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| Judge Jeffrey Colbath |
The chief judge for Palm Beach County said Wednesday that he is
investigating what needs to be done to address concerns brought forth by
The Palm Beach Post’s stories on Circuit Judge Martin Colin’s role in adult guardianship.
Circuit
Judge Jeffrey Colbath said in an email to The Post that he is in
fact-finding mode and “is preparing to make appropriate changes to
address concerns.”
Colin oversees family and probate matters in Delray Beach, including
guardianships of adults no longer able to care for themselves. Colin’s
wife, Elizabeth “Betsy” Savitt, is a former tennis pro turned
professional guardian who operates in the same division and appears in
front of Colin’s colleagues.
But Colbath and the chief judge
before him, Peter Blanc, took no action to eliminate potential conflicts
caused by the close relationships in the south county courthouse.
Colbath
has the power to transfer Colin out of the Probate & Guardianship
Division, where he has been since about 2009. He also has the power to
transfer Circuit Judge David French, who has been a close friend of both
Colin and Savitt and oversees many of her guardianships.
he Post found Colin’s colleagues must approve Savitt’s fees and fees
for attorneys who represent her in guardianships of incapacitated senior
citizens, many with sizable life savings. Families have accused Savitt,
a guardian since 2011, of double-billing, taking fees without prior
court approval and pursuing unnecessary litigation to drum up fees.
Several
families separately told The Post that Savitt openly cites her
husband’s powerful position when confronted over her actions.
Savitt
does not appear directly in front of her husband, but the attorneys who
represent her litigated cases in front of him and relied on him at
times to approve lucrative fees.
Two former Florida Supreme Court justices and a legal ethics expert
told The Post the relationships pose a conflict of interest and appear
improper.
After The Post started investigating last year, Colin
recused himself from 115 cases in six months involving those attorneys
who represent Savitt in guardianships, such as Ellen Morris, Sheri
Hazeltine and John Pankauski,
The Post reported Sunday.
Previously, Colin said he required the attorneys to disclose their
professional relationship with his wife, but The Post found that didn’t
happen in at least one case.
“We have adopted long-standing approved methods to properly deal with such potential conflicts,” Colin told The Post.
Colbath
has the power to transfer Colin or French out of the probate division.
It’s common for judges to be rotated every few years.
Savitt
pointed out that she has never been sanctioned by any of her husband’s
colleagues and that complaints were from “disgruntled” family members.
She also accused the paper of holding a grudge against her and her
husband.
Families with seniors in Savitt’s guardianships told The
Post that their complaints about her financial management of seniors’
life savings were ignored by Colin’s colleagues, especially French.
Of
particular issue is the tens of thousands of dollars Savitt has taken
in fees prior to judicial approval in either guardianships or probate
cases after the senior has died. Overwhelmingly, attorneys in the elder
law field told The Post that state guardianship law does not allow
guardians to take fees before a judge gives the OK.
This week it
has been business as usual in Colin’s courtroom in Delray Beach. Several
attorneys told The Post they are not comfortable with the relationships
in the probate division but fear repercussions if they speak out.
The families of some of Savitt’s current and former wards did not hold back.
“They
should be moved out of probate, and if possible, moved off the bench,”
said Jodi Rich, niece of Robert Paul Wein, who was in a Savitt
guardianship before he died at 89 on Dec. 1.
“They are not abiding by ethical standards,” she said.
Thomas
Mayes, whose mother, Helen O’Grady, was in a Savitt guardianship, said
there needs not only to be further guardianship reform by state
lawmakers but a criminal investigation into Savitt. He doubted, though,
anything would done.
“They will just sweep the dirt under the rug or in a corner,” he said.
Skender
Hoti, a Lake Worth restaurant owner, watched Savitt in February 2012
try to assist a family guardian in seizing nearly every possession in a
house he owned before she was stopped by sheriff’s deputies.
“All
their cases should be reviewed,” he said of Colin and French. “No judge
should be able not to rotate and stay in the probate arena.”
What the Post found
Palm
Beach County Circuit Judge Martin Colin is compromised by his wife’s
work as a professional guardian in the same probate and guardianship
division where he has presided for years. His wife, Elizabeth “Betsy”
Savitt, took fees without court approval and in some instances
double-billed. Read all the stories and see the documents
at myPalmBeachPost.com/guardianships-colin-savitt.
Full Article & Source:
Chief judge investigating Post’s findings on Colin, Savitt
