Exploitation of the elderly

There's been a lot of focus lately on how to avoid exploitation of the elderly and also domestic violence perpetrated by caregivers and/or family members.

Josh Ard, a noted elder law attorney who practices in Williamston, Michigan called to my attention an interesting case involving aspects of both issues (if one counts financial exploitation as a form of domestic abuse. I believe that financial exploitation is a form of abuse. See the Power and Control Wheel). In this case, the adultery and perjury of the elderly nursing home resident's husband trumped the lack of notice (and a false statement about notice) required by a guardianship petition filed by a granddaughter. The case occurred in Mississippi, but the concepts are equally applicable under Michigan law. These are the facts:

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Ruby Chism Ellis, married to Bobbie Ellis since July, 2000, entered a nursing home in June, 2006. In 2008, Ruby’s granddaughter, Stephanie Chism Turner, filed a petition to be appointed as Ruby’s conservator. Stephanie represented to the court that she served the petition on Bobbie although she had not.

The court appointed Stephanie as conservator and, according to Bobbie, his first notice of the proceeding was when Stephanie showed up at the home with the conservatorship papers, demanding that he vacate the premises. Bobbie, for his part, had been carrying on an affair over the previous eighteen months, even moving his paramour into Ruby’s home.

After Stephanie moved money from Ruby and Bobbie’s joint account, placing it in a conservatorship account, Bobbie sought to have the conservatorship set aside or, in the alternative, to replace Stephanie as conservator. Bobbie argued that he was Ruby’s appointed agent under a power of attorney. It was at this point when Stephanie’s perjury became apparent.

A guardian ad litem was appointed who prepared a detailed report quoted at length in the appellate opinion. Significantly, the guardian ad litem found that Bobbie’s loyalties had been transferred to someone else and may once again. The trial court declined to dissolve the conservatorship, but ordered Stephanie to submit an accounting. The court noted that Mississippi law does not give a spouse preference in a guardianship proceeding and that any procedural deficiency in Stephanie’s appointment was resolved by later hearings. On appeal, the judgment was affirmed. The presence of a power of attorney does not deprive the court of jurisdiction and, although the court was displeased with the conduct of each party, the determining factor appeared to be Bobbie’s shifted loyalty.

You can read the appellate court's opinion (and the GAL's accounting) here. In re Conservatorship of Ellis, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 873, Appeal No. 2008-CA-01993-COA (December 8, 2009)

The opinion gives you the understanding about what types of conduct may fit into the pattern that will be helpful for the court in making an informed decision.