Issue Spotting
Portia B. Scott, J.D., L.L.M. • October 31, 2021
There ought to be a law.
Most professional Guardians are conscientious, ethical professionals who take their duties seriously and work diligently to protect those under their care.
Then, there are the others.
You need not have seen the movie “I Care a Lot” on Netflix to be aware that with the duties and obligations of plenary guardianships carry with them the seeds for abuse. Recently, you may have seen in the news that a Florida Professional Guardian, Lynrod Douglas, now stripped of his guardianships, is awaiting sentencing on 15 charges relating to fraud he committed in various guardianships.
The very people he was entrusted to protect, he was financially abusing. His preferred method of carrying out his theft was to use the Certified copies of his Letters of Guardianship, which authorize him to take possession of all of the assets of the people under his care. He would liquidate those assets, such as Certificates of Deposit and simply fail to report that the assets ever existed in his initial (and subsequent) reports which he filed with the Court.
Something as simple as excluding assets allowed the guardian to pocket them.
It seems obvious that reformation and closer monitoring of Guardianships is needed.
I believe a Statewide Registry of all assets which are liquidated or of which possession is taken by someone other than the owner be created. This would include any fiduciary, including Attorneys-in-Fact and, of course, guardians. The registry would be available to be searched by the Court’s auditors to ensure all assets are tracked.
There already are Statewide registries for other matters, such as putative fathers, why not the assets of our most dependent seniors?
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