Elmer Cerano: Guardianship bills must be changed

“Death panels,” but this time a panel of one, again rears its ugly head supported by those who cautioned against it in the past.

Several bills are pending in the Michigan Legislature that, if passed, will expand the role and the authority of Michigan guardianship laws. The bills, as written, will allow guardians to invoke a “do not resuscitate” order for a certain group of individuals with disabilities who can not communicate their wishes. This is a very dangerous first step that will allow individual and corporate guardians the authority to prohibit resuscitation of people with disabilities. Here are the problems:

1. Some guardians, primarily court-appointed public guardians, have no prior knowledge of the individual or any type of substantial relationship with the incapacitated person. We do not believe that such a person should be allowed to make decisions of this magnitude on behalf of someone they hardly know.

2. These bills, as written, do not take into account the physical health status of the patient. As result, a perfectly healthy individual could be stripped of a long life due to the decision-making of a person who very well might be a stranger.

3. It allows guardians who may be inconvenienced by — or who may financially benefit from the patient’s death — to decide whether or not to resuscitate.

Full Article and Source:
Elmer Cerano: Guardianship bills must be changed

Oregon NASGA Member Erna Boldt Writes to Her Congressman for Help…..

Dear Rep. Blumenauer:

Sometime in 2004/2005 Your Portland office was informed by the Oregon Justice Department, that I was not in the class of the “indigent”. That was a direct discrimination – and abuse against an elder citizen.

This has morphed into abuse under the American with Disabilities Act, ADA, Title II, in which the protection from Judicial Fundamental Attribution Error, “a type of abuse that occurs when exploitation, deception,mischaracterization, and intimidation are being used by an opponent for the strategic purpose of confusing the Trier of Fact and diminishing Ms. Boldt’s ability to function in court”, was ignored.

Not only have I been discriminated against, suffered the deprivation of my assets at my age, but this last matter has driven me to insolvency, because federal laws were not upheld in my 10 years of judicial tyranny in Oregon.

Someone needs to investigate, why federal law, including the federal Uniform trust code, and the American with Disabilities act (I was diagnosed under post stroke recovery, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, translating into legal abuse, has been denied in Clackamas Circuit Court (5th judicial district). It is the duty of the Justice Department to investigate such complaint and disregard for my Constitutional rights.
Thank you,
Sincerely,
Erna Boldt

********************************************
In a message dated 3/5/2012 12:58:01 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, or03ebinbox@housemail.house.gov writes:
March 5, 2012
Erna Boldt

Ms. Boldt:
Thank you for taking the time to contact me.

I appreciate you bringing this issue to my attention. Since it is a legal issue, it is very difficult for me to get involved. As a Member of Congress, it would be inappropriate for me to give advice about legal matters. I don’t have jurisdiction over the legal system or civil lawsuits.

If you haven’t done so already, seeking legal counsel may be your best course of action. The office of the Oregon State Bar Association is a good resource for information on legal services and has a lawyer referral service.

Their phone number is 503-684-3763.

Thank you again for contacting me.
Sincerely, Earl Blumenauer
Member of Congress

Reform Lands Maricopa County Superior Court’s Probate Court Top Honor

The National Association of Court Management has awarded Maricopa County Superior Court’s Probate Court with the 2013 Justice Achievement Award.
 
The award recognizes comprehensive reform efforts of judicial officers, administrators and court staff over the last three years, according to a news release from the Superior Court of Arizona.

“It is clear that over the past few years the Maricopa County Probate Court has experienced significant reform and innovation under the able leadership of Probate Presiding Judge Rosa Mroz,” said Superior Court Presiding Judge Norman Davis in the release.

“The process of improvement is by its nature perpetual, and the Maricopa County Superior Court has always, and will continue to strive for excellence in providing the public with the best judicial system possible,” Davis said.

The Court will accept the award at the NACM Annual Conference on July 15.

The Justice Achievement Award was established in 1988 to recognize outstanding achievement and meritorious projects that enhance the administration of justice, according to the release.

In 2010, Superior Court received a Justice Achievement Award for the re-design of its CASA website.

Source:
Reform Lands Probate Court Top Honor

Warnings of Elder Abuse

There is a growing concern of elder abuse. Aging individuals that suffer from mental diseases like dementia are particularly vulnerable to abuse. Below are warning signs that can be helpful to raise a suspicion of elder abuse. Taken individually these warnings are not inherently meaningful. However, any combination of these signs could indicate a problem with abuse.

1. The caregiver is secretive about the elder’s finances.
2. The elder is financially supporting the caregiver.
3. The caregiver isolates the elder from others.
4. The caregiver insists on being in the room when anyone else is present.
5. The caregiver has a history of substance abuse.
6. There are changes in the estate planning paperwork.
7. The caregiver moves the elder to his home without warning.

Source:
Warnings of Elder Abuse

Boomers are Killing Themselves at an Alarming Rate — Why?

Last spring, Frank Turkaly tried to kill himself. A retiree in a Pittsburgh suburb living on disability checks, he was estranged from friends and family, mired in credit card debt and taking medication for depression, cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure.

It was not the life he had envisioned as a young man in the 1960s and ’70s, when “people were more in tune with each other, people were more prone to help each other,” said Turkaly, 63, who owned a camera shop and later worked at Sears. “There was not this big segregation between the poor and the rich. . . . I thought it was going to continue the same, I didn’t think it was going to change.”

Turkaly said he regrets his attempt to overdose on tranquilizers, which he attributes to social isolation. But in one grim respect he is far from alone: He is part of an alarming trend among baby boomers, whose suicide rates shot up precipitously between 1999 and 2010.

It has long held true that elderly people have higher suicide rates than the overall population. But numbers released in May by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a dramatic spike in suicides among middle-aged people, with the highest increases among men in their 50s, whose rate went up by nearly 50 percent to 30 per 100,000; and women in their early 60s, whose rate rose by nearly 60 percent (though it is still relatively low compared with men, at 7 in 100,000). The highest rates were among white and Native American and Alaskan men. In recent years, deaths by suicide has surpassed deaths by motor vehicle crashes.

Full Article and Source:
Baby Boomers Are Killing Themselves at an Alarming Rate, Raising Question:  Why?

CA: Senate Judiciary Committee – AB937 Clarifies Conservatees’ Rights

Source:
Senate Judiciary Committee – AB937 Clarifies Conservatees’ Rights

Editorial: Not Enough Protection for Elders

June 14 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Financial exploitation of elders is becoming the primary form of elder abuse, often involving family members or even close elderly friends who prey on seniors to gain control of assets. The elder need not have dementia to be victimized. These predators take advantage of physical disabilities — vision, hearing, mobility — to gain an elder’s trust and isolate the elder, to control communication, transportation, medical care and to access mail and credit cards, bank accounts and investments.

Legal mechanisms like power of attorney (POA), guardianship/conservatorship or healthcare proxy (HCP) can be obtained through misrepresentation, coercion, isolation and intimidation of an elder. The abuser then can use the victim’s assets to fight those trying to stop the exploitation.

Another form of abuse is “granny snatching”; an elder is taken out of state under false pretenses (a vacation?) to a perpetrator’s turf, isolated from the elder’s friends, family and familiar medical care. Once there, new legal and financial oversight (guardian, conservator, POA) is obtained. The elder rarely returns.

Full Editorial and Source:
Not Enough Protection for Elders

Judge quits to avoid discipline

Alamogordo jurist faced actions over alleged incompetence

SANTA FE – A state district court judge in Alamogordo has resigned to avoid possible disciplinary action by New Mexico’s highest court for alleged misconduct and incompetence in his duties.

District Judge William Brogan resigned Friday under an agreement approved by the state Supreme Court, which released a copy of its order on Tuesday.

The Judicial Standards Commission had started disciplinary proceedings against Brogan for violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct since 2011, including repeatedly failing to follow rules for handing criminal cases.

The commission said the judge “failed to maintain competence in the performance of judicial duties” or was “unable to perform judicial duties competently and diligently.”

The judge required guidance from court staff and attorneys because of his lack of understanding of basic courtroom procedures, the commission said.

Other examples of the alleged misconduct included “failing to be fair and impartial,” improperly completing sentencing forms and “failing to devote adequate time to judicial duties by not scheduling hearings except emergency hearings on Friday and by not allowing hearings to be scheduled after 3:30 p.m.”

Full Article and Source:
Judge quits to avoid discipline

"Lovingly and Orderly"

With the imminent death of a mother tensions rapidly erupt in her household to dismantle and destroy her family as a consequence of evil.

During a time of obvious lamentation, a devoted son based on a divine covenant with his mother responded to uphold her honor after her sudden and tragic death.

Despite being confronted with one hindrance after another by the wicked acts of his dishonorable siblings, the son reveals a diabolical and criminal conspiracy in progress.

After being challenged and eventually dismissed by the Chicago Police Department, the son discovers that his mother was flagrantly violated upon her death by the suspects in connection with their criminal conduct through a onerous and intense investigation. The culmination of the illegal activity adversely impacting the deceased matriarch’s estate occurs in the Circuit Court of Cook County, IL Probate Division. Would the probate court mandated by Illinois State Law to address the outstanding and pressing legal issues concerning the dearly departed in our society allow the criminal activity to be ignored in order to preserve the economic concerns of an influential financial institution?

Lovingly and Orderly: A Son’s Lament is a real life account of the arduous task the son accepted upon his own free will inspired by God. The compelling drama is a true indication of the state of affairs in our free market, capitalistic society in the United States of America where guile and clout leaves room for doubt regarding justice in our nation.

Available at Amazon

PA Court Case Examines Health Care Power of Attorney, Living Will

Pennsylvania’s Superior Court recently decided an important case concerning the validity of a health care power of attorney and living will once an individual becomes incapacitated: In re: Estate and Person of Russell R. Border Jr., an incapacitated person, 2013 PA Super 94 (April 23, 2013).

 

Because of the importance of the case and the need to recount facts, this will be a two-part article continuing next month.

In 2010, the Berks County Office of Aging filed a petition for appointment of a guardian on behalf of Border, a 62-year old resident of a nursing facility with chronic medical conditions and failing health. Border had a wife and two adult daughters.

 

In 2007, he executed a health care power of attorney naming his eldest daughter, Renee, as his agent.

 

The Office of Aging requested that Renee be appointed as guardian of Border’s person and nominated an attorney, Sharon Gray, as guardian of the estate. The Orphans’ Court Judge entered an order declaring Border to be an incapacitated person, appointed his daughter as guardian of the person, Gray as guardian of the estate, and revoked any other existing health care power of attorney previously executed by Border.

 

Two weeks later, the Office of Aging filed a motion for reconsideration based upon Renee’s decision to remove Border from the nursing facility to return him to his residence, where she intended to care for him. The Office of Aging felt that Renee was not physically able to care for her father and that he belonged in a nursing facility. The Orphans’ Court judge agreed and amended its order to appoint Gray as guardian of the estate. For two years, Gray served in the capacity of guardian of Border’s person and estate, making all decisions regarding his care and finances.

 

In March 2012, Border was admitted to the ICU at Reading Hospital, placed on a mechanical ventilator with other forms of life-sustaining treatment. Border’s physician contacted Gray to advise that Border’s health condition was both terminal and futile, and requested that she authorize removal of life support. Border’s family, including his wife, brother, sister and both adult daughters, all agreed with this recommendation. Gray disagreed and asserted her authority as guardian of Border’s person to prohibit the removal of life support.

 

In 2007, Border executed a durable power of attorney for health care and living will, where he appointed his daughter, Renee, as agent. Border elected to have life-sustaining treatments under all categories of situations listed in the living-will document. He also opted for his preferences to serve as a “general guide,” acknowledging that “in some situations, the person making the decisions for him may decide something different … if they think it is in his best interest.” Relying upon the living will and conversations between herself and Border (acknowledging, however, that those conversations took place after Border was already incapacitated), Gray refused to authorize removal of life support.

 

As a result of the conflict between Border’s family and Gray as guardian, the hospital filed an emergency petition, seeking the removal of Gray as guardian and suggesting that Border’s brother replace Gray. The Orphans’ Court Judge did just that, directing that the brother had specific authority to withhold and/or decline any life-sustaining medical treatment, including removing Border from a ventilator.

 

Full Article and Source:
Court Case Examines Health Care Power of Attorney, Living Will