Decades have passed and the Abuse Continues
The guardianship abuse AAAPG has documented for a decade is not new.
In 1987, The Associated Press (AP) reported in detail on the guardianship crisis in America in a series of several first hand investigations. The first two are available at
https://apnews.com/article/1198f64bb05d9c1ec690035983c02f9f
and
https://apnews.com/article/8ea94c1c992fd97e7eea7fe72a924f73
The Senate Select Committee on Aging has been hearing complaints about guardianship for even longer. It’s website contains over 225 entries on hearings and presentations concerning guardianship dating back over 50 years.
State legislatures around the country have passed countless statutes, amendments and probate rules over the last half-century, many in response to abuses that have been so egregious that not responding would have been impossible.
Feature-length films like Billie Mintz’s “The Guardians” have met with critical acclaim as have short films like “Edith and Eddie” that was even nominated for an Academy Award.
Countless articles published in highly respected newspapers in every corner of the country have appeared. Important magazines like the New Yorker published articles like Rachel Aviv’s excellent piece
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/09/how-the-elderly-lose-their-rights
Dozens of guardianship protest organizations exist in the United States. Larry Tessari has a list of some of them at
Numerous books have been published on the topic of abusive guardianship, including my own
and numerous others written by victims who have been first-hand witnesses to the crimes committed in these crooked probate courts.
Despite all of this, the racket persists, and in fact is growing more perverse and politically powerful. So you have to ask the question why?
In my opinion this archaic system of denying a United States citizen their civil and human rights is deeply embedded into our judicial culture and the political fabric of our Government. The powers that be profit far too much from this system of abuse to ever allow it to even be attacked, let alone erased. An entire superstructure of protections, emoluments, privileges, and of course corruption guarantees that the very people we elect to make and enforce our laws or sit on the bench in judgment of our elders and eventually ourselves, many of whom are not personally corrupt, knowingly tolerate overt criminality massive corruption in the name of justice all throughout this country.
Many of us have come to the conclusion that the system simply cannot be fixed. It must be eliminated and replaced with a yet to be defined reimagining of the entire issue of incapacity and government’s role in family affairs. What is clear, however, is that a new and better system cannot possibly be created within the probate court universe. The court should not be involved in removing rights from non-criminals. The court should not be involved in the redistribution of wealth to its court cronies under the guise of giving assistance to those who might need it. Probate courts around the country must not interfere in the well stated, advanced directives of any individual for the benefit of court insiders.
I applaud every advocate who has done their level best to bring the world’s attention to this cancer in our courts. But there needs to be a fundamental change in our laws at the federal and state level that can only come about with massive funding of a political campaign. Sadly, that’s the only way anything gets done in this country. I am hoping to see such a campaign during my lifetime, but if the last six decades are any indication, it will be up to the next couple of generations of advocates to get it done.
I invite your comments and questions.