yet accepted practice, for conservatorships to consume the very estates the proceedings are supposed to be protecting. Millionaires who could well afford the cost of their care though end of life, are "protected" into indigence - much to their embarrassment - and then placed on Medicaid at taxpayer expense. Because it's so easy to guardianize a person and because most courts aren't monitoring or holding bad guardians accountable, there is nowhere for wards or their families to go for help. The system becomes a menace because opportunists exploit loopholes and get rich at the expense and detriment of the very people they have been court-appointed to protect."

Full Article & Source:
How the Daughter of One of America's Most Beloved Actors and Others Are Calling for Change

See Also:
Conservatorship Conundrum: Court Process That Can 'Unperson' You Within Minutes

Conservatorship Conundrum: You Can Be Reduced to the Status of an Infant With as Few Rights as a Felon

Martha Laham is also the author of the book, "The Con Game - A Failure of Trust