>Husband Retains Guardianship

>

The husband and sister of a woman in a persistent vegetative state agreed that the husband is Heather Lavers’ guardian, heading off a potential dispute like that involving the late Terri Schiavo.

Robert Lavers, who does not want any life support denied his wife, has moved from Florida with their three children, and will be the guardian for Heather Lavers. Her sister, Heidi Kaczala, withdrew her petition from Lucas County Probate Court. She agreed that the court should appoint Mr. Lavers guardian with certain conditions outlined during a hearing.

Among conditions being worked out:
* Mrs. Lavers will not be moved from Ohio without Ms. Kaczala’s consent
* Mr. Lavers must sign a release so that Ms. Kaczala and her mother, Patricia Kaczala, can discuss her care with providers
* Her mother must be notified any time Mr. Lavers gives consent about care

This is the second time this year a woman with Toledo ties has been the focus of a guardianship dispute similar to the nationally controversial case of the late Ms. Schiavo. Karen Weber, formerly of Toledo, died in Florida last month from natural causes before Okeechobee County Circuit Court could determine permanent guardianship.

Source:
Guardianship dispute involving former Toledo woman is averted

More information:
Husband Retains Guardianship Of Disabled Wife

Husband wins care rights for stricken wife in Ohio

See also:

Guardianship Battle Begins

Husband Retains Guardianship

The husband and sister of a woman in a persistent vegetative state agreed that the husband is Heather Lavers’ guardian, heading off a potential dispute like that involving the late Terri Schiavo.

Robert Lavers, who does not want any life support denied his wife, has moved from Florida with their three children, and will be the guardian for Heather Lavers. Her sister, Heidi Kaczala, withdrew her petition from Lucas County Probate Court. She agreed that the court should appoint Mr. Lavers guardian with certain conditions outlined during a hearing.

Among conditions being worked out:
* Mrs. Lavers will not be moved from Ohio without Ms. Kaczala’s consent
* Mr. Lavers must sign a release so that Ms. Kaczala and her mother, Patricia Kaczala, can discuss her care with providers
* Her mother must be notified any time Mr. Lavers gives consent about care

This is the second time this year a woman with Toledo ties has been the focus of a guardianship dispute similar to the nationally controversial case of the late Ms. Schiavo. Karen Weber, formerly of Toledo, died in Florida last month from natural causes before Okeechobee County Circuit Court could determine permanent guardianship.

Source:
Guardianship dispute involving former Toledo woman is averted

More information:
Husband Retains Guardianship Of Disabled Wife

Husband wins care rights for stricken wife in Ohio

See also:

Guardianship Battle Begins

>Mrs. Astor Regrets

>

Brooke Astor died last year at age 105, a victim of pneumonia and Alzheimer’s, but not before her once-elegant Park Avenue life had deteriorated into a family soap opera, spread across the front pages of New York’s tabloids.

Astor’s only son, Anthony Marshall is heading to court in January on a variety of charges stemming from how he handled his mother’s affairs in her final years. Among the 18 indictments are grand larceny, conspiracy, forgery and criminal possession of stolen property.

It was Astor’s grandson, Philip Marshall, a college professor in Rhode Island, who petitioned the courts in summer 2006 to remove his father as his grandmother’s guardian, charging him with elder abuse.

Marshall claimed his grandmother, who became a multimillionaire after the death of her third husband, Vincent Astor, heir to John Jacob Astor’s fortune, was forced to live out her days on a urine-stained sofa in a cold apartment, removed from her beloved dachshunds, her devoted butler and her closest friends.

The courts named Astor’s best friend, Annette de la Renta, her guardian, replacing her son, and Astor finally was taken to her country estate to live out her last months with her staff and dogs.

The sordid tale then became a legal battle over a plundered $200 million estate that involved revised wills with millions designated for charity transferred to Anthony Marshall. Astor’s beloved painting, Flags, Fifth Avenue, was sold by her son, who pocketed a $2 million commission, despite Astor’s desire for it to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Meryl Gordon followed the family fight for two years.

Her new book, Mrs. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach, is an even-handed and fascinating portrait of a wealthy family torn apart by money, jealousy and emotional distance.

Source:
‘Mrs. Astor Regrets’ captures socialite’s deteriorated life

“In the end, Gordon tells a sad and moving story of elder abuse.” – Publishers Weekly
Mrs. Astor Regrets
The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach
by Meryl Gordon

See also:
Too Sick for Court?

Mrs. Astor Regrets

Brooke Astor died last year at age 105, a victim of pneumonia and Alzheimer’s, but not before her once-elegant Park Avenue life had deteriorated into a family soap opera, spread across the front pages of New York’s tabloids.

Astor’s only son, Anthony Marshall is heading to court in January on a variety of charges stemming from how he handled his mother’s affairs in her final years. Among the 18 indictments are grand larceny, conspiracy, forgery and criminal possession of stolen property.

It was Astor’s grandson, Philip Marshall, a college professor in Rhode Island, who petitioned the courts in summer 2006 to remove his father as his grandmother’s guardian, charging him with elder abuse.

Marshall claimed his grandmother, who became a multimillionaire after the death of her third husband, Vincent Astor, heir to John Jacob Astor’s fortune, was forced to live out her days on a urine-stained sofa in a cold apartment, removed from her beloved dachshunds, her devoted butler and her closest friends.

The courts named Astor’s best friend, Annette de la Renta, her guardian, replacing her son, and Astor finally was taken to her country estate to live out her last months with her staff and dogs.

The sordid tale then became a legal battle over a plundered $200 million estate that involved revised wills with millions designated for charity transferred to Anthony Marshall. Astor’s beloved painting, Flags, Fifth Avenue, was sold by her son, who pocketed a $2 million commission, despite Astor’s desire for it to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Meryl Gordon followed the family fight for two years.

Her new book, Mrs. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach, is an even-handed and fascinating portrait of a wealthy family torn apart by money, jealousy and emotional distance.

Source:
‘Mrs. Astor Regrets’ captures socialite’s deteriorated life

“In the end, Gordon tells a sad and moving story of elder abuse.” – Publishers Weekly
Mrs. Astor Regrets
The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach
by Meryl Gordon

See also:
Too Sick for Court?

Mrs. Astor Regrets

Brooke Astor died last year at age 105, a victim of pneumonia and Alzheimer’s, but not before her once-elegant Park Avenue life had deteriorated into a family soap opera, spread across the front pages of New York’s tabloids.

Astor’s only son, Anthony Marshall is heading to court in January on a variety of charges stemming from how he handled his mother’s affairs in her final years. Among the 18 indictments are grand larceny, conspiracy, forgery and criminal possession of stolen property.

It was Astor’s grandson, Philip Marshall, a college professor in Rhode Island, who petitioned the courts in summer 2006 to remove his father as his grandmother’s guardian, charging him with elder abuse.

Marshall claimed his grandmother, who became a multimillionaire after the death of her third husband, Vincent Astor, heir to John Jacob Astor’s fortune, was forced to live out her days on a urine-stained sofa in a cold apartment, removed from her beloved dachshunds, her devoted butler and her closest friends.

The courts named Astor’s best friend, Annette de la Renta, her guardian, replacing her son, and Astor finally was taken to her country estate to live out her last months with her staff and dogs.

The sordid tale then became a legal battle over a plundered $200 million estate that involved revised wills with millions designated for charity transferred to Anthony Marshall. Astor’s beloved painting, Flags, Fifth Avenue, was sold by her son, who pocketed a $2 million commission, despite Astor’s desire for it to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Meryl Gordon followed the family fight for two years.

Her new book, Mrs. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach, is an even-handed and fascinating portrait of a wealthy family torn apart by money, jealousy and emotional distance.

Source:
‘Mrs. Astor Regrets’ captures socialite’s deteriorated life

“In the end, Gordon tells a sad and moving story of elder abuse.” – Publishers Weekly
Mrs. Astor Regrets
The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach
by Meryl Gordon

See also:
Too Sick for Court?

>Disabled Voters

>

A woman wants to change a state law to require that mentally disabled voters be supervised when they cast a ballot.

Brenda Lyddon said she was upset when staff at a group home took her 26-year-old son, who is developmentally disabled, to vote on Election Day against her wishes.

Lyddon said she told the person in charge of the group home that her son was not to vote. “I am his mother and he was not allowed to vote.” “He does not have the mental capacity to choose for himself.”

Lyddon, who has guardianship over most of her son’s legal decision, unsuccessfully challenged his ballot.

It was at least the second case in which a relative challenged a family member’s ballot in this month’s presidential election in Iowa.

In Council Bluffs, a woman challenged her elderly mother’s absentee ballot, claiming her mother suffered from dementia and was coerced into casting the ballot by Democratic campaign workers who were going door-to-door asking potential voters if they wanted an absentee ballot. That challenge was also unsuccessful.

Linda Langenberg, deputy Iowa secretary of state, said it’s the first time in her 32 years supervising elections that she’s heard of someone challenging a family member’s ballot.

Langenberg: “The Iowa code says the only way you can deny them their right to vote is to have them judged incompetent by a court of law.”

Full Article and Source:
Woman seeks limits on mentally disabled voters

Mother wants to limit voting for disabled

Mother To Challenge Son’s Absentee Vote

See also:
Voting Rights

Shedding the Guardian

Disabled Voters

A woman wants to change a state law to require that mentally disabled voters be supervised when they cast a ballot.

Brenda Lyddon said she was upset when staff at a group home took her 26-year-old son, who is developmentally disabled, to vote on Election Day against her wishes.

Lyddon said she told the person in charge of the group home that her son was not to vote. “I am his mother and he was not allowed to vote.” “He does not have the mental capacity to choose for himself.”

Lyddon, who has guardianship over most of her son’s legal decision, unsuccessfully challenged his ballot.

It was at least the second case in which a relative challenged a family member’s ballot in this month’s presidential election in Iowa.

In Council Bluffs, a woman challenged her elderly mother’s absentee ballot, claiming her mother suffered from dementia and was coerced into casting the ballot by Democratic campaign workers who were going door-to-door asking potential voters if they wanted an absentee ballot. That challenge was also unsuccessful.

Linda Langenberg, deputy Iowa secretary of state, said it’s the first time in her 32 years supervising elections that she’s heard of someone challenging a family member’s ballot.

Langenberg: “The Iowa code says the only way you can deny them their right to vote is to have them judged incompetent by a court of law.”

Full Article and Source:
Woman seeks limits on mentally disabled voters

Mother wants to limit voting for disabled

Mother To Challenge Son’s Absentee Vote

See also:
Voting Rights

Shedding the Guardian

>Subsidized Guardianship

>

Junior speaks in front of U.S. representatives and senators about child welfare act

Rob Johnson was selected to speak by the North American Council on Adoptable Children at a reception in front of 147 House Representatives and 27 U.S. Senators because of his presentation skills and his personal experience with subsidized guardianship.

Subsidized guardianship is when family members are compensated for caring for their relatives who would otherwise be in the foster care system.

While growing up, Johnson experienced the foster care system before moving in with his aunt, who became his legal guardian. Johnson said the foster system did more harm than good. His move into subsidized guardianship with his aunt turned things around.

Johnson thanked the attendees for the passing of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. The bill deals with improving the situations in which foster children find themselves.

Johnson: “I saw that a lot of children in the foster system were going through so much stuff and the system wasn’t working. By passing this bill, it will help other youth in foster care move to permanent families through subsidized guardianship, adoption or reunification.”

The act passed the House on Sept. 17, 2008, and the Senate on Sept. 22. President Bush signed the act into law on Oct. 7.

Source:
Student speaks to U.S. Congressmen

See also:
New Law Supporting Relative Guardianship

New Legislation Passed

Subsidized Guardianship

Junior speaks in front of U.S. representatives and senators about child welfare act

Rob Johnson was selected to speak by the North American Council on Adoptable Children at a reception in front of 147 House Representatives and 27 U.S. Senators because of his presentation skills and his personal experience with subsidized guardianship.

Subsidized guardianship is when family members are compensated for caring for their relatives who would otherwise be in the foster care system.

While growing up, Johnson experienced the foster care system before moving in with his aunt, who became his legal guardian. Johnson said the foster system did more harm than good. His move into subsidized guardianship with his aunt turned things around.

Johnson thanked the attendees for the passing of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. The bill deals with improving the situations in which foster children find themselves.

Johnson: “I saw that a lot of children in the foster system were going through so much stuff and the system wasn’t working. By passing this bill, it will help other youth in foster care move to permanent families through subsidized guardianship, adoption or reunification.”

The act passed the House on Sept. 17, 2008, and the Senate on Sept. 22. President Bush signed the act into law on Oct. 7.

Source:
Student speaks to U.S. Congressmen

See also:
New Law Supporting Relative Guardianship

New Legislation Passed

>Free Educational Series

>

Elder law covers the legal needs of the elderly and people who are planning ahead for their aging. In January, the Aging & Disability Resource Center of Central Wisconsin will begin another “Wellness Wednesday” series on financial and legal issues.

The series speaker is Janet Lattyak, attorney from Lattyak Elder Law in Schofield. This free series runs from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Wednesdays at the Resource Center, 1000 Lakeview Drive, Wausau. Reservations are preferred; call 261-6070.

The schedule is:

Jan. 21: Advance Directives — Health Care; co-presented by Tim Moe, Aspirus social worker.

Feb. 18: Advance Directives — Financial / Burial/ Funeral.

March 18: Medicaid Planning — Legal Perspective.

April 22: Wills.

May 13: Probate. Note: No legal advice is provided.

In these challenging times, with economic hardships being faced by the aging population trying to live within limited incomes, this free educational series will be a great benefit to elders in the greater Wausau region.

Source:
ADRC series addresses legal concerns of elderly