Guardianship in Arizona: Elder care or elder abuse?

Reported by: Joe Ducey Email: jducey@abc15.com Produced by: Maria Tomasch Last Update: 5/20 5:42 am

Guardianship in Arizona: Elder care or elder abuse?

PHOENIX - Many people move to Arizona for the weather and recreation because it's considered a haven for retirees who want to live out their golden years. But something else is happening here - something haunting. For Clair's mom, Gloria Horrigan, it was a nightmare. Clair said her mother was taken to a nursing home against her will and not allowed visitors, not even family. “It's sickening...It really truly is sickening,” said Clair. It was a struggle for Robert Brown to bring his wife, Rosemary, home. She was also taken and within a matter of weeks, the family wasn't allowed to see her either. What happened in both cases started in a Maricopa County Courtroom - right in front of a judge. Both Rosemary and Gloria had health issues that made it hard on their families. Families can't force a loved one to get help, but a guardian can. That's why their cases ended up in probate court, which hears issues on care for vulnerable adults. The court approved a guardian in both cases. And both times, the guardian was Sun Valley Group of Tempe. Their website states they offer "support for client's physical, social, emotional and mental health." As part of their service, Sun Valley Group also took care of Gloria's personal finances. But Clair said her mom did not get proper medical treatment and her bills weren't paid. Gloria's house went into foreclosure. “I’m physically sick from seeing what they've done to my mother. My family, my children, everyone has been affected by this,” said Clair. Rosemary had a similar story. She was depressed and refused medical care. Her husband Robert needed help, so he said he agreed to let Sun Valley Group take Rosemary when they promised to make sure she got treatment. But Robert said under the company's care, she never did, so now family friend and doctor, Marge Butler, is Rosemary's guardian. “The bills were now coming at a ferried pace,” said Marge. In total, Marge said the family spent over a $100,000. That was for just four months of Sun Valley Group's care. It ended when the nursing home thought Rosemary was dying. They finally allowed the family to see her. As for Gloria, Clair said the company seemed much more interested in her mom's money than her health. Gloria's final bill was just under $500,000 and included charges for an employee to open her mail at $75 an hour. “They are supposed to be her guardian and are supposed to be like her parents and look out for her best interests,” said Clair. After repeatedly being turned down for an on camera interview, The ABC15 Investigators went to Sun Valley Group's office. They asked us to leave. We then caught up with the owner of Sun Valley, Peter Frenette, at a county courthouse. He was leaving a probate hearing involving fees from a different case. Even after several questions, Frenette would not comment. The ABC15 Investigators have found more issues plaguing Sun Valley Group. Frenette's wife, Heather, is co-owner, but she is being investigated by the Arizona nursing board. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Organized Crime Unit is also investigating Sun Valley Group. By state law, both investigations are secret. We also discovered three multi-million dollar lawsuits filed this year against the company for fraud and racketeering. Grant Goodman is the attorney for three former Sun Valley Group clients. “It's more of a criminal enterprise,” said Goodman, “They need to be prosecuted.” He claimed to find a pattern with these cases. “They effectively medicate them to such an extent that they really are non-functional,” said Goodman, “And they do that while they're liquidating their assets.” The three lawsuits also blame probate court. “The mob isn't this efficient, nor does the mob have the luxury of having a court rubberstamp these proceedings,” said Goodman. Goodman is not the only one who thinks that way. Last month, the Arizona Supreme Court issued an Administrative Order to investigate probate court. One of the issues is regulating fees. Now, Rosemary is back with her family and doing well. She is getting the treatment that she needs. “We just plan to enjoy life,” said Robert. Sun Valley Group filed motions to dismiss with the three lawsuits shown in this investigation. Neither Gloria nor Rosemary has filed a lawsuit. If you would like any further information on guardianship, visit one or more of these websites: National Guardianship Association offers a Model Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice and answers to basic questions 877-326-5992. Center for Guardianship Certification has a directory of certified guardians who have taken a test, agreed to abide by ethical standards, and not been disqualified for prior conduct. For in-depth reports on guardianship, visit AARP’s Public Policy Institute, or the American Bar Association’s Commission on the Law and Aging.

Copyright 2010 The E.W. Scripps Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Linda M. Banta & Laura Spease, Conservatorship, Abuse, Berkeley, California,

AVOID Conservator LINDA BANTA & Attorney LAURA SPEASE if you care about your loved ones at all! In fact, do WHATEVER you can to prevent a loved one being placed under a guardianship or conservatorship!

Some years ago my elderly parents were forced into a California conservatorship (known as guardianship in most states) by a sibling when they had become unable to care for themselves. Because I lived out of state California law prohibited me from being the conservator, so I agreed to the conservatorship because I innocently believed that the county Court would oversee how my parents’ estate was spent carefully, assure responsible management of their health care and emotional well-being.

NOTHING could be further from the truth!

Linda M. Banta came highly recommended by an attorney, MARGARET HAND, who I now realize is in on this business of taking the elderly for all they've got while disregarding their stated wishes and emotional needs. At the time the Court allowed Linda Banta to take 1% of the estate each year so she had the properties appraised at high value.

Now the Court rules dictate she charge $115/hour [which equals $239,200/year] and she is certainly not very competent at handling many of the tasks her fiduciary role requires. She doesn't even oversee the care herself, but hires Geriatric "Care" Managers, one of whom, AMY PIERI, charges $115/hr; another, CHRIS HENDRICKSON is also paid at such lucrative rates. Neither Linda Banta or LAURA SPEASE have any respect for family who actually CARE about my parents and Laura Spease even violatd my rights when her office fail to mail notice that the court requires that would provide me knowledge and the ability to respond to their actions, as required by law.

They restrict family visits despite my parents' BEGGING to be able to see me more. I'll spare you the details as there are THOUSANDS of stories exactly like this across the country. In fact, the Senate is holding hearings soon, so make a report to the Government Accounting Office if you know of any. Call Sandra Moore at 202-512-4910 at GAO.

If you are considering guardianship or are already involved with one that is abusive, look at websites such as www.EstateofDenial.com or Janet Phelan’s work on www.ScamRaiders.com to discover how the courts are allowing incredible exploitation of seniors and the disabled.

Find another alternative -- a trusted family friend, a cousin, ANYONE who is not a part of this racket. Their main predatory interest is MONEY, so if you or anyone you care about has substantial assets (over $100K), BEWARE!

I have protested the excessive expenditures in every aspect of Linda Banta’s work, but the Court totally disregards all my statements. In many states is it not necessary to have anything but hearsay to "prove" incompetence.

Texas legislators are being confronted by the fact that courts there hold secret hearings where the involved parties are not notified and not present. No, I'm not paranoid.

This is all true. Most people can't believe this gulag is happening in this country.

Sadly, I, too, was once Innocent.

Source>Fraudbug.Com

AP reports on Danny Tate Conservatorship Posted: 21 May 2010 11:37 AM PDT byEstateOfDenial.Com

Sheila Burke, Associated Press
May 21, 2010
Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100521/ap_en_mu/us_conservator_fight
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A court stripped away songwriter Danny Tate’s control of his life — removing his right to make his own legal, financial and medical decisions — at a last-minute hearing he didn’t know about and didn’t attend.

With the drop of a gavel, the Nashville musician who’d written a top 10 hit and was making around $125,000 a year writing music for TV shows was declared mentally disabled and in need of someone to manage his affairs. The decision was made at an “emergency hearing” with no medical testimony and no lawyer to represent Tate’s interests.

When Tate finally got his day in court three weeks later to challenge allegations that he was in the grip of a life-threatening drug addiction, the judge refused his request for a lawyer and he had to represent himself.

He was again declared disabled, handcuffed and put in a locked psychiatric facility for six days.

“What they’ve done to me is wrong, and it shouldn’t ever happen to anyone again,” the songwriter said.

Advocates for people declared legally unfit to manage their own affairs say the songwriter’s case is a troubling example of abuses found in the courts nationwide.

Among the problems they see: people stripped of their rights on questionable evidence, deprived of a lawyer, subjected to emergency hearings when there is no true emergency and losing their life savings.

Such complaints prompted the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging to order an investigation into the concerns. That investigation is currently being conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

In Tennessee, a person who manages the affairs of a disabled adult is called a conservator. Other states call these people guardians.

Tate, 54, says what was done to him at the emergency hearing Oct. 23, 2007, crippled his ability to mount a defense in a yearslong legal battle to restore his rights.

Davidson County Circuit Court Judge Randy Kennedy named the songwriter’s older brother, David Tate, 60, as his conservator. That gave the older brother access to the younger brother’s savings — more than half a million dollars — to pay for the lawyers to keep the conservatorship in place. In effect, Danny Tate has been forced to pay for the legal fight to oppose his own legal claim.

About the only thing the brothers can agree on is that Danny Tate was addicted to crack in 2007 and is now clean and sober. The addiction was bad enough that the songwriter granted his brother temporary power of attorney to pay his bills while he went into drug rehab.

“He was trying to kill himself with crack,” the brother said.

Danny Tate was one of the writers of “Affair of the Heart,” a top 10 hit for Rick Springfield in the ’80s. He made most of his money writing music that appears during segments on popular TV shows, including “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” and “Entertainment Tonight.”

The son of an Arkansas minister, Danny Tate had wrestled for much of his life with alcohol and cocaine. He had made repeated but failed attempts to get a grip on his addiction when court proceedings began against him in October 2007.

That was when David Tate filed a court petition claiming his brother was spending between $500 and $800 dollars a day on crack.

David Tate asked the judge to appoint him as Danny’s conservator, to help him get treatment and preserve the songwriter’s assets. The brother filed a statement from one of the songwriter’s financial accounts showing large withdrawals of funds.

An attorney who now represents Danny Tate said the petition that led to the emergency hearing was based entirely on unsubstantiated allegations by the brother.

“It’s scary,” Michael Hoskins said. “All you’ve got to do is make the allegation” to force someone into a conservatorship.

Being a drug addict or alcoholic alone is not grounds enough to be declared mentally incompetent, legal experts say. The question is whether the addiction was so disabling that he could no longer manage his own affairs.

Danny Tate, a tall man who chain smokes and now lives by the credo of Alcoholics Anonymous, maintains that he was a functioning addict and was not in a crisis so severe that a court would have grounds to hold a hearing without him and strip him of his rights.

He said there were no claims that he’d ever been arrested, overdosed on drugs, been committed to a psychiatric ward or hurt anyone. Only that he’d been spending lots of money on drugs and his brother feared his habit would kill him.

His case, Danny Tate says, should serve as a stark warning about how easy it is to have someone declared disabled and should be chilling to anyone in Nashville’s music industry with an addiction and some money.

“If this could happen to me, they’d have to bust 75 percent of Music Row and go down before Randy Kennedy for a mass conservatorship hearing,” the songwriter said.

He is gearing up for a May 24 hearing to determine whether he is competent to take charge of his life again.

This time he’ll have a lawyer.

The upcoming hearing was ordered by the Tennessee Court of Appeals in December after the songwriter argued he was entitled to a chance to get out of the legal arrangement or appeal it.

David Tate won’t say whether he will ask the judge to keep him in charge of his brother’s affairs. He maintains that he stepped in to save his brother’s life.

More than $200,000 has been spent on legal fees so far, court records show. The upcoming hearing is expected to eat up thousands more.

Court records show that Tate had more than $600,000 in a money market account and was receiving about $125,000 a year in music royalty payments when the court proceedings began.

He will likely be in debt after the hearing, Hoskins said.

Unlike other court battles where each side pays its own legal fees, in a conservatorship proceeding a disabled person who has money pays for both sides. Every time Danny Tate’s brother files a motion it comes out of Danny Tate’s life savings.

“That’s the worst part of it. They’re paying these people to harm them,” said Elaine Renoire, president of the Indiana-based National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse. The organization is supporting the songwriter in his legal battle.

David Tate, who runs a corporate logo and merchandising company in Memphis, is not accused of trying to enrich himself at his brother’s expense. However, the outright theft of assets or questionable billing practices by lawyers and guardians has long been a concern of advocates and is part of the GAO study.

Renoire says she has no idea how prevalent guardian abuse is because the records simply don’t exist. Many courts don’t keep records on how many of these cases they have.

A December 2007 report by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging found numerous problems with conservatorship cases nationwide despite reforms specifically pointed to emergency hearings. “Emergency appointments, by their nature, immediately deny prospective wards their due process,” the report said.

The AARP says people often aren’t offered sufficient legal protections.

“Due process in the guardianship system has always been a substantial concern,” said Sally Hurme, an attorney and senior project manager with the AARP.

The organization recommends granting the allegedly disabled person the right to come to a hearing, requiring notice of an emergency hearing and an explanation of the emergency, and mandating that a lawyer always be appointed as an advocate for someone said to be disabled.

Hoskins said he believes Danny Tate’s case never would have gotten this far if Tate could have gotten a good lawyer from the start.

Unlike the right to counsel in criminal cases, the right to a lawyer in civil cases like conservatorship proceedings is not constitutionally guaranteed.

But that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be, said Chris Slobogin a Vanderbilt University Law School professor who is an expert in mental-health law.

Video Update, AP Story on Danny Tate Conservatorship

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3dl5WAfKv4&feature=player_embedded

Video update, AP story on Danny Tate conservatorship

Posted: 21 May 2010 08:44 AM PDT

Here’s a video just posted by Kevin Montgomery regarding this weekend’s events in Nashville.

The Free Danny Tate Awareness/Flood Relief Concert Lineup and special message to supporters

Additionally, the Associated Press hit the wire today with a story on Danny’s case. It has been picked up by numerous outlets and will undoubtedly continue popping up in publications for the next days.

Please Help Stuart Rosenkrantz stay out of a Guardianship, the Judge's, Attorney's and Guardian's are trying to Steal all His Money

In Florida all it takes to lose your rights is for three strangers to decide you're not competent. Tonight a South Florida man is challenging the guardianship system. Investigative reporter Carmel Cafiero has his story in this special assignment report.

WSVN -- Sixty-four-year-old Stewart Rosenkrantz landed in a wheelchair decades ago, after a car accident, but he hasn't let that stop him from enjoying life. His still pictures are so special he's sold them. His money management is so good he owns his home and doesn't owe anybody anything.

Edward Dinna, Attorney: "Mr. Rosenkrantz is the only fellow I know that doesn't have a debt."

Attorney Edward Dinna represents Stewart. They're fighting a move by a family member that could cost Stewart control over his life and his finances. It started with this, a petition filed in Broward County that claims Stewart is being unduly influenced by his roommate. A claim Stewart and his attorney deny.

Edward Dinna: "Not only are they trying to appoint a temporary guardian, but they're trying to serve subpoenas on all his banking and financial institutions to find out just how wealthy or not he is."

Three court appointed members of a committee met with Stewart and he can own a gun, he can drive his van, but he can't manage his property. He says it's all about getting control of his money.

Carmel Chaffier: "What did you think?"

Stewart Rosenkrantz: "Well I know what they were after."

Carmel Chaffier: "Were you mad?"

Stewart Rosenkrantz: "Mad as hell."

Stewart is challenging the findings and so far still has control of his finances. The court appointed examining committee is made up of three members. A social worker, who decided Stewart is at risk for financial exploitation, a psychologist, who said his thought processes have a paranoid flavor and a medical doctor who said he was a vulnerable easily persuaded and gullible individual. All this after spending just a few hours with Stewart.

Stewart Rosenkrantz: "I didn't even know what the guardian program was and then all of a sudden I'm going to be subjected to that?"

The report from the committee's medical doctor quotes his family doctor, but Stewart's personal physician says she's never talked to that doctor about Stewart.

Dr. Anne Blenke: "I've never had a consultation with him on any patient."

The report says Dr. Anne Blenke told the committee member Stewart, "tends to neglect his medical needs."

Dr. Anne Blenke: "No. I did not."

That he is, "vulnerable and at risk".

Dr. AnnE Blenke: "I would never make a statement like that to anyone."

The medical doctor who made the report turned down our request for an interview. Stewart meanwhile, is convinced he's being railroaded.

Stewart Rosenkrantz: "I decided it was against me all the way that it was predetermined it was just for the money."

In fact, he is has been so worried about what will happen next, he spent months in Puerto Rico at a home he owns there.

Stewart Rosenkrantz: "We were like fugitives, just felt like it. Four and a half months in Puerto Rico. Even though it's a beautiful place, you get tired of it, you want to come back but you're afraid to."

And he says he may go back into hiding until he can have his day in court. Although hearings on guardianships are usually closed door proceedings, Stewart says he will ask the court to allow our camera in for his case.

IF YOU HAVE A STORY FOR CARMEL TO INVESTIGATE:

Miami-Dade: 305-627-CLUE
Broward: 954-921-CLUE
E-mail: clue@wsvn.com

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Women Take Guardianship Fight to State Law Makers

IF YOU HAVE BEEN A VICTIM OF GUARDIANSHIP FRAUD OR IF THE JUDGE IN YOUR CASE WAS DIRTY, PLEASE WRITE ME

IF YOU HAVE BEEN IN A FRAUDULENT GUARDIANSHIP CASE HERE IN FLORIDA, AND THE JUDGE HAS GIVEN ALL YOUR FAMILY'S MONEY TO THE ATTORNEY'S AND GUARDIAN'S, PLEASE WRITE ME NOW. IF YOU HAVE COMPLAINED TO THE FLORIDA BAR AGAINST A DIRTY ATTORNEY AND THE DID NOTHING PLEASE EMAIL ME.

For years Judge's, Attorney's and Guardian's here in our Probate Courts here in Miami and around the country have been having competent elderly people being ruled incapacitated, strip them of their Civil Rights and go in and steal all their money, their homes and in many cases their lives. My mother, Yvonne Sarhan was murdered with the drug Seroquel 400mg per day or more, even after repeated attempts to alert Judge Muir this medicne will kill my mother she did nothing but let the medicine continue and now my mother is dead, Murder, Yes. Dr Steven Leslie Kaplan was paid to put my mother on this medication to kill her, because the Guardian's and Attorney's took all the money and did a reverse mortgage on the house. Legal no, but who do you complain to, Judge's do what they want and they get away with Murder. However keep reading this blog and soon we may have a secret weapon to stop the Judge's, Attorney's and Guardian's and hopefully put them in jail.
If you complained to the Florida Bar and they ruled in favor of a corrupt attorney, please email me with your phone number, if you are willing to go on the The Biz 880 A.M. with radio Talk show host Les Winston.

Please go to the website stopguardianabuse.com and sign a petition to stop elderly abuse and exploitation, Thank You Robert Sarhan, MD drrob2007@yahoo.com

AstraZeneca Fined $520 Million Over Illegal Seroquel Marketing

InjuryBoard.com

By Jane Akre
April 28, 2010

Pharmaceutical Giant, AstraZeneca LP and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP will pay $520 million after being fined by the federal government for illegally marketing the anti-psychotic drug, Seroquel.

Seroquel, also known as quetiapine fumarate, was approved by the FDA in 1997 to treat psychotic disorders. By October 2006, its use had expanded for use for bipolar depression and mania.

The Department of Justice alleges AstraZeneca illegally marketed Seroquel for uses other than those approved by the FDA such as Alzheimer’s disease, anger management, anxiety, ADD, dementia, depression, PTSD, mood disorders, among other uses considered “off-label.”

In 2008, Bloomberg reported that teenagers and the elderly were increasingly being given a class of anti-psychotic drugs not cleared by regulators. In adolescents, the medications are given for depression, autism and hyperactivity, and in the elderly for dementia and insomnia.

Half of Seroquel sales in 2006 were reportedly for off-label use.

In doing so, the company submitted false claims for payments from federal insurance programs including Medicaid, Medicare and TRICARE programs, Veterans Affairs, the Bureau of Prisons, and the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program.

Read entire article: http://www.injuryboard.com/national-news/astrazeneca-fined-520-million-over-illegal-seroquel-marketing.aspx?googleid=280742

IF YOU ARE A VICTIM OF GUARDIANSHIP FRAUD PLEASE CONTACT ME

IF YOU OR YOUR FAMILY HAVE BEEN A VICTIM OF GUARDIANSHIP FRAUD AND ORGANIZED CRIME PLEASE CONTACT ME RIGHT AWAY.

Hi my name is Robert Sarhan, if you have been a victim of Guardianship Fraud in the State of Florida, the Judge's have violated the State Laws, the Attorney's and Guardian's are stealing yours or your family's Estate Please contact me immediately. drrob2007@yahoo.com

When plunder becomes a way of life

"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it."….. FREDERIC BASTIAT

OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS ARE BEING STRIPPED AWAY FROM US BY CORRUPT JUDGE'S

Group gathers to urge freedom for taxpayer advocate Richard Fine
By Troy Anderson, Staff Writer
Updated: 04/20/2010 06:00:44 PM PDT


Chanting "This is America, not Russia," about 75 people gathered Tuesday morning outside the downtown Stanley Mosk Courthouse to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to free former taxpayer advocate attorney Richard I. Fine from jail.

In Washington, D.C., about 50 people staged a similar protest on the steps of the high court, which is scheduled to meet Friday to decide whether Fine should be released.

Fine, a 70-year-old Tarzana resident and former U.S. Department of Justice attorney, has spent more than a year in Men's Central Jail for contempt after refusing to divulge financial information. Fine was placed under "coercive confinement" following a series of cases in which he alleged judges received an extra $57,000 in pay from the county on top of their $179,000 annual state salaries. Fine alleged that these "undeclared bonuses" render judges biased in cases where the county is a defendant.

"Richard Fine has been cruelly, unjustly punished for bringing to light a judicial issue that affects each of us as Los Angeles residents and U.S. citizens," said Chatsworth resident Janette Isaacs, co-organized of "Free Richard Fine," a grassroots, community organization committed to ending judicial corruption in California.

"This could happen to anyone."

Retired Sheriff's Department Sgt. Richard Valdemar, who served as the "jailer" in the case of Los Angeles Herald-Examiner reporter William Farr who was held in jail in 1972 for contempt for


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refusing to divulge sources relating to the Charles Manson case, said a person has a right to actually be charged with a crime if they are held in jail for more than a year.
"We don't even house our misdemeanor people in jail for more than a year," Valdemar said. "Yet Mr. Fine is being held longer and it's not like Mr. Fine is a kook or something. This is a man who is an expert on the law and is trying to do the right thing. He's basically a whistleblower and he's being punished for that."

In a letter to the Supreme Court, Fine's daughter, Victoria Fine, an editor with The Huffington Post, asked the justices to release her father "from the horror he and my family have endured during the last 13 months of our lives."

"He has raised me to trust in our country's justice system to uphold freedom, democracy and moral right," she wrote. "I admit that as today, as my father sits in solitary confinement, I have very little faith left in our American system. But now, as I write to you, I place that faith in your hands to make the decision that will free my father and send him home to my mother and me."
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AS ABOVE WE SEE HOW JUDGE'S ABUSE THEIR POWER, SEE BELOW HOW THE ELDERLY AND THEIR FAMILIES ARE BEING ABUSED AS WELL!!!

We request that the President Obama to stop this corruption and violation of our Constitutional Rights and hold these Judge's, Attorney's and Guardian's responsible for their crimes against the elderly and their family's.

Like many of us in Guardianship cases fight for the right to care for our parents, the more we fight, the more these Judge's abuse and violate the laws. Who's watching these corrupt Judge's, who gave them all this power, I think its time that this power should be taken away from them.

My mother Yvonne Sarhan was murdered by Judge Celeste Muir on February 2, 2010 she allowed the Guardian Vicki Brail and Dr Steven Leslie Kaplan to poison my mother with 400 mg of Seroquel a day until she was dead, why because the guardian and attorney's already took all the money from our family.

We believe since our since our Governor Charlie Christ has allowed this to happen in our State, our Congressmen the Balart brothers have allowed this to continue for years, we believe the President of the United States through the chain of command must stop these Human Rights and Constitutional Rights Violations against our American Citizens young and old.

This is a request to meet President Obama as soon as possible to stop the abuse and exploitation of the elderly and their family's......Robert Sarhan, MD

Elder Law

Elderly Millionaire Is Destitute After Payment of Fees for Lawyers and Care

Posted Apr 13, 2010 5:59 AM CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

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Marie Long was worth $1.3 million when she suffered a stroke and came under protection of a Maricopa County, Ariz., probate court in 2005.

Today the 88-year-old woman, Marie Long, is destitute after a judge approved $786,000 in attorney, guardianship and companion-care fees for the woman, columnist Laurie Roberts writes in the Arizona Republic. The woman’s onetime guardian, the Sun Valley Group, had assigned itself as Long’s caregiver, charging $235,000 for companion care and $182,000 for guardianship duties, Roberts wrote in a separate column last month.

Itemized charges included $32.50 to go to the bank for Long, $106 to pick up hearing aid batteries, and $62 to discuss a kitchen grease fire caused by a Sun Valley employee, Roberts says.

Judge Lindsay Ellis blamed Long’s court-appointed lawyer, as well as two lawyers for Long’s sisters, for driving up costs, Roberts says. The judge said the lawyers’ "venomous" and "hateful" attacks on the trustee, the guardian and their attorneys resulted in costly litigation.

But Roberts says it’s wrong to blame the three lawyers challenging the fees and instead points the finger at Ellis.

“The court that is supposed to be protecting people like Marie Long is doing no such thing,” Roberts writes. “Instead, the court is allowing a cozy group of lawyers and fiduciaries who are appointed to help vulnerable people help themselves to a nice pile of cash—until the money is gone, at which time the ‘ward’ is dumped onto the taxpayers.”

Now the Sun Valley Group is seeking sanctions against the two lawyers who represented the sisters, alleging they had no standing to sue for breach of fiduciary duty. The lawyers' suit had contended Sun Valley had a duty to investigate whether the Arizona Department of Veterans Services could have served as Marie's guardian, at a cost of only $75 a month.

Roberts decries the turn of events, especially since the lawyers worked for free. “This, apparently, is what you get in probate for trying to advocate for a defenseless widow,” she writes.

A Silent Crisis: Elder Abuse and Justice in America

My grandmother’s life intersected squarely with the unprecedented rise in life expectancy for all elders. This rise has also led to one of our greatest silent crises: elder abuse.

About same time Alzheimer’s began to cloud my grandmother's once sharp mind, she heard a knock on the door of her 3rd floor apartment in Des Moines, Iowa. She opened it to find a friendly salesman selling John F. Kennedy half-dollars made out of pure gold in a frame with a blue velvet backing. They made an exchange --she handed him a check for $900 and the swindler gave her one dollar in coins.

ELDER ABUSE IN THE UNITED STATES
For millions of elderly people in the United States just like my grandmother, living longer has also meant living in silent fear, battered and beaten, preyed upon, often quieted by shame. Elder abuse is a prolific problem that comes in many forms – physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect and financial exploitation, with many elders suffering more than just one type of abuse. Of the five million elders estimated to suffer abuse in the U.S. alone each year, the vast majority are subject to multiple forms of mistreatment. They are also three times more likely to die prematurely than those who are not victimized.

Yet, elder abuse is not perceived as a national tragedy. No one talks about it. Silence remains, in part, because many of our elders are isolated by and dependent on those who hurt them, and the perceived shame and stigma of disclosing that they are suffering at the hands of their own caregiver can act as a powerful silencer. But abuse also stays hidden because many older Americans don’t have the means or the capacity to report it.

At the rare times when elder abuse is publicly discussed, the conversations usually feature the voices Elder Justice advocates, social workers or journalists. A typical example is this CBS News report from 2006. Only occasionally do we get a glimpse into the elders' views which can be seen in this video taken at an elder justice rally.

Insights from these experts are critical in the fight to secure justice for older Americans but so is the wisdom from these elders themselves, and to date their voices have been absent from the debate that affects them most directly.

I was surprised to learn how deeply buried this issue is because elder abuse touches us all. It cuts across gender, social, racial, ethnic, economic and geographic lines - yet it’s rarely mentioned in social justice or human rights circles nationally or even internationally. Key UN documents from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the Millennium Development Goals omit any mention of age. And here at home the U.S Congress has yet to pass comprehensive federal legislation to protect our oldest members of society, placing it 20 years behind advocacy to protect children from abuse and 10 years behind the work to end domestic violence.

THE ELDER JUSTICE COALITION
To address this colossal fissure in our laws, more than 500 members of the Elder Justice Coalition (EJC) have been vigilantly working over the course of the last decade to secure the passage of the Elder Justice Act (EJA) through Congress. Passing this Act will provide us with a foundation from which we can begin to protect our society’s elders because it will provide long-needed support for programs to help us understand how to prevent and detect abuse, intervene where it happens, treat victims with dignity and respect, and fairly prosecute perpetrators.

Yet despite the EJA’s principled objectives and many years of effort, one of the authors of the Act, Marie-Therese Connolly explains, “Comprehensive federal laws to combat child abuse and domestic violence have had an immense impact for decades. By contrast, the relatively uncontroversial Elder Justice Act has languished (in Congress) since 2002.” With the recent changes in Washington, now is the time to pass this act and give America’s elders the security, dignity and equality they deserve.

A NEW WITNESS PARTNERSHIP with the NATIONAL COUNCIL ON AGING
So why is this important to WITNESS? We are partnering with the National Council on Aging (NCOA) – which has been working on behalf of disadvantaged and vulnerable Elders for over 60 years - to bring the voices of Older Americans to this debate, heighten the visibility of Elder abuse, and end Congressional complacency. In addition to securing passage of the EJA, WITNESS and NCOA will work with Elder Justice organizations across the country, training activists in strategic video advocacy planning and giving them the skills necessary to collect stories of abuse to bring Elder Justice into the national conversation.

Once footage from across the country has been gathered and edited, we will collaborate to reach key Congressional representatives, the national media and our citizenry with compelling stories which will force us to face our elders, end our collective denial and pass the EJA.

YOU TOO CAN STAND UP FOR OUR ELDERS
WITNESS and NCOA are just beginning work on the planning of this video advocacy campaign. We'd like you to join in as we move forward with this campaign to pass the Elder Justice Act and showcase the voices of older Americans:

• Return to the Hub Blog for updates on the production process in the weeks and months ahead
• Sign up for the Video for Change newsletter for updates on the Elder Justice Campaign
• Read more about the work of the NCOA at http://www.ncoa.org, and
• Visit the site of the Elder Justice Coalition at http://www.elderjusticecoalition.com/

Most of all though, we ask you to listen as we bring the voices of American’s elders to you throughout this campaign. Please hear what they have to say. Respect their voice. Value their wisdom. Add yours.

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