"How the Elderly Lose Their Rights"
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I'd have liked it with at least a balanced view of guardianship. Many times we do need to go this route, especially when there is no family member, and the patient really is at risk. Unfortunately, there are situations like this article. Fortunately, from the various places I have worked, this does seem to be rare.
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This is pretty horrifying, especially for someone like me who has no siblings and no plans to have kids.
While I agree guardians are needed and valuable, I don't think this is nearly as rare as we'd like to think it is.
While I agree guardians are needed and valuable, I don't think this is nearly as rare as we'd like to think it is.
Long article. How did this lady become guardian if there wasn’t something more seriously wrong with the senior citizens? How does a random person get guardianship when family loves locally? And the family knows nothing about it?
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Per the article, in Nevada at least she was able to submit an emergency petition to a hearing officer signed by a physician who had once seen the couple. The strong suggestion in the article (and there is some evidence presented to support it), is that some of these private guardians in Nevada deliberately identify wealthy seniors and then start cold-calling their doctors to see who will play ball. Meanwhile the hearing officer has a long professional relationship with the guardians and generally grants petitions without much review or thought.
The criminal charges coming down against at least the guardian at the center of this piece and the fact that the hearing officer in question got pulled from hearing these sorts of petitions suggests that there is not entirely just the fanciful paranoid accusations of disgruntled family members.
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The article addresses all of those points in detail.
It starts with being located in Nevada, where the state government has been strapped for cash for some time now. Not sure how it's recovered, but it was the hardest hit by the housing crisis/recession.
Excellent article. Thanks for sharing.
Never underestimate the corrosive allure of personal gain without accountability. I suspect abuse is more rampant, considering in other places, the records are sealed.
Also shows that some physicians are not above the tempation for easy gains.
It reminds me of a consult I had. The patient was an elderly male who was still oriented who had a car accident recently. He has given up his car keys. Upon evaluation, I deemed the guy competent to make his own medical decisions.
The daughter, who was the proxy, wanted information about the patient. The patient gave consent to speak to her regarding his health. The daughter only spoke Spanish and I made the mistake of allowing the daugher's boyfriend to translate. (I was still new at the time.)
Next thing I know, the boyfriend wasn't even translating and asking me questions on his own. I was not happy and tried to cut the conversation short. Over the course of the conversation, I learned that they live in the house owned by dad. They wanted me to tell the dad not to see his girlfriend. He gave up his car key and now they him to give up his girlfriend. They wanted me to deem him incompetent. I suspect they're building up a case to get guardianship over him and they want total control over him. Dad's girlfriend was a threat to their plans.
I asked my collegues on how they would have handled the situation. Main answer was not to worry and that the court will handle it competently. I doubt that then and I doubt that now.
I've known many cases of family members screwing over each other for money. How much easier is it to screw over a stranger for gain?
What is legal is not always what is moral.
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I suggest looking into asset protection. Own nothing but control everything. It has it's own risk as well, but I would trust an executor I picked over a random court-appointed guardian.
Never underestimate the corrosive allure of personal gain without accountability. I suspect abuse is more rampant, considering in other places, the records are sealed.
Also shows that some physicians are not above the tempation for easy gains.
It reminds me of a consult I had. The patient was an elderly male who was still oriented who had a car accident recently. He has given up his car keys. Upon evaluation, I deemed the guy competent to make his own medical decisions.
The daughter, who was the proxy, wanted information about the patient. The patient gave consent to speak to her regarding his health. The daughter only spoke Spanish and I made the mistake of allowing the daugher's boyfriend to translate. (I was still new at the time.)
Next thing I know, the boyfriend wasn't even translating and asking me questions on his own. I was not happy and tried to cut the conversation short. Over the course of the conversation, I learned that they live in the house owned by dad. They wanted me to tell the dad not to see his girlfriend. He gave up his car key and now they him to give up his girlfriend. They wanted me to deem him incompetent. I suspect they're building up a case to get guardianship over him and they want total control over him. Dad's girlfriend was a threat to their plans.
I asked my collegues on how they would have handled the situation. Main answer was not to worry and that the court will handle it competently. I doubt that then and I doubt that now.
I've known many cases of family members screwing over each other for money. How much easier is it to screw over a stranger for gain?
What is legal is not always what is moral.
---
I suggest looking into asset protection. Own nothing but control everything. It has it's own risk as well, but I would trust an executor I picked over a random court-appointed guardian.
