Letter to the Editor: From an older, elder advocate.

April 17, 2018, 10:30 pm

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Dear Editor,

Every day on the local and national news, we hear stories about sexual assaults, domestic violence, child abuse, harassment, police abuse, discrimination, school shootings, and a host of other issues that affect our lives and the lives of others. These subjects are discussed at length on college campuses, both in the classrooms, and in public forums. We as students have been taught to recognize what these issues look like, and how we should act and react when we come in contact with them.

CSUN mandates Title IX training prior to students registering for classes, Project Date visits campus classrooms to talk about sexual assault, and has a campus presence to educate students, professors educate their students as to procedures when confronted with the possibility of a school shooter, and it is agreed that these areas are important for our CSUN community to be aware of. Unfortunately, the subject of Elder Abuse is not one that is often talked about or reported, yet it is an equally prevalent and important subject that affects our elderly population.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the definition of Elder abuse is: “an intentional act, or failure to act, by a caregiver or another person in a relationship involving an expectation of trust that causes or creates a risk of harm to an older adult. (An older adult is defined as someone age 60 or older.)” Elder abuse includes, physical abuse, sexual abuse or abusive sexual contact, emotional/psychological abuse, neglect and financial abuse or exploitation. The National Council of Aging (NCOA) website notes that 1 in 10 elderly have been abused, 5,000,000 each year, and only 1-14 of those abuses are reported.

CSUN and other academic institutions need to take a proactive stance on this issue and students of all ages, as well as our communities need to be educated about elder abuse. What it is, what to signs to look for, how to prevent it, and to whom, and how to report it. Just as our students will be for future generations, our elders have been our teachers, our caregivers, our historians, and our innovators, and they are also a forgotten demographic that deserves to be protected just as any other demographic.

I am 55 years old, and a transfer student currently completing my junior year here at CSUN. I am nearing that elder demographic and one student who has been educated about elder abuse may be the person to protect me one day.

-Lori A. Peters
California State University Northridge, Class of 2019

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Letter to the Editor: From an older, elder advocate.

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Bill would require background checks for guardianship

April 17, 2018, 11:00 pm

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State Rep. Mark Gillen sponsored the measure. It would also prevent those with felony convictions from serving as guardians.

Harrisburg, PA — A Berks County lawmaker has introduced legislation that would require background checks on individuals up for appointment as guardians for the incapacitated.

State Rep. Mark Gillen began seeking co-sponsors for the bill two days after reading a Reading Eagle investigation that found courts in Philadelphia and Montgomery counties appointed Gloria Byars, a convicted felon, to manage the estates of more than 75 incapacitated adults.

Advocates praised Gillen's bill, saying it goes a long way to establish state standards. After more than a decade of state working groups, advisory committees and task force reports recommending standards for guardians that include licensing and background checks that have yet to be put in place, these advocates applauded Gillen for responding quickly to the issue the newspaper's series raised.

But they also expressed concern that the bill's language fails to specifically address whether agencies that delegate court-appointed responsibilities to staff must conduct background checks on those employees.


An attorney who specializes in elder law said the proposed law might not prevent a case like Byars', who worked for a guardianship agency, from happening again.

Critics say the felony ban would bar relatives with a criminal conviction from being appointed, even if the offense is decades old.

Nothing in state statute currently prohibits a court-appointed guardian from having a criminal record.
House Bill 2247, introduced Monday, would change that.

"We think there is a void that needs to be filled," said Gillen, a Robeson Township Republican. "Let's all agree that criminals should not intersect with the assets of our frail elders."

Gillen's bill would disqualify convicted felons from being appointed guardians and require federal and state criminal history checks. It also bans undocumented immigrants from serving.

The bill has bipartisan support and nearly two dozen co-sponsors.

"The reason for getting on the bill is simply we have an obligation to protect our most vulnerable citizens and certainly our elderly would fall into that category," said Rep. Judy Ward, a Blair County Republican. "I'm happy to be a co-sponsor."

The bill was met with mixed reaction.

While advocates for the elderly said they don't want the court appointing guardians with felony records, the type and date of a conviction is more important. As written, any felony conviction, even convictions that occurred decades ago involving charges unrelated to the care and protection of vulnerable Pennsylvanians would be disqualifying.

Lawrence A. Frolik, a University of Pittsburgh School of Law professor and national expert on elder legal issues, called the bill heavy handed.

"The use of felony disqualification disproportionately impacts minority communities," Frolik said.

Sam Brooks, senior attorney for Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, which has become one of the leading advocates in the state for the elderly, agreed.

"It could actually prevent family members who are willing to serve from actually being able to serve," Brooks said. "While we envisioned background checks, we didn't envision this for family members."

Brooks added, "We would like to see the courts have some discretion."

Other states with felony bans, such as California and Texas, make a distinction between family members stepping up to serve as guardian for a loved one and professionals who charge for services.

Advocates also note a criminal background check - to be paid by the proposed guardian - can be costly.

A criminal history check through the Pennsylvania State Police is $27, and an FBI check costs $18.

Concerned the cost could be prohibitive for Pennsylvania families, Frolik suggested the background check be paid from the incapacitated adult's estate. Or, he suggested, an affidavit attesting that the proposed guardian has never been charged or convicted with elder abuse or financial exploitation could substitute for a criminal check.

Advocates also noted a criminal background check would flag only convictions.

"Guardians very seldom are criminally convicted because of the deference of law enforcement to the overseeing guardianship judicial officers," said Rick Black, executive director of the Center for Estate Administration Reform, a grassroots organization in North Carolina concerned with guardianship reform. "Without the criminal conviction, there is no criminal record."

But most troubling - Black and others said - is that it's not clear the proposed law would have applied to Byars, who despite convictions for financial theft and fraud, was appointed guardian to dozens of incapacitated adults. That's because Byars - at least initially - was an employee of a guardianship agency.

"It's very common for them to delegate powers to their staff," said Brooks, the legal aid attorney in Philadelphia. "The question is would this cover that? Probably not."

It's a possible employee loophole Gillen said he hopes the amendment process will iron out.

Gillen didn't address all the crticism, but with lawmakers considering hundreds of bills each session, he said his strategy with this and every bill is to introduce a lean product, then seek input from stakeholders.

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Bill would require background checks for guardianship

Coalition focused on senior citizen issues updates members on legislation

April 18, 2018, 10:00 pm

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Betty Owens works with the Alzheimer's Outreach Center

ALBANY — The Coalition of Advocates for Georgia’s Elderly (CO-AGE) met Wednesday to update attendees on the legislative status of bills affecting older Georgians. Seven bills passed during the recent state legislative session, one did not and several items received federal and state funding.

CO-AGE’s current priorities are Home- and Community-Based Services (HCBS) funding, establishing an elder abuse registry, Aging and Disability Resource Connection (ADRC) funding, Medicaid assisted living and personal home care requirements. The group received an additional $4.2 million in HCBS funding last year but did not get more this year.

However, other items did receive funding. The Personal Need Allowance, which gives nursing home residents money to pay for hygiene products, clothing and other necessities, was raised from $15 to $65 per month for a total of $4.18 million in combined state and federal funds. The Community Care Services Program’s Alternative Living Services received a total rate increase of $10.5 million. Adult Day Health Care centers now have a rate increase of $400,000.

Welcome elder abuse bills passed during the legislative session and are making their way to the governor’s office. These bills include SB 406, which requires FBI fingerprinting background checks for employees “with direct access to patients in long-term care settings such as nursing homes, personal care homes and home health care;” HB 803, which labels the act of trafficking an at-risk adult to steal their Social Security and other benefits as a crime, and HB 635, which helps “local communities create task forces to investigate the abuse of at-risk adults.”

Another bill of interest that passed with Georgia Coalition on Aging involvement is HB 930, which allows existing transit funds to support senior transit programs. Vicki Johnson, the chairwoman for the GCOA, recorded a video explaining the bill’s importance.

“We know that lack of transportation is a growing problem for seniors, as they no longer are able to provide their own transportation for themselves,” she said. “And many of our agencies have been able to use ridesharing services … as well as taxi services to provide transportation. We want to be sure to protect seniors.”

Other passed bills of interest include SB 370, which protects “the first $25,000 of an estate from Medicaid Estate Recovery;” SB 444, which creates the Georgia Alzheimer’s and Related Dementia State Plan Advisory Council, and HR 1257, which creates a House study committee.

HB 497, which would have granted senior citizens and other relatives de facto custody over grandchildren they take care of should they provide a better living environment than the parents did not pass. However, that does not spell the end for the bill. Kay Hind, the meeting’s presenter and an advocate who has been working with CO-AGE since it was formed in the early ’80s, recounted the group’s attempts to get another bill passed.

“We’ll try (to get a bill passed) again the next year, if we feel it’s important. We had a bill that would allow dental hygenists to go into the nursing home and care for the patients, because (the patients) can’t get out,” Hind said. “That one took us 12 years, but we did get it passed.”

The deadline to submit issues for consideration by the organization is May 1. The next CO-AGE meeting will be July 12 in Macon.

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Coalition focused on senior citizen issues updates members on legislation

“Abuse of Power: Exploitation of Older Americans by Guardians and Others They Trust.”

April 18, 2018, 10:30 pm

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“Abuse of Power: Exploitation of Older Americans by Guardians and Others They Trust.”

Vast Majority Of Elder Financial Abuse By Guardians Can Be Prevented, Experts Tell Senate

April 18, 2018, 11:00 pm

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Senate Aging Committee Chair Susan Collins

The vast majority of elder financial abuse by guardians can be prevented, a panel of four experts unanimously told a Senate Aging Committee hearing today.

Among the low hanging fruit they recommended:

• Enacting state laws to provide more often for less restrictive arrangements than guardianship, such as assisted decision making,  for seniors and others with disabilities.
• Tell the individual under care and family members that a guardian has been appointed, what the guardian's responsibilities are and how to report guardian abuse.
• Mandate guardians tell the courts when people under their care have become able again to make their own decisions.

As an example, stroke victims can quickly recover that ability, noted Nina Kohn, principal drafter of the Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrangements Act.

A guardian should be appointed only when a person cannot make their own decisions and is at risk of harm without the aid of someone to oversee their affairs, said Kohn, a Syracuse University law professor.

An estimated 1.5 million adults with billions of assets are currently under guardian care.

Senate Aging Committee Chair Susan Collins said less restrictive care can reduce the likelihood that someone could take advantage of a senior or misuse their assets.

The Maine Republican pointed to a Nevada guardian who was indicted last year on more than 200 felony charges, after having been given the authority by the courts over 400 individuals in 12 years.

Elder financial abuse by  guardians can range from outright theft to excessive fees, such as when an attorney charges his or her normal hourly rate for grocery shopping, the hearing was told.

“There is a significant risk potential to an older adult when a family or friend is appointed as a guardian. However, this risk grows exponentially with a guardianship agency who serves multiple adults under guardianship,” said Denise Flannigan, a guardianship supervisor for an area agency on aging in Western Pennsylvania.

A review of 27,000 guardianship cases in Texas regularly found unauthorized withdrawals from accounts; unauthorized gifts to family members and friends; and unsubstantiated and unauthorized expenses, Texas Judicial Council Executive Director David Slayton told the committee.

He added that in over 43% of the cases, guardians failed to meet all court-mandated reporting obligations, including providing information that a bond had been obtained, an inventory of assets in the estate and an annual accounting of transactions.

“Persons under guardianship should enjoy supported decision making whenever possible and have their rights restored in part or totally with all deliberative speed,” said Virginia Tech Gerontology Center Director Pamela Teaster.

The loss of rights makes it imperative guardianship is done right, said Aging Committee Lead Democrat Bob Casey.

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Vast Majority Of Elder Financial Abuse By Guardians Can Be Prevented, Experts Tell Senate

Perceived Risk Hides Potential Upsides for Skilled Nursing Investors

April 19, 2018, 10:00 pm

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The headlines for the skilled nursing sector include such uplifting topics as bankruptcies, lawsuits, and declining occupancy— to name just a few — and are enough to make any investor think twice about putting money in the industry.

But “the perceived risk is higher than actual risk” in the sector, at least according to one panel discussion at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) conference in Dallas in March.

“A long-term investor can see the bright future ahead, in that skilled nursing remains the most cost-effective option, as opposed to hospitals, for example,” Ben Firestone, senior managing director at Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate Advisors, told Skilled Nursing News. “And the government is going to continue to fund it in some way, shape or form.”

Skilled nursing compelling in long-term

Despite the headwinds in the skilled nursing industry, there may be more smoke than fire, at least with regard to risk, Frank Small, managing director of health care at private equity firm GMF Capital, said at the NIC event.

“I guess from our perspective and our experience, the perceived risk is higher than the actual risk,” he said when asked by Firestone how he explains skilled nursing headwinds to equity investors.

This is because returns remain strong, with cap rates in the sector usually coming in around 12.5%, with some fluctuations over time, Firestone explained to SNN. This compares favorably to cap rates in other commercial real estate classes such as retail, which is seeing at least as many issues as skilled nursing and far lower cap rates.

“I don’t know another asset class on a stabilized level, where you’re not changing something in the business plan, where you can reap those kind of returns,” Firestone said of skilled nursing.

Even though a recent survey from the CBRE (NYSE: CBRE) U.S. Healthcare Capital Markets Group indicated that SNFs were near the bottom of investors’ wish list for 2018, the investors Small deals with are looking at the sector from a long-term perspective, he said at the NIC conference.

“From the perspective of the capital we talk to, they’re looking at it on a 10 or 15 year basis,” Small said on the panel. “So if they look at it with HUD still available and flowing. You got a long-term asset matched with long-term liability, and the cash flow dynamic is compelling.”

Working past bad press

Even with the bad press skilled nursing has been getting over the past few years, the market is strong, Firestone told SNN.

“What the market is saying is that they’re okay accepting that risk for the returns — they’re wiling to pay for these assets,” he said. “And there is so much demand right now, not only for stabilized transactions but also non-stabilized deals… the price per bed of skilled nursing for deals that are not stabilized is actually going up.”

But the sector is undeniably a chancy one, notorious for thin margins and low reimbursement. That’s led to premium valuation for portfolios, because individual property risk can be diversified through such acquisitions, Firestone said. Though an individual property could see a performance downturn, purchasing 20 properties increases the likelihood of a downward performance being offset by others improving.

“We have diversifcation at the asset level, so that any of these individual problems that would tackle one facility’s performance financially can be offset by another’s good fortune,” Firestone said.

Operators are also a crucial part of managing the risk, Small noted at NIC.

“A lot of it… candidly, is spending a lot of time with the operator and understanding are they the right operator for that asset in that market,” he said.

Operators need incentives to provide quality care, and though the sector will have to go through “some purges and resets,” the nursing home business will not be done away with entirely, Firestone said. Investors are betting that despite short-term hits, occupancy will bounce back as the population ages, allowing good operators to survive and thrive in the medium-to-long run.

“The savvy investors out there are able to pick their spots, make bets, hedge against short-term stress or adversity, and come out victorious in the long run, with sustainable, profitable practices and portfolios and compaines that care for our aging seniors,” Firestone said.

Written by Maggie Flynn

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Perceived Risk Hides Potential Upsides for Skilled Nursing Investors

Assisted living facilities sued for discriminating against people who use wheelchairs

April 19, 2018, 10:30 pm

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A group of related assisted living communities in New York City as well as the state's governor, health commissioner and Department of Health are defendants in a lawsuit alleging they discriminate against people with disabilities who use wheelchairs.

The New York City-based Fair Housing Justice Center, a former assisted living resident and her brother, who is her power of attorney and healthcare proxy, are the plaintiffs in the April 12 action.

The resident alleges that she was prohibited from returning to one of the facilities, where she had resided for five years, after she left for two months to be treated for a urinary tract infection and subsequently used a wheelchair some of the time. She continues to live at the skilled nursing facility where she had gone for rehabilitation, according to the lawsuit.

Defendants in the lawsuit include the Village Housing Development Fund, Elm York Assisted Living in the East Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens, Madison York Assisted Living in the Rego Park neighborhood of Queens and Madison York Assisted Living in the Corona neighborhood in Queens. The plaintiff lived in an adult home operated by the Village Housing Development Fund, which is related to the other communities, according to the complaint.

Representatives for the assisted living facilities did not respond to requests for comment by McKnight's Senior Living's publication deadline.

The FHJC, in a newsletter posted online, said it conducted an “undercover testing investigation” of the defendants' properties (in 2017, according to the lawsuit) after receiving allegations of discrimination from residents. The complaints, according to the lawsuit, included being prohibited from using wheelchairs and other mobility devices throughout facilities and in common areas and being warned that they could be sent to a nursing home if they became too reliant on such equipment.

The center had testers pose as family members of prospective residents, and conversations were recorded, according to the lawsuit. The investigation, the nonprofit organization said, “demonstrates a pattern and practice of discrimination against people who use wheelchairs.” Testers frequently were told that residents were required to be ambulatory in case of an evacuation.

The facilities are licensed by the state to provide housing and services to people with disabilities, and all have elevators, according to the FHJC.

“As soon as a resident begins to use a wheelchair, the adult home claims they are inappropriate for assisted living and sends them to a nursing home,” Jota Borgmann, senior staff attorney at Mobilization for Justice, said in the newsletter article. Attorneys from that organization as well as AARP Foundation Litigation are representing the plaintiffs. “And, worse yet, New York state shamefully maintains that it is perfectly fine for adult homes to discriminate against people who use wheelchairs,” Borgmann added.

The FHJC alleges that the state “promotes disability discrimination through its regulations and policies.” Adult homes are allowed to ban wheelchair users, and the state Department of Health regulations say that assisted living facilities “should not accept nor retain any person who … is ‘chronically chairfast,' ” according to the complaint.

The regulations have not been updated since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Affordable Care Act and the amendments to the federal Fair Housing Act as well as since the Supreme Court's decision in Olmstead v. L.C., the FHJC said.

“People with disabilities who use wheelchairs must have equal access to housing opportunities and assisted living services that are available to others,” FHJC Executive Director Fred Freiberg said in the newsletter article. “The state needs to enact and enforce regulations that promote non-discrimination in adult care facilities and assisted living programs so that they fully comply with federal civil rights mandates.”

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Assisted living facilities sued for discriminating against people who use wheelchairs

Suspended Las Vegas lawyer Jacob Hafter dies at age 42

April 19, 2018, 11:00 pm

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Controversial Las Vegas lawyer Jacob Hafter, who made unsuccessful bids for elected office in recent years and was suspended by the Nevada Supreme Court in November, died Tuesday at the age of 42.

Fellow lawyer Robert Draskovich remembered Hafter on Wednesday as a “talented but eccentric attorney.”

The Clark County coroner’s office has ruled Hafter’s death a suicide.

According to a GoFundMe page established to raise money for Hafter’s burial costs, he was married and had four children. The page raised more than $22,000 after its creation Wednesday. 

Rabbi Shea Harlig said Hafter was charitable and had helped various Jewish organizations and synagogues financially. Harlig had known Hafter since Hafter was in high school but had not talked to him in years.

Harlig said that with Hafter, everything was “black and white.”

“When he felt there was an injustice, nothing stopped him,” the rabbi said.

License suspension

Hafter was suspended for six months by the high court for lying under oath and making derogatory public comments about a district judge. The suspension was partly a response to a complaint from the State Bar of Nevada.

The complaint stemmed from comments Hafter made in 2014 about then-District Judge Valorie Vega after she denied his request to alter a two-week civil trial schedule to accommodate a Jewish holiday.

“He went all out to fight it,” Harlig said.

Hafter accused Vega of religious discrimination in a Facebook post. He also told a Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter at the time: “Either she’s anti-Semitic or she’s biased against me. In either case, she shouldn’t be the judge in this case.”

The high court found that “there was no basis in fact for Hafter’s comments.”

At the time, Vega was presiding over a medical malpractice case that Hafter was defending, and Hafter was running for a different seat on the District Court bench.

Shortly after the high court’s decision was handed down, Hafter, who had asked for no discipline, took to Facebook:

“This state is so crooked. It is so sad,” he wrote. “We have attorneys who steal from clients and they get stayed suspensions and slaps on the hand. I try to follow my religion and defend myself in a private litigation matter and the Supreme Court suspends me for 6 months, effective immediately. What about all the clients I have? I represent clients that no other attorney will take. I do it, often, without charge or for delayed compensation. I am a solo practitioner. How is that fair to the public?”

The suspension also followed allegations against Hafter of engaging in fraudulent conduct and making misrepresentations in Nevada legal proceedings to evade a $137,000 judgment against his law firm in Arizona.

Hafter had been licensed to practice law in Nevada since 2005, according to the State Bar’s website. He focused on representing doctors.

On April 9, he posted on Facebook that he was packing up his office. The post included the hashtag, “#wouldratheruberthanpracticelawinNevada.”

Past litigation

Before the discipline was imposed, Hafter represented a 4-year-old girl in a lawsuit aimed at forcing UNLV to reopen its maternal HIV program after the program was suspended.

“They’re holding the program in abeyance at the risk of children getting the health care that they need,” Hafter said in October.

In 2015, Hafter filed a lawsuit claiming that Nevada’s medical marijuana registry violates several constitutional rights, including the right to due process. Representing an anonymous medical marijuana patient, he argued the case last year in front of the state Supreme Court. The court ruled that the system is constitutional.

In 2012, a federal judge barred Nevada prisons from feeding “common fare” menu items to inmates who adhere to kosher diets after Hafter argued that the menu violated religious rights.

Hafter, a former paramedic, ran as a Republican for Nevada attorney general in 2010 but lost in the primary.

He said he often donated his services to people who were in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure.

“I am someone who believes people need an advocate,” he said during the campaign. “I advocate whether I am paid or not.”

Hafter also lost a race against incumbent District Judge Susan Johnson in 2014.


February letter
In a February letter to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, attorney Jacob Hafter said his suspension by the Nevada Supreme Court left him “devastated.”

“I had to give away all my cases. I am unemployable and have been blackballed from the industry,” he wrote. “I do not have the resources, nor the energy to fight this anymore. I also have no desire to practice in a profession that is regulated by justices who would rather silence someone who speaks out against an elected member of the judiciary, than pursue justice. Hence, my legal career is coming to a close.”

The federal court imposed a concurrent suspension based on the Nevada court’s order. The suspension was due to end next month.

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Suspended Las Vegas lawyer Jacob Hafter dies at age 42

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Nashuan pleads guilty to exploitation

April 20, 2018, 10:00 pm

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Ashton Haven (right)

NASHUA – When he met a divorced woman with five children through an online gaming site a couple years ago, longtime Nashua resident Ashton Haven believed the “complete family life” he’d so longed for was finally within reach.

Attorney Jeff Odlund, one of Haven’s two lawyers, told Superior Court Judge Charles Temple that his client’s case is one in which “Ashton was placed in a situation where he wanted what he saw as having a family.”

“While it is not an excuse for the choices he made, I think it explains how the case happened … it contexualizes it,” Oldlund said, referring to the series of felony charges leveled 13 months ago against Haven, accusing him of financially exploiting an elderly relative by stealing thousands of dollars from her accounts.

Haven, 29, of 120 Monroe St., appeared before Temple in Hillsborough County Superior Court South Monday afternoon to plead guilty to three of the seven charges he’d faced in connection with the theft of more than $27,000 from the elderly woman, for whom Haven had durable power of attorney.

Temple, after hearing arguments and sentencing recommendations from Odlund and co-counsel Amanda Henderson, and the prosecutor, state Assistant Attorney General Brandon Gerod, took a roughly 15-minute break before pronouncing sentence.

He ultimately sentenced Haven to 1-3 years in state prison, with 90 days of the minimum suspended for three years after his release.

Coupled with the agreement that Haven be given credit for the 96 days he’s already spent in jail, brings his total minimum stand committed time to just under six months, a resolution that Temple said he believes reconciles “a number of aggravating and mitigating factors in this case.”

Haven, formerly known as Amy Haven, was indicted in May 2017 on a total of seven charges, which, beside the count of financial exploitation of an elderly, disabled or impaired adult and the two counts of theft by deception, included two additional counts of theft by deception and two counts of theft by unauthorized taking.

Those four charges were dropped by prosecutors as part of the agreement.

The attorneys had come to a capped plea agreement in the case, meaning that each side presented a sentencing recommendation to the judge. Odlund asked for a sentence of 1-2 years in state prison, all deferred for one year and then suspended for two years, while Gerod recommended that Temple sentence Haven to 1-3 years in state prison.

On the other charges Haven agreed to plead guilty to Monday – two counts of theft by deception – both sides recommended a term of 2-4 years in state prison, all suspended for three years.

Both also agreed that Haven be credited with the 96 days of time already served, and that he be allowed to report to state prison on April 6, to allow him to give two weeks notice to his present employer, a local coffee shop.

The terms of the agreement also order Haven to pay $27,600 in restitution to the victim. He must also enroll in any educational, treatment or counseling programs recommended by prison officials, and obtain “further rehabilitation,” Temple said, “so you can finally address the demons that have haunted you for the better part of your life.”

The judge referred to Odlund’s account of his client’s childhood, in which he said Haven was “a victim of serious violence” that led to a diagnosis of PTSD in adulthood.

Haven grew up in the area, Odlund said, and had no criminal history until this case. “My client is also transgender, and was on hormone therapy … but that stopped when he went to Valley Street Jail” after his arrest.

Losing his father to a heart attack at a young age, Haven was “suddenly thrust into the position of caring for” the elderly relative, Odlund said.

“The responsibility fell to him … frankly, being called upon to be her power of attorney was beyond his capabilities, but he was the only adult in the home,” he said.

Once Haven met the woman with five children, he began using “the misappropriated funds” for “frivolous, unreasonable” purchases of goods and services, Odlund said.

Gerod, the prosecutor, said “a substantial amount of money was spent on restaurants, mainly fast-food places for the woman’s children.

Meanwhile, Gerod said, the victim, who had been diagnosed with dementia five years earlier, trusted Haven, but otherwise “she simply did not have the cognitive abilities to realize what was happening.” She therefore trusted that Haven “was doing everything in her best interest,” he said.

The woman “is really the most vulnerable victim you can have,” Gerod continued. “She had no ability to realize what was happening … unable to consent to anything.”

He also noted the “horrible condition” that authorities found the house in when they began investigating the case, and that Haven neglected paying utility bills so long that services were eventually shut off.

Odlund said that the fact Haven was “comfortable living in conditions like that” shows that he “has deep psychological issues” that need to be addressed.

Haven alternated between stoic and emotional as he watched the proceedings from the defense table.

Asked if he wanted to address the court, Haven spoke briefly with his attorneys then rose from his seat.

“I just want to say I’m truly sorry,” he began, his voice breaking. “I understand now, that at the time, I didn’t see what was going on … now I see it,” he said between pauses.

“I am truly sorry.”

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Nashuan pleads guilty to exploitation

Rhode Island assisted suicide bill will create the perfect crime.

April 20, 2018, 10:30 pm

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Margaret Dore

Providence, RI -- Attorney Margaret Dore, president of Choice is an Illusion, which has fought assisted suicide legalization efforts in many states, including Rhode Island, made the following statement in connection with the hearing on bill H 7297 seeking to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in that state.

"There is a bill pending before the Rhode Island House of Representatives, which seeks to legalize physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia as those terms are traditionally defined," said Dore. “The bill seeks to legalize these practices for people with years, even decades, to live.”

“The bill is sold as assuring patient choice and control. But when you look at what the bill actually says and does, the bill is a recipe for elder abuse.” Dore explained, "The patient's heir, who will financially benefit from the patient’s death, is allowed to actively participate in signing the patient up for the lethal dose. After that, no doctor, not even a witness, is required to be present at the death. If the patient objected or even struggled, who would know? The bill will create the perfect crime.”

"Other states are pushing back against assisted suicide,” said Dore. “This year, Utah passed a bill clarifying that assisted suicide is a crime. Last year, Alabama passed a bill banning assisted suicide. Two years ago, the New Mexico Supreme Court overturned assisted suicide: Physician-assisted suicide is no longer legal in New Mexico.”

“The Rhode Island bill seeks to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia for people who are ‘terminal,’ which is defined as a doctor’s prediction of less than six months to live.“ Dore added, “In real life, such persons can have years, even decades, to live.”

“Doctors can be wrong about life expectancy, sometimes way wrong." Dore explained, "This is due to actual mistakes and the fact that predicting life expectancy is not an exact science. A few years ago, I was met at the airport by a man who at age 18 had been diagnosed with ALS and given 3 to 5 years to live, at which time he was predicted to die by paralysis. His diagnosis had been confirmed by the Mayo Clinic. When he met me at the airport, he was 74 years old. The disease progression had stopped on its own.”

“If the Rhode Island bill becomes law, there will be new lethal paths of elder abuse, which will be legally sanctioned,” said Dore. “People with years, even decades to live, will be encouraged to throw away their lives or have their lives thrown away for them. Even if you like the concept of assisted suicide and suicide and euthanasia, the proposed bill has it all wrong.”

For more information:

1. Margaret Dore, Legal/Policy Analysis of H 7297, Rhode Island House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare, memo available here: Attachments available here: 

2. Margaret K. Dore, “Death with Dignity’: What Do We Advise Our Clients?,” King County Bar Association, Bar Bulletin, May 2009,  (available here).

Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation working against assisted suicide and euthanasia, worldwide

www.choiceillusion.org
1001 4th Avenue, Suite 4400
Seattle WA USA 98154

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Rhode Island assisted suicide bill will create the perfect crime.

New York Lawyers’ Fund $10.6 Million in Payouts Mostly Due to Handful of Lawyers

April 20, 2018, 11:00 pm

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Every state has its own version of a fund that lawyers pay into that serves to protect clients from those who mismanage funds, according to Law.com. New York’s version is the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection. The number of claims being filed with the fund has been growing, with 2017 being the second-highest single-year payout since the fund was created 35 years ago.

The paid claims for financial losses by lawyer misconduct was at $10.6 million last year. The fund, an independent public trust, is mainly financed by attorney registration fees. The fund reimburses clients for the “losses caused by dishonest conduct of former New York State lawyers,” including theft of estate assets, settlement proceeds, and real estate escrow funds, in addition to unearned legal fees paid to an attorney who falsely promises legal services.

The payouts from last year largely went to cover misconduct by a handful of attorneys. This includes $1.3 million for Marc Dreier’s Ponzi scheme with fake promissory notes and the embezzlement of client funds, $2.8 million for personal injury lawyer Stuart Schlesinger’s theft of settlement money and $400,000 for Michael Lippman’s theft from various real estate and estate planning matters.

The highest payout year was 2015 when $12.3 million was given out. In total, the 2017 funds covered 87 now suspended, disbarred or deceased lawyers. Of those, 70 percent of the $10.6 million was for the actions of ten former attorneys.

This is a trend that fund trustees have been noticing. In their annual report, they indicate that most of the losses come from solo practitioners who are generally male and middle-aged. Their misconduct is heavily influenced by alcohol, drug abuse, and gambling but is also affected by economic pressures, marital, professional, medical, and mental illness problems. The trustees are recommending measures to detect and prevent excessive abuse. One proposal is to require banks to give notice to the Lawyers’ Fund when an attorney trust or escrow account overdrafts. Another proposal is to ban overdraft protection on attorney trust and escrow accounts. While they decide which actions to take, the claims against the fund continue to grow.

The report states there are 351 claims filed with the fund for last year, claiming $29.2 million in losses. In 2016, there were alleged losses of $42.8 million.

See the full list of the suspended, disbarred or deceased lawyers whose clients were reimbursed for their misconduct, go here.

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New York Lawyers’ Fund $10.6 Million in Payouts Mostly Due to Handful of Lawyers

Agewise: Knowing who to trust

April 21, 2018, 10:00 pm

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Q: With all of the scams out there today, I’m afraid to give away any personal information. I don’t know who to trust. How do I know when someone is trying to take advantage of me?

C.A.

Answer: Although anyone can be the target of a scam, older adults 50+ are more likely to be the victims of fraud or identity theft.

The reasons for this could be numerous. Many of today’s elderly were brought up to be more positive and trusting of one another, which may make them an easier target. Often, an elder who doesn’t want to be viewed as helpless by their family or caretakers will keep quiet about things that trouble them. These things and other circumstances put older adults in our community at risk, and while the government can do some things to enforce laws against scammers, protecting our personal information often comes down to our own vigilance. Here are some general tips to protect you or an elderly loved one:

1. Be informed about common scams, like landline phone scams. One great resource is StopFraud.gov, a website operated by the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force with tips and information for elders and their caregivers.

2. Keep an eye on financial activity. If you or your loved one are online, many email scams involve sending money or providing credit card information, so keeping tabs on your relative’s financials can help you spot any potential fraud as it happens. Operate by the rule, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”

3. Sign up for identity fraud theft protection, which provides real-time monitoring of financials and makes restoration after a theft attempt much less of a panic.

4. Make sure caregivers are trustworthy. Unfortunately, identity theft is not always committed by strangers. If you are the adult child of a senior who needs care, be on the lookout for suspicious behavior and make sure documents and other items containing personal and financial information are locked away where they cannot be easily accessed.

One way to protect yourself or a loved one from predators is to learn the latest tricks that are being used to steal your money. Fraud and Identity Theft: Protecting Yourself from Con Artists is a free seminar being hosted by the public library in Clemmons. The class will be taught by Glenn Kirk of Summit Credit Union. He is a frequent presenter of seminars for businesses and associations all across North Carolina. He has also appeared on WFMY TV as a resource for banking and financial items of interest.

In this class, you will learn how to protect your Social Security card and your identity from being stolen. Other topics covered include email fraud and phone scams, recovering from ID theft, and what to do when your bank or the IRS calls. The class will be held in the Clemmons library auditorium on April 23 at 3:30 p.m., and is part of Money Smart Week at the library. The same class is being held at the Kernersville Branch Library on April 24 at 2 p.m.

Q: How much should I really be preparing for end-of-life expenses?
 
B.T.

Answer: We plan for so many things in our life, from college to having kids. Something we don’t plan for, or just don’t want to think about, is the care that we may need later in life.

Every adult is at risk of being unable to make health care decisions. Meaningful conversations with your loved ones about what you value in your personal health care will lead to higher quality care and much less stress for your family when a health care crisis arises.

April 16 is National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD). Each year, this day focuses on the education and awareness of health care decision planning. NHDD is a great time to think about creating your own advance health care plan. An advance health care directive is the document that helps an adult name someone to make health care decisions when the person cannot do so. In addition to creating planning documents, this is a good time to think and talk about the different kinds of health care and treatment one wants and does not want.

The Hospice Care Center provides Advance Care Planning Workshops every Tuesday at different locations that serve 13 counties, providing the opportunity to learn about the living will and health care power of attorney. In Winston-Salem, that workshop takes place on the first Tuesday of every month at 1 p.m. in the Hospice & Palliative Care Center. You can also schedule a walk-in consultation or get your questions answered by calling 336-768-6157, ext. 1622 or 704-637-7645. While donations are welcome, these services are provided at no cost to you.

The National Center on Law and Elder Rights (NCLER) provides free case consultation assistance for attorneys and professionals seeking more information to help older adults. Topics include: Advance Planning, Elder Abuse, Guardianship, Health/LTSS, Economic Security, Supported Decision-Making, Consumer Protection, and Housing. Please contact ConsultNCLER@acl.hhs.gov for assistance.

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Agewise: Knowing who to trust

Lackawanna County Salary Board votes to fund guardianship administrator position

April 21, 2018, 10:30 pm

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SCRANTON — The Lackawanna County Salary Board on Wednesday voted to fund a new position to perform state Supreme Court-mandated work, an issue that sparked contentious debate at a prior salary board meeting late last year.

Register of Wills Fran Kovaleski — who also serves as clerk of the Orphans’ Court, a division of the county court system — appeared before the board on Dec. 20 seeking a budget amendment to create a full-time guardianship administrator position at an annual salary of $42,000 plus benefits. Tensions rose at that meeting when county officials told Kovaleski the salary board can only vote to fund positions, not create them.

Nonetheless, Kovaleski and the county continued to discuss the issue. On Feb. 1, she raised some fees in both the Register of Wills and Orphans’ Court offices to cover the cost of the position, hoping the salary board would ultimately fund it.

That’s what the board did Wednesday by voting to fund the position at an annual salary of $42,000, with only Commissioner Laureen Cummings voting no. Cummings, who sits on the salary board with fellow commissioners Patrick O’Malley and Jerry Notarianni and county Controller Gary DiBileo, said she doesn’t feel the position is necessary.

The administrator will work for the Orphans’ Court and serve as a coordinator between the courts and court-appointed guardians of senior citizens, informing current guardians of new reporting practices, updating the county’s data on active guardianships and migrating that data into a new computer-based Guardian Tracking System. They would also alert the courts of any potential improprieties in guardianship reports to help protect seniors from fraud, among other responsibilities.

Much of that work is being mandated by the state Supreme Court through the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts and is too much for current staff to manage given their existing workload, Kovaleski said earlier this year.

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Lackawanna County Salary Board votes to fund guardianship administrator position

Editorial: Guardianship panels have much to do to fix system

April 21, 2018, 11:00 pm

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Even as two committees appointed by the state Supreme Court begin the detailed work of coming up with plans to implement reforms to New Mexico’s troubled guardianship system, there are constant reminders that much remains to be done – even after the Legislature approved significant improvements in this year’s session.

No example of the problems is more glaring than the missing annual reports described by Journal investigative reporter Colleen Heild in a Journal story published March 25.

Her story began with a simple question: “What’s become of Elizabeth Hamel?”

Hamel had been found to be a person in need of protection by Judge James T. Martin of Las Cruces, who assigned a private company as her guardian/conservator in 2010.

But nothing in online court docket sheets – what have been the only public window into this highly secretive system – indicated that required annual reports had ever been filed in Elizabeth’s case. There was no indication as to whether she was dead or alive.

And her case is hardly unique. A check by the Journal found dozens of cases with missing reports in southern New Mexico.

The owner of the commercial guardianship company appointed by Martin, Advocate Services of Las Cruces, acknowledged that the company “did get behind,” but said we are “catching up.”

Eight years is a lot of catching up to do.

These reports, which a court-appointed rules committee will hopefully beef up to at least include bank statements of people under guardianships, are a lifeline to the judge from protected people – especially those with no living family members or whose families have been shut out by corporate guardians for having the audacity to complain about profligate spending or poor treatment of their loved ones.

Martin is a member of the steering committee, which includes judges and legislators, that is tasked with coming up with ways to implement the reforms approved by the 2018 Legislature. He clearly has first-hand knowledge of a significant problem – namely no system in place to make sure annual reports reach the judge in a case.

One of the legislation’s most important reforms was to add much-needed transparency to the system. The sponsor of the reform legislation, Sen. Jim White, R-Albuquerque, is also a member of the steering committee, as is Rep. Damon Ely, D-Corrales.

Meanwhile a separate court rules committee will have the opportunity to do by rule some of the things the statute didn’t cover – but that were recommended by a Supreme Court-appointed task force last year, ably chaired by retired District Judge Wendy York.

The task force of lawyers, judges, industry professionals and family members recommended a number of changes including requiring mediation in contested cases, requiring national certification of professional guardians and conservators and addressing the current practice in which the petitioner’s attorney can “stack the deck” in favor of a guardianship by recommending to the judge who should serve as guardian, guardian ad litem, court visitor and health care expert.

This is an industry that has been rife with conflicts that work to benefit the for-profit professionals and to relegate the families of people in guardianships to second-class status – if that. In some cases, concerns of what professionals described as “emotional” family members can lead to their being virtually cut off from visiting, or allowed to do so only under strict supervision of the guardian.

Executives of one guardianship company are charged in federal court with stealing millions of dollars from clients to fund extravagant lifestyles. This all happened under the noses of the judges who made the appointments and were supposed to be looking after the protected persons – primarily through annual reports.

So millions of dollars have been siphoned off undetected under the current reporting mechanism. Enough said.

Meanwhile, the rules committee has come under legitimate criticism for being dominated by insiders and lacking any significant voice representing families. In other words, critics say it is mostly lawyers writing rules for themselves.

But this committee is subject to Supreme Court supervision, and the court should require it to post the schedule of its meetings and allow outside input – since it isn’t built in. And it should take a hard look at recommendations. The guardianship system has tremendous impact on some of our most vulnerable people and their families. Real progress has been made, but there is much more to do for it to positively affect those individuals and their loved ones. It is the responsibility of these committees to make that happen – not to take the heat off the industry or make life easy for the judiciary.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.

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Editorial: Guardianship panels have much to do to fix system

Ohio woman indicted for forgery, theft from elderly man

April 22, 2018, 10:00 pm

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LONDON, Ohio — Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced today that a London, Ohio, woman is now facing felony charges following an investigation conducted as part of his Elder Justice Initiative.

Ashley Muncie, 33, was indicted by a Madison County grand jury on charges of forgery and theft, both felonies of the fourth degree.

Muncie is accused of forging more than $6,000 in checks belonging to an elderly West Jefferson man between November 2012 and April 2013. The victim suffered from dementia.

"The victim in this case trusted the defendant, but our investigation found that the trust was built on nothing but deception," said Attorney General DeWine. "The suspect allegedly helped herself to his checking account, and these charges are the first step in holding her accountable for these crimes."

The case is being prosecuted by attorneys with Attorney General DeWine's Special Prosecutions Section. Special agents with the Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation investigated the case as part of Attorney General DeWine's Elder Justice Initiative.

Attorney General DeWine launched the Elder Justice Initiative in 2014 to increase the investigation and prosecution of elder abuse cases and improve victims' access to services in Ohio. Anyone who suspects incidents of elder abuse or financial exploitation should contact their local authorities or the Ohio Attorney General's Elder Justice Initiative at 1-800-282-0515.

Warning signs of elder abuse include:

• Changes in an older adult’s physical appearance, such as weight loss or unexplained bruising or bleeding
• Changes in an older adult’s personality or mood
• Changes in an older adult’s finances or money management
• A dominating, threatening caregiver or new “best friend”
• Exclusion from other family members or friends
• Changes in an older adult’s home environment

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Ohio woman indicted for forgery, theft from elderly man

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Watch this judge brutally berate a woman in a wheelchair. The woman died. The judge has quit.

April 22, 2018, 10:30 pm

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A Broward County circuit judge delivered a blistering, arm-waving, face-palming, tongue-lashing to a frail, out-of-breath woman — pushed into court in a wheelchair — who was facing misdemeanor charges following a family feud.

Three days later, the defendant died.

Judge Merrillee Ehrlich has resigned, although it is unclear when that resignation was provided and when it becomes effective.

News of the death of Sandra Faye Twiggs, 59, surfaced Friday.

The courtroom rant last Sunday was so over the top that Broward's elected public defender, Howard Finkelstein, demanded that Judge Merrilee Ehrlich be banned from the criminal courthouse.

"It is not appropriate for anyone to endure that kind of treatment," said Finkelstein's chief assistant, Gordon Weekes. "All that was required was a bit of patience, and a bit of respect to allow this lady to speak, to gather herself and to breathe."

Instead, Twiggs died, "and never had the opportunity to have her dignity restored," Weekes said.

Twiggs suffered from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, also called COPD. She ended up under arrest after squabbling with her 19-year-old daughter.

“My mom is gone and there is nothing I can do about it,” said Michelle Ballard, the daughter. “I’m now a teenager who will have to bury her mother.”

Said Carolyn Porter, a family friend of Twiggs: “She came home so devastated she couldn't catch her breath.”

Porter told the Miami Herald that once Twiggs was released from jail and taken back home, she was starving, dizzy and borderline breathless. She had trouble getting her medications in the jail, Porter said.

Anna Twiggs, the woman's sister, found her dead in her bed Wednesday morning, the day after she was released, Porter added.

Sandra Faye Twiggs had never been in trouble before when the Lauderhill Police Department charged her on April 13 with scratching her daughter during a domestic dispute that began with a disagreement over a fan. Two days later, Twiggs was wheeled into Ehrlich's courtroom. She was coughing and gasping for breath.

Twiggs suffered from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.

In a video of the April 15 encounter, Ehrlich appears to the left in a split screen, and Twiggs is shown seated in a wheelchair, barely visible above a lectern at the North Broward satellite courthouse. Ehrlich asks Twiggs whether she and her daughter, the alleged victim, live in the same house.

Twiggs tries to answer the question, which requires more than a "yes" or "no" because the 19-year-old doesn't live with Twiggs full-time. Mid-sentence, Ehrlich snaps at her: "Excuse me! Don't say anything beyond what I am asking you!" Clearly exasperated, Ehrlich asks Twiggs' lawyer, who is in a different location during the video hookup, to make Twiggs stop talking.

As Twiggs coughs and holds her head, Ehrlich speaks to deputies, who are off-screen: "Can someone there give her water as a kindness?" But the judge's anger continues to boil over. Twiggs tries to tell the judge that she needs medical treatment for her pulmonary problems.

The judge erupts: "Ma'am, I am not here to talk to you about your breathing treatments!"

Again, Ehrlich prevails upon Twiggs' lawyer to teach her better courtroom manners. "Will you say something in the microphone so that she can hear you and you can give her instructions about propriety in the court?" the judge says. "I'm not going to spend all day with her interrupting me," Ehrlich says.

"You've already said too much!" the judge yells later, as Twiggs tries to answer another question.

After disposing of Twiggs' case, Ehrlich's next defendant is a 30-year-old Fort Lauderdale woman charged with misdemeanor domestic battery. A police report says the woman allegedly pushed and slapped a man and then pulled his t-shirt, causing it "to stretch out and slightly tear."

The woman is worried about who will care for her 9-month-old baby while she is in jail. She begins to sob and shake. "Don't talk! You have an attorney here talking for you!" Ehrlich shouts. "Ma'am, be quiet or be removed! Be quiet!

In a letter to Broward's chief judge, Jack Tuter, Finkelstein wrote that Ehrlich "demonstrated aggressive and tyrannical behavior and revealed her lack of emotional fitness to sit on the bench," during the back-to-back hearings. He called the judge's behavior "shocking, and an embarrassment to Broward County."

The Herald was unable to reach the judge Friday evening.

Said Porter, the family friend: “Yes people go to jail but they don’t have to be treated like animals because they're in jail. ... That courtroom, that jail cell was the last life she lived — that's the way she lived the last days of her life.”

re here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article209496684.html#storylink=cpy

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Watch this judge brutally berate a woman in a wheelchair. The woman died. The judge has quit.

Editorial: He had to fight NM system to save his stepmother

April 22, 2018, 11:00 pm

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Fourteen months, numerous trips from California to Las Cruces, more than $50,000 in travel expenses and legal fees – and a man’s unwavering love for his stepmother, who had been in his life since he was 14 years old.

That’s what it took for Larry Davis and his wife, Marcia, to pry Larry’s stepmother, Kise Davis, from a commercial guardianship/conservatorship. Unbeknownst to her family, a handyman the 85-year-old woman befriended in Las Cruces had an emergency petition filed to have her placed under court protection.

The petition filed by the handyman’s lawyer failed to mention that Kise had a stepson – describing him only as her former power of attorney. Larry Davis had no notice of the petition that state District Judge James T. Martin of Las Cruces granted without a hearing. Davis’ first inkling was a telephone call in December 2016 from a neighbor of Kise’s in La Mesa telling him “I think you should know, they came and picked up Kise and said they’re taking her to an institution.”

Davis, who had visited his stepmother that June and been assured by state Adult Protective Services she was OK to continue living in the home she had shared with Larry’s father before his death, reacted quickly.

He talked to the handyman, Larry Franco, who said he had been worried about Kise and would withdraw his petition.

Too late. The commercial guardianship train had started rolling down the track. As provided by law, Kise now had a court-appointed guardian ad litem and a court-appointed guardian/conservator – both being paid from her assets.

She had been placed in a facility with people whose dementia was much worse than hers and the guardian ad litem opposed transferring her to California or putting her closest relative in charge of her care.

The judge initially agreed that Kise would be better served with a commercial guardian – even though he acknowledged Kise and Davis had a relationship.

Davis fought on. He had four different lawyers and made more than a half dozen trips to Las Cruces – including one when he arrived and was told the judge had been called away and the hearing re-scheduled.

He and his wife continued to see Kise – under restrictions from the guardian about what they could talk about and when they could see her.

Reforms passed by the 2018 Legislature, and others being drafted by a Supreme Court rules committee, will address some of the system’s ills. But they won’t necessarily stop what happened to Kise and Larry Davis.

But judges have the power to make – and the rules committee should consider a requirement that – attorneys who file petitions for guardianships or conservatorship submit an affidavit they have done due diligence and there are no family members who should be notified. Without that, the transparency reforms enacted this year mean nothing in a case like this.

And the Legislature, which backed off this year adopting the new Uniform Probate Code developed nationally, should revisit it – especially a provision that says judges should use the “least restrictive” means possible to protect the incapacitated person. In this case, that could have been a temporary living arrangement for Kise while the case was sorted out – rather than a full-blown corporate guardianship apparatus that has its own vested financial interest.

At the end of the day, it would appear the case of Kise and Larry Davis has a happy ending. “You saved my life,” Kise told her stepson, honoring him with a faux-Olympic medal after hearing the news on Feb. 26 that Larry would be her guardian/conservator.

But few people would have the assets and determination to fight the system the way Larry did – even if they had the same love for the family member. Once the family is shut out, the task is simply too daunting for too many.

There have been too many unhappy endings in cases like this. It’s up to our Legislature and the judiciary to continue working on reforms that prevent the nightmare scenario faced by Kise and Larry Davis.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.

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Editorial: He had to fight NM system to save his stepmother

Tonight on Marti Oakley's T. S. Radio: Abolishing Probate: Florida Legislative Claims Bill

April 23, 2018, 4:16 pm

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5:00 pm PST … 6:00 pm MST … 7:00 pm CST … 8:00 pm EST

Our guests tonight are Peggy Dupree and Betty Gosnell. At issue is the Florida Legislative Claims bill, located HERE!

From the Bill:

"DISTRIBUTION TO GUARDIAN

*Payment to the guardian of the claimant, including a reversion to the source of payment upon the death of the claimant. (This language should be used if the claimant is a minor or is incompetent. It is intended to protect payments to claimants who are otherwise unable to protect their own interests).

“... payable to {guardian of claimant} as legal guardian of {claimant}, to be placed in the guardianship account of {claimant}, to compensate him/her for injuries and damages sustained as a result of the negligence of {respondent}.

Upon the death of {claimant}, any balance of the ${amount} remaining in the guardianship account shall revert to the {payor}. It is the intent of the Legislature that no funds exceeding {$ amount} appropriated herein subsequently be spent, or any obligation thereof incurred by the guardian, without prior order of the circuit court."

Gosh ....I wonder how that will work out? Tune in tonight as we talk about the ambiguity of this bill. Who actually benefits from this?

LISTEN to the show live or listen to the archive later

Roanoke man will defend himself in retrial for exploitation of the elderly

April 23, 2018, 10:00 pm

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LACON — A former Roanoke man who got a new trial after being convicted last year of trying to extort $10,000 from an 87-year-old Wenona man has decided to defend himself at his new trial in the fall.

Michael Devore, who now lives in Altamont, told Circuit Judge Stephen Kouri last week that he had reached that conclusion after the private attorney he had hired to replace a public defender withdrew from his case.

“I’ve decided to go pro se,” Devore said during a brief hearing in Marshall County Circuit Court.

Devore, 27, is now scheduled to face a jury in September on a charge of attempted financial exploitation of the elderly. The Class 3 felony is punishable by penalties ranging from probation to five years in prison.

Devore was found guilty last July in a bench trial before Judge Thomas Keith. But Keith reversed the conviction in November after Devore claimed that longtime public defender Patrick Murphy had not given him a chance to testify on his own behalf.

″(Murphy) said he didn’t think it would be a good idea for me to testify because it would (expletive) the judge off,” Devore told Keith, adding that he thought that was his “only chance” to beat the charge. “I thought it was important for me to be heard.”

As a matter of strategy, Murphy said, he often advises defendants not to testify, and then requires those who insist on doing so anyway to sign a statement to that effect. He said he “presumed” he had informed Devore of his right to testify even against advice, but that had not been documented.

The case involved a complicated set of circumstances in which Devore had replaced his mother as a caregiver of Charles Goodwin’s disabled wife. In December 2015, Devore threatened to report the older man for elder abuse and illegal tax activities unless he gave him $10,000, and he also said he had once threatened to kill a man while in prison, according to Goodwin’s trial testimony.

“So he said, ‘You’re going to give me $10,000 today or else,’” Goodwin testified. “I felt threatened.”

Devore’s new trial had initially been set for Feb. 27. But Maureen Williams, the attorney who had represented him in getting a new trial, withdrew at that time, and Kouri gave him until last week to find a new lawyer.

The judge warned him of the risks of representing himself.

“You understand that you’re going to be at a disadvantage, because the other side will be represented by an attorney with considerable experience,” Kouri said in reference to State’s Attorney Paul Bauer.

Devore had waived his right to a jury trial earlier in the proceedings, but Kouri said he would be entitled to “start over” and have one if he chose.

“I would like a jury trial if possible,” Devore said.

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Roanoke man will defend himself in retrial for exploitation of the elderly

2 indicted on elder abuse

April 23, 2018, 10:30 pm

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FLORENCE — Two Lauderdale County residents have been indicted on separate incidents of elder abuse.

Sgt. Matt Horton of the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office said Mary Faust, 64, 464 Lauderdale 144, Killen, and Roy G. Pigg Jr., 54, 120 Dale Ave., Killen, were indicted.

Pigg is charged with second-degree elder abuse and financial exploitation of the elderly, while Faust is charged with third-degree elder abuse.

Horton said Pigg is accused of "intentionally" abusing a 62-year-old man and taking his checks while the man was in the hospital.

Pigg is scheduled to be arraigned April 30 by Lauderdale County Circuit Judge Will Powell.

Horton said Faust is accused of leaving a 71-year-old man she was sitting with inside a hot car without any water.

She has pleaded not guilty, and has been placed on Lauderdale Circuit Judge Ben Grave’s August criminal court docket.

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2 indicted on elder abuse