THE SILVER ALERT - 2nd Edition

Exposing Financial Abuse: Elder Protective Services Conservator Exploits Disabled Woman

Note: The victim and their family’s names have been censored to protect their identity. We may elect to refer to other parties involved with pseudo-names.

Imagine a situation where a vulnerable, unsuspecting individual gets drawn into a whirlwind of conservator abuse, deceit, and manipulation. This is precisely the mess our disabled client, “Ann”, found herself in when she crossed paths with “Attorney X”.

Here, we’ll shed light on a prime example of a greedy, corrupt conservator swindling an innocent party out of their resources. 

Trigger warning: mentions of abuse, manipulation and death. Reader discretion is advised.

Ann's Conservator Abuse: The Story

The story begins with a voluntary conservatorship request, which, on the surface, seemed to be for Ann’s best interests.

Little did everyone know it was a sordid scheme that would completely empty her estate. 

From March 4 to November 21, 2022, Attorney X was appointed conservator of Ann’s estate as a result of a voluntary conservatorship. 

However, the inventory, financial report, and conservator’s report submitted by Attorney X in January 2023 showed that Ann’s home was sold during this brief 8-month period. 

Convenient timing, wouldn’t you say?

Upon further inquiry, we discovered that Attorney X did so without court approval or even providing a copy of the purchase and sale agreement.

But it doesn’t end there—within that brief 8-month conservatorship, Attorney X also managed to:

1. Change Ann’s residence without court approval.

2. Hire her law firm (she was a partner at) to represent Ann in selling her home.

3. Sell Ann’s residence for $36,000 under its tax value and $85,000 under its appraisal value.

4. Allocated herself a total of $5,351 in fees for this “service”, all without court approval.

At this point, you’re probably wondering why Ann would have voluntarily agreed to have this crooked individual manage her finances and livelihood. 

Here’s the kicker: she didn’t.

To understand how Ann lost her life savings, home, and well-being, we must start from the beginning.

The Story Behind the Story

Long before Ann crossed paths with Attorney X, she was en route to living a pretty decent life. 

Ann’s son was her conservator, during which time he spent upwards of $90k of his own savings on his mother; $60k toward home renovations to ensure a top-dollar sale or steady source of rental income, and $30k to establish housing for her during this remodel, along with travel expenses and legal fees.

At the time, Ann was out of work, behind on her bills and could have potentially lost her home until her son’s financial support swept in as a saving grace.

Things were looking up for Ann until one day when Attorney X appeared—seemingly out of thin air—to file an Elder Protective Service claim against Ann’s son. 

Her claim? That Ann’s son was financially exploiting his disabled mother.

You’d think that Attorney X had a mountain of evidence, including financial records, accounting documents, etc., to support her claims. However, it turned out that her entire case revolved solely around “witnesses” who testified to his mother’s house getting dramatically improved.

To be clear, any legal professional acting in service of a disabled individual would undoubtedly request accounting records before making such grave allegations. 

This gap in administrative oversights leads us to only one conclusion: Attorney X and her witnesses were driven not by their big, philanthropic hearts but by personal greed. The worst part? This baseless claim allowed Protective Services to “legally” abduct Ann and put her in the Attorney’s care, opening the door for "lawful" conservator abuse.

Fast Forward to Today…

There are zero formal complaints about Ann’s son; meanwhile, Ann is undergoing a court case accusing Attorney X of serious breaches involving failure to follow probate court standards concerning the liquidation and distribution of estate funds. The attorney’s failure in her fiduciary duties ultimately led to the disabled woman becoming broke and homeless almost immediately after the attorney was fired.

After months of frustration and legal battles, Ann requested the court reappoint her son as conservator to help her get to the bottom of this mess. Luckily, the court ruled in their favor, and the two are fighting as a team to uncover the case documents that will expose the Attorney’s exploitation and, hopefully, have her disbarred, preventing her from abusing her power ever again.

How a Discovery Request Paves the Way to Justice

Our goal is to use these documents (or their absence) to strip Attorney X of her “fiduciary” fees and and bar her from harming another being (animal or human) ever again.

So, exactly how was Attorney X able to carry out this manipulative conservator abuse scheme? 

How did Ann end up in the Attorney’s care if she knew what she claimed about her son wasn’t true? 

Why would she voluntarily enter a conservatorship with her?

Let’s Talk About the Legal Loophole that Drove Attorney X’s Conservator Abuse

In Ann’s case, the “voluntary conservatorship” wasn’t voluntary at all. 

According to Attorney X, Ann willfully signed over the house. However, what the court didn’t see was the behind-the-scenes coercion that she used to get the signatures that would grant her total control over Ann’s livelihood.

What conservator abuse looks like in action

After Ann was removed from her residence by Social Services, she was forced to live in a hotel by herself. Her son had no idea where she went—the only information his attorney received was Attorney X’s claims that he “financially exploited” his mom. After isolating Ann, she kept telling her that her son was going to kill her, that Atty. X and her team “had proof.” She claimed that if Ann didn’t comply (object in court to the voluntary conservatorship papers), her family could die. 

The records don’t lie

According to recently obtained Elderly Protective Services (EPS) Records, Ann actually turned away EPS the first time they approached her. Unfortunately, the second time, EPS came with Attorney X to facilitate her “legal" abduction. Records show that EPS proposed Attorney X as Ann’s conservator after they removed her from her son’s care.

The most shocking and disturbing part of the record is Ann’s exit interview, where she is clearly scared and confused about who wanted to harm her. She stated her wishes to repay her son for everything he did for her and for the rest to go toward her new home.

Less than one month after this was documented by EPS, Attorney X launched her abusive agenda by keeping the Probate Court and EPS in the dark while blatantly defying her client’s orders.

Sadly, this type of coercion is all too prominent among conservatorships, and Attorney X is one of many professionals who enact this type of conservator abuse daily.

Luckily, the Connecticut Supreme Court decision has closed this loophole for CT conservatorships.

How the Recent Supreme Court Ruling Impacts Ann’s Case

In January 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that any changes to the conditions of a conservatorship or guardianship, voluntary conservatorships included, must go through the probate court. Any conservators who fail to do so may be subject to financial penalty. 

Part of my mission is to advocate for these types of laws to be applicable on a federal level, preventing loopholes for abuse nationwide.

But Supreme Court ruling aside, there are several Connecticut Conservatorship Laws that Attorney X has neglected to respect.

Connecticut Laws That Protect the Conserved

In our formal discovery request, we have outlined the following laws that Attorney X violates, along with those that support Ann’s search for justice:

1. Discovery in Probate Court

Ann has the right to request the documents pertaining to her conservatorship to determine whether any wrongdoing occurred.

2. Requirement for Conservators to Seek Approval for Sales of Real Property and Changes of Residence

Connecticut law requires conservators to seek approval from the probate court for any property sale or change of residence. For property sales, the conservator must present evidence regarding the fair market value of the property in question.

As far as we know, Attorney X did neither of the above. Not only was no documentation provided regarding the fair market valuation of the property, but Attorney X hired her own law firm to represent Ann, which created a conflict of interest, making it easier for her to take advantage and personally benefit from the sale.

3. Reasonableness of Fiduciary Fees (AKA the “Hayward Factors”)

According to Hayward v. Plant, 98 Conn. 374 (1923), any fiduciary (in this case, Attorney X) must prove the reasonableness of the compensation requested through documented evidence. 

The reasonableness of fiduciary fees is determined based on nine factors:

• The size of the estate managed by the fiduciary

• Responsibilities of the fiduciary

• Character for the work required

• Fiduciary’s responsibilities

• Results achieved by the fiduciary

• Knowledge, skill, and judgement used

• Manner and promptness of the work done

• Time and services provided

• Any other material circumstances

To this day, we have not received any documentation from Attorney X to justify the below-market sale of Ann’s home, Attorney X’s $5k compensation, or the $33k of spending money handed over to the following caregiver once she was terminated as Ann’s conservator.

4. Probate Court Authority Over Conservator Accountings

If a fiduciary fails to perform their duties in the best interest of the conserved client, they will be:

• Removed as fiduciary

• Required to return their fees

• Required to pay any necessary surcharges

• In contempt of court

• Facing other sancitons

Thus far, Attorney X has given us every reason to believe she has wholeheartedly failed her duties as Ann’s fiduciary. We hope the documents provided will further solidify our case against her.

Attorney X has been unwilling to provide the documents, claiming that they “aren’t relevant,” even though she legally must submit them to assess her performance. And although she has allocated money from the estate to compensate herself, we are still awaiting information regarding her actual work.

Read about our proposed Disabled Bill of Rights here to learn more about how Connecticut's laws protect conserved individuals.

Help Us Prevent Negligent Conservators from Doing Harm

Not only are we on a mission to seek justice for Ann, but we are adamantly exposing the depravity of legal professionals such as Attorney X to prevent others like her from putting other vulnerable individuals through the traumatic experience of conservator abuse.

It shows other conservators that they are, in fact, liable to their clients and the court and that they are not free to do as they wish with other people’s livelihoods.

By donating to DLM's GoFundMe, you are helping Ann recover the funds she lost during this abusive miscarriage of the law. With every item purchased from our shop page, you’re supporting Ann's hard work, legal fees, and well-being, helping us do what we can to show everyone what the Attorney Xs of the world are capable of.

Coming Soon: Disabled Lives Matter: The Story's Documentary

If you’re just as shocked about this as we are and want to learn more about how conservator abuse transpires, sign up to receive updates about our upcoming documentary. In it, we present you with detailed evidence, timelines, and testimonies that piece together our client’s story in hopes of clarifying the many unanswered questions regarding her conservatorship. 

As the viewer, we invite you behind the bench to help us answer the question:

‼️ Who harmed the disabled woman? ‼️ 

You be the judge,

The CAF.