Mother Held Prisoner by Court Appointed Guardian

There are many things we are deeply fearful of. The death of a child is one. Being imprisoned for something we’re not guilty of is another. Losing any loved one that you can’t imagine living without is another. Unless you’ve experienced such wretched circumstances, it’s hard to imagine what it might feel like.

Growing old and not being able to care for yourself is another common fear. Large families may wonder how anyone could die alone, unprotected and uncared for. In the USA, unless you have the means to take care of yourself, you’re subjected to laws and an underground of political corruption that literally and unbelievably forces senior citizens to die. Here is just one true story.

Maggie Was a Loving Mother and Grandmother

Maggie Grover is an American 76 year old nursing home patient who is fed baby food and is usually dehydrated. Everything she owns and loved has been taken away. She was assigned a bed and some pills.

In her younger years, she tolerated and then finally divorced a bi-polar, abusive alcoholic husband who spent his days as a drifter until he died of a brain tumor. She did the best she could to raise their 4 children as a single mom. For a brief few years, she had married a good and generous widower. However, one night he died in his sleep. Maggie took care of his 3 children as if they were her own. When all seven children became adults, Maggie married again. This man was not a kind man.

When Maggie began to develop signs of dementia, her husband became even more abusive. Several of the children tried to help their mother but their attempts to assist were met with harassment and later, legal blockages. Regardless of what the local County agencies asked for, such as making the home habitable for a handicapped person or providing hospice care, he blocked help at every turn. For years Maggie’s children and grand kids checked on her when her husband was not around, which was most of the time. They would find their mother staring into space and unable to eat or take care of herself. Doctors orders were not followed. She couldn’t swallow her pills. The husband neglected her and her care. Nobody from any agency did what the children had expected.

Prisoner by Law

A daughter fought a legal battle and won the right to take care of her mother in a rental home right next to her own house. Maggie came to live there with her little dog, whom she dearly loved. She was diagnosed with a form of Parkinson’s. Under the care of the children and a nurse they hired, Maggie’s health vastly improved. Despite this reprieve, Maggie continued to be neglected and abused by her husband. She asked for a divorce. During this time, health care monies became an issue, as was paying for her rental. The husband had no intention of offering assistance, nor would he agree to the divorce. Lawyers convinced the children to grant custody of their mother to a “guardian”, with the promise that she would be well protected, could remain in her rental house and her health needs taken care of.

The papers were signed in a few minutes, with very little information or discussion. Upon losing the right to care for their mother, the Legal Guardian put her into a shoddy nursing home, gave the dog to the husband, wiped out Maggie’s entire savings , took it for himself and forbade Maggie to divorce her husband.

The nursing home was instructed by the Guardian to give her baby food. She is not permitted water or liquids on demand, so the children sneak in food and water to keep her alive. Maggie knows what’s happening around her. She can talk. On visits to the nursing home, a family member watched as a patient rummaged through the drugs while two aides stood by looking on, but not taking any action. Aides pat the butts of patients. Patients pretend to be asleep so they don’t have to eat the food. Meanwhile, the Guardian told Maggie he plans to put the dog to sleep because she asks to see her beloved pet. It was learned this is his standard practice; putting pets of patients to sleep. Maggie is now forced to exist on Medicaid and the whims of her legal Guardian and the nursing home.

She has no rights.

Fifth Amendment

“No person shall be…deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due
process of law.“

For those who have witnessed their own Maggie story, forced to watch as their loved one is abused by Legal Guardians, the Sixth Amendment does not apply to someone like Maggie. Her family has contacted every legal counsel they can find and learned that everyone, from the guardian, to the doctors who work in the Nursing Home or were consulted on Maggie’s case, to the Judges, are all corrupt. Not a single one has helped.

Sixth Amendment

“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy
and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the
crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously
ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the
accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have
compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the
Assistance of Counsel for his defense.”

The family’s research found that there is tolerance and a blind eye towards bad guardianship at both the state and federal levels. This means there is nobody protecting Maggie’s life, liberty or property. Everything was taken away from her by the Guardian.

Fourteenth Amendment

“No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges
or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any
person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to
any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

While all of this is happening, Maggie is well enough to try and fight for her right to life. She is worried at the burden this has created for her children. At each attempt to rescue their mother, the Guardian, in retaliation, has threatened to ban the family from visiting their mother in the nursing home, move Maggie out of state or put her into an even less desirable nursing home. In other words, the Guardian is emotionally black mailing the family. The Guardian entered into an agreement releasing the husband of any and all financial responsibility for Maggie but won’t let them divorce. Maggie has been put into a room to die.

As if none if this is hard enough to grasp, not even the local politicians want to take an interest in what is known as “Guardian Abuse”. It’s tied to the health care industry, which is a political bomb shell right now. Sara Palin, in her remarks about “death panels” is not that far off base. In the USA, if you sign away the care, custody or responsibility of caring for someone who can’t care of themselves, you sentence that loved one to death.

And unless a situation such as Maggie’s story happens in your family, you’ll likely believe it doesn’t happen or can’t happen where you live. Research “Guardian Abuse”, “Grannynapping” (kidnapping or when families try to rescue someone), Medicaid fraud, (Maggie’s Guardian has 3 houses and several kids in college. Remember, he takes all his “Ward’s” monies) and exploitation of the elderly.

As of the time of this writing, the family was most recently told by a Judge that they will need a “high priced lawyer” to help them. Of course, they don’t have the money, so they live each day in deep anguish, wondering if there is anyone who cares.

Note: Names and certain personal points have been changed to protect the persons involved. The family has been threatened for speaking out. I am speaking out on their behalf.

Tagged as: elderly abuse, guardian abuse, healthcare, medicaid fraud

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