OUTRAGED: In defense of wards

I feel like they have allowed me and my “trust” to be “the victims” of human trafficking! What difference is there? I’ve been stolen. I cannot believe liberties like this can be taken and forced on a person of “capacity.” And they weren’t even asked to prove it.

Unlawful and abusive guardianships and conservatorships can ensnare the most vulnerable people in a larger and larger trawling net, now including those merely physically “incapacitated.” Adult guardianship has become a feeding trough for unethical lawyers and other “fiduciaries” appointed by the courts to protect, but many of whom become nothing more than predators.

Wards in these circumstances, instead of being protected by the system, are victimized by it. Strangers are often given total and absolute control of life, liberty and property of their wards, including:

• the right to contract, including the right to choose a lawyer;

• the right to control their assets and make financial decisions;

• the right to remain in their own home and protect it from sale;

• the right to protect and enjoy their personal property;

• the right to choose where to live;

• the right to accept or refuse medical treatment, including psychotropic drugs;

• the right to decide their social environments and contacts;

• the right to assure prompt payment of taxes and liabilities;

• the right to vote;

• the right to drive;

• the right to marry; and

• the right to complain.

Wards are left defenseless and subject to exploitation by the very people chosen to protect them; they become invisible and voiceless.

An uncaring/callous/overworked/dishonest system often misuses the law and engages in blatant due process, civil/human rights violations. Victims aren’t always given notice of hearings at which their competence will be adjudicated, aren’t always allowed to attend, and often don’t have lawyers. If the court does appoint lawyers, often they are too closely affiliated with other professionals who make their living in this special area; and do not properly represent the victims’ interests. In these situations, judges do not apply the required evidentiary standards in making adjudication of incompetency, and frequently fail to obey the protective statutes, or include specific findings of fact.

Homes are sold to insiders at below market. Contents — family heirlooms, jewelry, photographs, etc., disappear, either stolen outright or sold at auction. Estate assets are rapidly paid out to the fiduciaries in exorbitant “fees” and “commissions” until there is nothing left.

PAULA (JOHNSON) FOWLER

Rathdrum