AAAPG Announces Valor Award Winner
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 20, 2019
MEDIA CONTACT: The Arters Group (602) 677-3533
FIRST RECIPIENT OF “IDELLE STERN AWARD OF VALOR”
named by AMERICANS AGAINST ABUSIVE PROBATE GUARDIANSHIP (AAAPG)
Dr. Sam Sugar, Founder and CEO of Americans Against Abusive Probate Guardianship (AAAPG), has announced the first recipient of the “Idelle Stern Award of Valor” is Roger Hillygus, of Dayton, Nevada.
In selecting the recipient, Dr. Sugar cited Roger’s unwavering commitment to his mother, Susan Lynne Robbins-Hillygus, during his fight for her rights after Susan was involuntarily conscripted into an abusive guardianship where there was no due process, no trial, and no witness or expert testimony permitted in the probate court room.
“I am proud and pleased to present Roger with this, our inaugural Idelle Stern Award of Valor. His courage, integrity and desire to seek good for his dear, sweet mother has been exemplary,” said Sugar. “It is his dedication, non-stop efforts and never-give-up attitude that inspired AAAPG to create this special award, named in loving memory of my mother-in-law, who was the impetus behind the establishment of AAAPG.”
Hillygus, a retired Nevada firefighter, was shockingly incarcerated for several weeks earlier this year on the charge of kidnapping an elderly female – his mother, for whom he had long been named POA and trustee of the family trust. Robbins-Hillygus had been in horrific court-ordered isolation in a locked-down Alzheimer’s care facility in Reno for more than three years, which ignored she and her husband’s pre-existing estate planning legal documents.
“Roger is a hero in the eyes of thousands of sons, daughters, and families across the US for demonstrating the ultimate love, honor, respect and loyalty to his 80-year old widowed mother,” claimed Sugar. “He is not a criminal, as the local judicial system would want the public to believe.” Robbins-Hillygus died Oct. 16th.
In what may become a landmark case, Hillygus’ decision to test a Constitutionally-sanctioned citizen jury verdict to invalidate the Washoe County, NV court orders shines a spotlight on the tsunami of elder exploitation perpetrated by the very professionals entrusted with maintaining liberty and justice for all Americans.
Dr. Sugar, a retired, internal-medicine board-certified physician, learned about adult guardianship issues when he and his wife Judy were caring for her mother, Idelle. Family members convinced a court Idelle was better off in the hands of a professional guardian who would take control of her legal rights, manage medical care and handle finances. When Idelle suffered a stroke, the Sugars had no say in her treatment, until she died.
“Guardianship destroyed my wife and her beloved mother. It can strip people of their dignity and everything they ever owned. And it treats them as though they are pieces of property,” Sugar said.
For more information about Hillygus, AAAPG, or guardianship abuse, please contact aaapg.net. All media inquiries to The Arters Group; [email protected]; 602-677-3533. # # #
