New Mexico District Judge Nan Nash

Outside the city limits of Las Vegas, N.M., Justin Bowers talks about how he discovered his $117,000 inheritance was allegedly stolen by his court-appointed guardian, Ayudando Guardians. (Colleen Heild/Albuquerque Journal)

New Mexico: Ayudando Guardians allegedly stole ward’s $117,000 then housed ward in leaky trailer

October 15, 2017 // 0 Comments

By Colleen Heild for the Albuquerque Journal LAS VEGAS, N.M. – For Justin Bowers, home is a travel trailer that attracts flies and leaks when it rains. Even so, it’s a step up from where his court-appointed guardian previously had him living – in a 17-man boarding home that charged $800-a-month rent. It’s not what Bowers, who is from Albuquerque, wants. It’s not what his father, who worked 30 years for the U.S. Post Office, wanted for his son. Bowers, 34, who has been under [- more...]
New Mexico 2nd Judicial District Court Judges Bacon and Nash scramble to replace Ayudando guardians

New Mexico: Court scrambles to replace Ayudando guardians

July 31, 2017 // 0 Comments

By Colleen Heild / Journal Investigative Reporter State district judges in Albuquerque have identified 176 people, many of them indigent and all of them incapacitated in some way, who relied on Ayudando Guardians for help with everything from living arrangements to ensuring their funds, however meager, were safe. Chief District Judge Nan Nash and Chief Civil Division Judge Shannon Bacon in Bernalillo County said in an interview Friday that the courts are faced with having to quickly find [- more...]
District Judge Beatrice Brickhouse granted a petition to appoint professional outsiders to handle Blair Darnell’s affairs. (Morgan Petroski/Albuquerque Journal)

New Mexico: Who’s guarding the guardians? Part 1 of 5

November 27, 2016 // 0 Comments

Editor’s note: Investigative journalist Diane Dimond, whose weekly syndicated column on crime and justice appears in the Journal, is preparing a book on the nation’s elder guardianship system. It’s a system designed to protect the elderly from the unscrupulous. But as Dimond discovered, it can be dominated by a core group of court-appointed, for-profit professionals who are accused of isolating family members and draining the elders’ estates. New Mexico is no exception. This is the [- more...]

Copyright © 2021 Americans Against Abusive Probate Guardianship (AAAPG)