GUARDIANSHIP is the 2016 Gold Medal Winner for Current Events II (Social Issues / Public Affairs / Ecological / Humanitarian) Excellence eLit Book Award. It?s difficult to believe it happens, but forced guardianship fraud runs unchecked throughout the nation?s probate courts. Deemed incapacitated by the courts, elderly citizens are robbed of all decision-making rights and assigned professional guardians whose only interest lies in profiting from their vulnerable charges? estates. Guardianship: How Judges and Lawyers Steal Your Money exposes a web of murderous profiteering, all sanctioned by a corrupt legal system. As guardians take everything they can, judges and attorneys turn a blind eye. Crooked cops harass family members into silence, while the very attorneys you hired won?t help for fear of losing their licenses. These are the people who may one day control your loved one?s health care, living arrangements, finances, and very life. Ostensibly created to prevent financial abuse by caregivers and family members, professional guardianship instead gave the legal system carte blanche to destroy lives?as author Michael Larsen discovered when family members tried to help a friend suffering under a corrupt guardian, attorney, and commissioner. Here is a guide for families to better understand a corrupt system, delineating what happens when a loved one falls victim to professional guardians, and offering suggestions to minimize your risk of what amounts to legally sanctioned abuse. GUARDIANSHIP includes articles by journalists, attorneys, advocates, and others who have given their permission to be used in this book. Our collective goal is for public awareness of this serious crime.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.