S05.E13: Legal Guardianship in Elder Care

[Athena]

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Other segments: Arkady Babchenko, Thomas J. Mace-Archer-Mills
Guests: Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Cloris Leachman, Rita Moreno, William Shatner, Lily Tomlin, Fred Willard

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

#fuckhippos

[wknt3]

9 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

#fuckhippos

Anyone can follow the crowd and take their cues from beloved celebrities. How about taking a stand on something requiring a little intellectual courage? Are you #NotAllFoxes or #NoTallFoxes?

 

Loved John's allusion to the Sam Bee imbroglio. It really is much ado about nothing and not worth it. And the Neil DeGrasse Tyson appearance. The main segment was a little dry, too much depressing information, not enough funny (although that could be because I work in banking and was already pretty aware of the issues.) Until the end that is. Loved loved loved the PSA. Especially Cloris Leachman and William Shatner.

Edited June 4, 2018 by wknt3
fix typos

[attica]

Not that there's any doubt that Rita Moreno is awesome, but goddamn, she's awesome.

I'm casting about for a new career opportunity, and I gotta say, this whole 'geezer guardianship' thing looks promising. I could work from home! Stretch pants can be purchased on the internet, after all! I guess I need to buddy-up with some local judges....

[peeayebee]

I should know the difference betw a guardianship and a conservatorship, but I don't remember. I have a conservatorship for my son, who is mentally challenged. One can do this without a lawyer, but I used one. It's a lot of paperwork, the conservatee is assigned a lawyer, plus there's the trip to court. I don't understand how a person can be put into guardianship without at least a visit from the court or some objective representative. Is it just that in some states the system is overworked so things slip thru the cracks? Or is this built into the system? It's a horrifying situation.

I loved the bit with Fred Willard and all the rest of these national treasures. Hippos are fucking machines! 

 

2 hours ago, wknt3 said:

Loved Jon's allusion to the Sam Bee imbroglio.

That was great.

[Wilbur Whateley]

Maybe I missed it - did they explain exactly how their example elderly couple were turned into wards? All I caught was one day someone showed up at their door and presented them with the three options.  Was it neighbors or friends or relatives reporting them for some reason?  Or did that Parks woman just do it preemptively somehow, hunting for victims to exploit?  I didn't catch their names, and I've already deleted the ep from my DVR, or I would research it further myself.

Edited June 4, 2018 by Wilbur Whateley
posted before finishing

[Wilbur Whateley]

Following up on my above post - looks like last night's episode was heavily based on an article from the October 9, 2017 issue of the New Yorker, "How The Elderly Lose Their Rights." I'm reading it right now - horrifying stuff.  To answer my own question, looks like Parks just hunted them down.

[iMonrey]

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Maybe I missed it - did they explain exactly how their example elderly couple were turned into wards? All I caught was one day someone showed up at their door and presented them with the three options.  Was it neighbors or friends or relatives reporting them for some reason?  Or did that Parks woman just do it preemptively somehow, hunting for victims to exploit?  I didn't catch their names, and I've already deleted the ep from my DVR, or I would research it further myself.

I didn't understand this either. Was that couple not even aware they were under someone's guardianship? I can't believe someone can get legal guardianship over someone without that person knowing it. Surely there's a trip to court somewhere in there. I have a suspicion the couple agreed to the guardianship for one reason or another (they were outright scammed, or maybe they were actually in need of assistance) and the show chose not to disclose that part of the story because it made them look somewhat culpable.

Otherwise . . . gee. I'm just going to go to court and see if I can get guardianship of all my elderly neighbors so I can spend all their money. 

The American pretending to be British was hilarious.

[Wilbur Whateley]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I didn't understand this either. Was that couple not even aware they were under someone's guardianship? I can't believe someone can get legal guardianship over someone without that person knowing it. Surely there's a trip to court somewhere in there. I have a suspicion the couple agreed to the guardianship for one reason or another (they were outright scammed, or maybe they were actually in need of assistance) and the show chose not to disclose that part of the story because it made them look somewhat culpable.

Otherwise . . . gee. I'm just going to go to court and see if I can get guardianship of all my elderly neighbors so I can spend all their money. 

The American pretending to be British was hilarious.

That New Yorker article that I found & mentioned above goes into it in more detail.  Basically Parks filed something called an emergency ex-parte petition, which provided an exception to the rule that both sides have to notified of any argument before a judge. Then she got a corrupt physician's assistant and a corrupt doctor to submit letters  fraudulently saying the couple had dementia.   Parks then had them committed and given heavy drugs (corrupt staff) to keep them quiet while she sold their home, billed them for everything and spent all their money.  BOOM, trapped.  Their daughter tried to get them free, but Parks maligned her as a drug addict and an unfit guardian and a corrupt judge agreed.  (Remind me to never go to Clarke County, Nevada, where apparently every profession is corrupt!)  Finally the daughter got an expose in a local seniors paper, and that got them sprung - eventually.

Edited June 4, 2018 by Wilbur Whateley
deleted unnecessary quote duplication

[ahisma]

11 minutes ago, Wilbur Whateley said:

Parks then had them committed and given heavy drugs (corrupt staff) to keep them quiet while she sold their home, billed them for everything and spent all their money.  BOOM, trapped.  Their daughter tried to get them free, but Parks maligned her as a drug addict and an unfit guardian and a corrupt

Holy shit, that is terrifying! 

[Wilbur Whateley]

1 hour ago, ahisma said:

Holy shit, that is terrifying! 

The article says using this ex-parte trick had become routine in Clark (not Clarke, sorry!) County.  Hundreds of cases like this.

ETA:  After thinking about it for a while, something that's even more terrifying to me is the way she acquired her "wards."   She got tips from corrupt hospital social workers and medical staff (who profited from the scam) as to rich old people she could victimize.  So if you were a senior interacting with hospitals or elder-care, anyone you dealt with could potentially be sizing you up and getting ready to help destroy your life.   Jesus Christ.

Edited June 4, 2018 by Wilbur Whateley

[iMonrey]

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Their daughter tried to get them free, but Parks maligned her as a drug addict and an unfit guardian and a corrupt judge agreed.  (Remind me to never go to Clarke County, Nevada, where apparently every profession is corrupt!)  Finally the daughter got an expose in a local seniors paper, and that got them sprung.

Cripes almighty. So now they're suing the shit out of her, right?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

4 hours ago, Wilbur Whateley said:

Following up on my above post - looks like last night's episode was heavily based on an article from the October 9, 2017 issue of the New Yorker, "How The Elderly Lose Their Rights." I'm reading it right now - horrifying stuff.  To answer my own question, looks like Parks just hunted them down.

I thought the same thing too because I read that article several months ago and just about everything he covered in this episode was in the article.

You can read the original New Yorker article here (which goes into a lot more detail about how assholes are able to obtain legal guardianship without the person’s knowledge).

[Wilbur Whateley]

39 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Cripes almighty. So now they're suing the shit out of her, right?

I reread the end of the article - it doesn't really say. They've lost all their money and all but a handful of personal possessions. They're now living in a room in their daughter's house.  But if they aren't suing the shit out of Parks, they should be!  

[Annber03]

4 hours ago, Wilbur Whateley said:

That New Yorker article that I found & mentioned above goes into it in more detail.  Basically Parks filed something called an emergency ex-parte petition, which provided an exception to the rule that both sides have to notified of any argument before a judge. Then she got a corrupt physician's assistant and a corrupt doctor to submit letters  fraudulently saying the couple had dementia.   Parks then had them committed and given heavy drugs (corrupt staff) to keep them quiet while she sold their home, billed them for everything and spent all their money.  BOOM, trapped.  Their daughter tried to get them free, but Parks maligned her as a drug addict and an unfit guardian and a corrupt judge agreed.  (Remind me to never go to Clarke County, Nevada, where apparently every profession is corrupt!)  Finally the daughter got an expose in a local seniors paper, and that got them sprung - eventually.

That's beyond disturbing. I'm glad their daughter was able to help get them out in the end, at least. I know the chances of them recovering even the smallest amount of whatever money Parks stole is probably pretty slim, but I hope they can get something out of this in the end. 

11 hours ago, wknt3 said:

Anyone can follow the crowd and take their cues from beloved celebrities. How about taking a stand on something requiring a little intellectual courage? Are you #NotAllFoxes or #NoTallFoxes?

I'm #NoTallFoxes, myself :D. 

Regarding other segments, that story about Babchenko faking his death was wild. I mean, I'm all for wanting to get out ahead of a group of assassins and play them like that, especially in a country that's known for killing whistleblowers and such, and I'm glad he was able to escape that horrible fate, but...yeah. Scaring the bejesus out of your co-workers and your wife (presuming, of course, that she wasn't in on it like they're suspecting), and then practically daring the people publicly to try and mess with you again...yeah. I don't blame people for being pissed at that part of it all. 

Still. What a fascinating story. 

[DEL901]

On 6/4/2018 at 1:49 PM, Wilbur Whateley said:

That New Yorker article that I found & mentioned above goes into it in more detail.  Basically Parks filed something called an emergency ex-parte petition, which provided an exception to the rule that both sides have to notified of any argument before a judge. Then she got a corrupt physician's assistant and a corrupt doctor to submit letters  fraudulently saying the couple had dementia.   Parks then had them committed and given heavy drugs (corrupt staff) to keep them quiet while she sold their home, billed them for everything and spent all their money.  BOOM, trapped.  Their daughter tried to get them free, but Parks maligned her as a drug addict and an unfit guardian and a corrupt judge agreed.  (Remind me to never go to Clarke County, Nevada, where apparently every profession is corrupt!)  Finally the daughter got an expose in a local seniors paper, and that got them sprung - eventually.

Thank goodness they had a child and that she cared.  Lots of elderly are all long and would have rotted away in there!

[TudorQueen]

Thanks to everyone who brought up the New Yorker story and therefore were able to explain how this horrible woman was able to gain control of the lives of two strangers and ruin them for her own personal gain. What a terrible story - I'd say it was a cautionary tale, but under the stated circumstances, what could that couple have done to protect themselves apart from possibly designating their daughter in health care proxies and powers of attorney, and even there I wonder if the Terrible Ms Parks might have found a way around that.

[Victor the Crab]

Rita Moreno is never not hot! And the whole FuckHippos meme reminded me of the glory days of the Colbert Report when Stephen always reminded his nation about the dangers of the GODLESS KILLING MACHINES that is bears.

Enjoyed all the funny bits. Especially the one where the letter Drumpf received was from Melania telling him she moved to North Korea. lol.

But I have to get this off my chest: FUCK YOU HBO CANADA!!! Care to explain why you put Wyatt Cenac's show in Ollie's 11:00PM slot? And that you re-ran Wyatt's show again a half hour later? Heads need to roll for that bush league move!

[Annber03]

7 minutes ago, Victor the Crab said:

Rita Moreno is never not hot! And the whole FuckHippos meme reminded me of the glory days of the Colbert Report when Stephen always reminded his nation about the dangers of the GODLESS KILLING MACHINES that is bears.

I thought of that, too :D. 

Quote

Enjoyed all the funny bits. Especially the one where the letter Drumpf received was from Melania telling him she moved to North Korea. lol.

LOL, that was good.

God, that whole thing with the letter Trump got... "The letter is so interesting, it contains a lot of interesting stuff, I'll tell you about it at some point." 

*Five minutes later* "I haven't yet read the letter." 

Me: *Headdesk*

Edited June 5, 2018 by Annber03

[wknt3]

15 hours ago, Victor the Crab said:

But I have to get this off my chest: FUCK YOU HBO CANADA!!! Care to explain why you put Wyatt Cenac's show in Ollie's 11:00PM slot? And that you re-ran Wyatt's show again a half hour later? Heads need to roll for that bush league move!

Really? Blame HBO Canada! They're not even a real network anyway!

Edited June 6, 2018 by wknt3

[buttercupia]

https://www.ktnv.com/news/las-vegas-police-officer-april-parks-others-indicted-in-guardianship-case

update on april parks and some of her co-conspirators.

[peeayebee]

Oh.My.God. Reading those details -- thanks, Wilbur Whateley -- is even more horrifying. That's why there needs to be a court-appointed rep to visit the people who are supposedly unable to care for themselves. 

[b2H]

We only watched the show on Saturday night, but my husband was left asking how is this legal?  Corruption goes a long way to make something legal that isn’t.

[Danny Franks]

So to sum up this episode, Americans found yet another way to exploit the fuck out of people weaker than themselves, and the laws that are in place do nothing to protect those people. If it's not prisoners or people in debt, it's vulnerable old people. I shouldn't still be amazed at how a country founded on the idea that all people are created equal often seems like one of the most backward countries in the Western world, but I am.

I liked the compilation of John Bercow put downs. He's one of the highlights of any British parliamentary session... which isn't hard of course, but he's still very amusing.

Oh, and I already knew that about Hippos. They're assholes.

Edited June 11, 2018 by Danny Franks

[wendyg]

BOSTON LEGAL did an episode about guardian abuse all those years ago. Astonishing to see nothing's changed.

[Hanahope]

Agreed that this was a horrifying story.  Parks should be imprisoned and everything she owns sold to pay back the people she swindled.  Should include all those corrupt judges and medical personnel.

Kids definitely need to keep in contact with their parents on a regular basis so that if there is ever a whiff of a problem, hopefully they can solve it quicker.  And of course, getting some legal documents signed ahead of time is a good idea.