Your Civil Rights Are NOT Guaranteed. Really.

Did you know you could be stripped of your constitutionally guaranteed civil rights? I mean, all your civil rights, even if you haven’t done anything wrong. Like the right to spend your own money, to choose where you want to live, the right of free association allowing you to visit with the family and friends of your choice.

We like to think something like this couldn’t happen in the United States of America. It happens all the time, in states across this country.

Imagine waking up one day to discover you are not in control of your own life, not any aspect of it. No longer are you allowed to freely travel, sign a contract, write a check, use your credit cards or vote in the next election. Strangers suddenly appear and take away your car keys, computers, cell phone and put their name on your bank accounts and financial holdings. You ask them for an explanation and learn that a judge you never met has declared you to be “incapacitated.” You had absolutely no idea you were the subject of legal action! But you soon realize that you no longer have the right to hire your own attorney to fight the situation because in the eyes of the law you aren’t capable of making such a decision. You are suddenly labeled as an incapacitated “ward of the court” and nothing you say or do will change that legally binding fact. You are trapped in a system from which few escape.

Welcome to the world of guardianship, called conservatorship in some states. It is a system designed to protect at-risk people – the elderly, those living with disabilities, people who have suffered a traumatic brain injury or a mental illness. But too often an ill-supervised court appointed guardians and conservators emotionally and financially victimize wards and their family members. Sometimes these guardianships aren’t even necessary, they are orchestrated by greedy outsiders with eyes on your money, property or valuable heirlooms. It’s been called legalized human trafficking.

All it takes is for someone – anyone, from an angry relative or ex-business partner to a former lover or your landlord – to hire a lawyer to write a Petition for Guardianship. They might make up all sorts of exaggerations or downright lies about your situation in that petition, and the stated purpose is to inform the court that you need “protection.” They may claim you can no longer take care of yourself, or that you are a danger to yourself or others. The petition might allege that you are being physically or financially exploited by another person and you need the court to appoint a guardian (or conservator) to step in to manage all your medical and financial decisions. Realize, you likely won’t get the chance to state your case in court—why bother to listen to someone who, according to a legal document, is incapacitated? Judges routinely approve these petitions and the gears of guardianship commence because, after all, the document was presented by a trusted officer of the court who has sworn that the facts herein are all true!

Britney Spears told the world about her nightmare – for nearly 14 years she was controlled by others. She continued to earn multiple millions of dollars yet she labored under the label of being incapacitated. And Britney – like all other wards – was forced to pay all the bills for her 10,000 a week guardian and no fewer than 13 attorneys brought onto the case. Spears saw her fortune diminished by millions of dollars.  But few people realize that as many as two million Americans are currently living under guardianship. I can’t tell you a precise number because there is no government agency, state or federal, that keeps track of wards. There is no national database for this information. Oh, we keep track of stolen cars and missing kids, but not those Americans who have been court ordered to turn over every life decision to someone else. It is estimated that state courts confiscate a combined total of $50 billion of ward’s money and property—every year. Just how that money is spent by court appointees isn’t known because state court auditing systems are shoddy or non-existent. Is it any wonder that the criminal element has been attracted to work in the guardianship system? And all but three states (Alaska, California and Nevada) don’t even require a guardian to be licensed. Your plumber or hairdresser had to pass a more stringent set of requirements than a guardian who, literally, takes over another person’s life.

Look, there are certainly some vulnerable souls who really need the help of a court appointed guardian or conservator. The elderly with no family or those living with profound disabilities to name just two groups. And many of these situations work out well, especially if a loving relative is named as the guardian. But after an 8 yearlong investigation I’m here to say many do not turn out well. Judges frequently (and conveniently) agree with the petitioning lawyer that if a case winds up in court the family must be “dysfunctional” and they opt to appoint a for-profit professional guardian – a total stranger to the ward – to take control. Guardians are known to charge between $200 and $600 an hour for their services, and they can hire any number of helpers to assist. It doesn’t take long to deplete someone’s estate. When all the money is gone the ward is put on public assistance and taxpayers foot the bill for their care. Then these court insiders move on to the next person who needs protection.

Oh, and by the way, once your liquid cash is spent on paying these court appointees the guardian will ask the judge for permission to sell your home and all the possessions in it.  They will explain they need the funds to pay for you to be transferred to an assisted living or nursing home. No matter that your Last Will and Testament bequeaths the home to your son and your precious art and coin collections to your daughter. The judge will grant the guardian permission. If they ask to bust your irrevocable trust and forget your end of life wishes the court will likely okay that too. Court auditing of exactly where all your money has gone are spotty or non-existent, so your designated heirs should assume they will not get their expected inheritance.

There are lots of threads to this mysterious system which conducts all proceedings behind closed courtroom doors. Most Americans have never heard of this civil and human rights busting system because it is conducted under such a cloak of secrecy. By invoking the federal HIPAA law (which protects the privacy of citizen’s medical information) judges frequently seal case files, issue gag orders and find those who speak out about the proceedings in contempt of court.  My latest book, We’re Here to Help: When Guardianship Goes Wrong explains the good, the bad and the ugly of this ever-growing part of the judicial system through the eyes of those who have lived through it. Their stories are unforgettable.

I hope you read it. Guardianship could happen to you – or someone you love.

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