On a Sunday morning last month, a spry 99-year-old Pinellas County retiree got his first taste of freedom in weeks.
William Berchau says he doesn't get out of an assisted living facility much anymore. "No, I'm not allowed," Berchau told the ABC Action News I-Team. "My court-appointed guardian doesn't allow me to leave the premises."
A month before his Sunday visit to church in August, Berchau was placed in a locked Alzheimer's unit at the Grand Villa of Pinellas Park. Berchau and his pastor contend Florida's guardianship system has let him down and their complaints about his guardian have been ignored by the Pinellas judiciary.
"He seems to be very mentally sharp and alert," Berchau's pastor, David Priebe, said of his church member. "I just can't believe that somebody would think he's incompetent mentally."
The I-Team pointed out to the clergyman that the Pinellas probate court has ruled Berchau to be incapacitated three times since 2010. Priebe just shook his head. "Wow," the pastor said.
"There's nobody that's more vulnerable than a ward who has assets and can't keep track of where they're going or what's happening with them," said Robert W. Melton, who retired in 2009 as inspector general for the Pinellas circuit court clerk. "The ward basically has no rights."
During his nine years as the Pinellas clerk's internal watchdog, Melton was a critic of the county guardianship system's lack of transparency. "It's a very closed process and, in many cases, the public is not aware of the things that have gone on or are going on in guardianships," Melton said.
Pinellas Circuit Judge Jack St. Arnold, who presides over the Berchau guardianship and hundreds of others, says he doesn't believe the secrecy surrounding guardianships is a problem. "I think our professional guardians do a wonderful job," St. Arnold told the I-Team. "I'm really pleased with them."
Full Article and Source:
Elderly Pinellas Man Freed From Alzheimer's Unit After I-Team Looks at His Case
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I-Team: Court disregards preneed plan, appoints professional guardian