RAMPANT.
So many people, of all backgrounds and professions, are involved in predatory and abusive conservatorships/guardianships.
To understand how rampant, it's imperative to look at all people, businesses, organizations, associations, that were and are, involved with the formation, implementation, execution, and continuation of abusive conservatorships and guardianships.
Movies, books, investigations, and commissions, have, for years, shown to some extent, how rampant abusive guardianships/conservatorships are. But nothing has been done to easily end the predatory and abusive climate.
"
The Guardians," a 2019 movie, provides additional insight into the October 2, 2017,
The New Yorker article, "How the Elderly Lose their Rights," by reporter Rachel Aviv, that you reposted.
In 2019, Billie Mintz's movie, "The Guardians," featured among others, how Rudy and Rennie North were taken from their home, put into an abusive guardianship coordinated by April Parks, among others. Rudy and Rennie North were lucky to have gotten out of the predatory and abuse guardianship, with help from their daughter, Julie Belshie, and others.
Reporter
Rachel Aviv was featured in the March 11, 2020 release of Netflix's documentary, "
Dirty Money: Guardians Inc." Aviv mentioned things she found investigating abusive guardianship, which include but not limited to, and I'll paraphrase:
- similar patterns as to how people could lose their home and money
- "clusters of services" and if someone like a vulnerable elderly person goes to one of those services, it's like a referral network, and in a more sinister way, Aviv said, she found that some guardians "actively recruit," sort of put out leads, so their 'network' (my word choice) would know who to call when they found an older person with lots of money
- Court hearings are where people basically lose their civil rights. Hearings are brief, like 30 seconds; longest might be 10 minutes
- Often the ward isn't present at the hearing, so there wouldn't be opposition to the guardian's suggestion that the person needed to be a ward of the court
- There's no systemic attempt to understand how big guardianship is, how much money it controls, and the outcomes of individual guardianships
- There's so little oversight it's difficult to discover a predatory guardian
- Guardianship is a for-profit business
- It's not unlikely there's some sort of clubby relationship with the guardians and the judges, or, with a family member of the guardians and the judges
"Dirty Money: Guardians Inc." has been removed from Netflix's library due to a lawsuit from attorney Nicholas Louisa. I'll write about this in some future post.
Abusive guardianships and conservatorships are likely to have rampant conflicts of interest. Look for lack of due process. Look for lack of transparency, traceability, and accountability.
The connections between people, agencies, companies, associations, etc, need to be made known. Follow the money, follow the connections.
Abusers are predatory; they can isolate, medicate, and control just about everything about anyone. Typically the abusers control everything up to—and after—when the ward or conservatee, dies.
Don't look for a remorseful abuser.
Guardianship and conservatorship enablers and abusers are rampant.
Posted by Ernie Marsh
Tuesday, 24 August 2021 about 2:01 p.m. (EDT)
