Guardian Abuse Cases Blog

Guardian Abuse cases website was created to warn senior citizens about a form of legalized robbery the courts call guardianship. Memorial Day is approaching; we felt it was time to honor the countless senior victims of an American legal system that has blatantly turned against them.

We decided to conduct extensive research around the country in an effort to find important author quotes about the crime of guardian abuse. In this article we will amplify upon and reprint these important quotes to explain the plight of countless senior citizens who have fallen as victims of guardian prey. As part of my full disclosure, I want it known that I have skin in this game. My mother in-law Marcy E. DuDeck was kidnapped under orders issued by a cruel guardian, Jared E. Shafer whose motive was to only profit from her estate. Marcy DuDeck died alone, neglected and with the misbelief that no one cared about her. The misbelief was placed in her mind by Patience Bristol, Jared Shafer’s employee who was sentenced from three to eight years in Nevada State Prison for exploiting the elderly. This article is for Marcy DuDeck and the millions of victims who had names, families and lives only to have them destroyed by greedy and unethical guardians.

“It’s difficult to believe it happens, but forced guardianship fraud runs unchecked throughout international 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.” The Washington Examiner

The Washington Examiner is revealing the activities of both probate and family courts, which is normal procedure in all 50 states of the US, and throughout the world. In the United States, a guardian can modify a trust, change a will and in some cases that guardian will move in and occupy the home of a ward. If the senior or ward has valuable art, the guardian will steal it. If the senior has jewelry, the guardian will sell it and pocket the cash. If the senior has left cash in the home, the guardian will simply take it. Guardians in their regular course of business will commit their client or ward to a retirement facility and then live in the senior’s former residence. When the guardian becomes tired of the client or ward’s home, the house will usually be sold under market value to a friend or relative of the guardian.

“There is a web of murderous profiteering, all sanctioned by a corrupt legal system. As guardianship firms take everything they can, state 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.” Kathleen Hine, Journalist

Kathleen Hine is 100% correct with her quote. Steve Miller, a respected journalist who writes a column for American Mafia known as Inside Vegas has documented the activities of two guardians who have been either engaged in or are surrounded by allegations of criminal activities. These guardians, Jared E. Shafer and April Parks are both under major scrutiny of law enforcement for fraud, misappropriation of funds, embezzlement, kidnapping and possibly grand theft. In the case of Jared E. Shafer his activities resulted in the death of two individuals who broke into the home of one of his Las Vegas wards in an attempt to steal valuable documents. The ward’s son was hit on the head with a golf club while trying to protect his mother’s property. This victim retaliated by killing both robbers with a 12 gage shot gun.
In the case of April Parks, this guardian is on the run and has recently filed bankruptcy in an attempt to hide the property and money she is believed to have taken.

We also have Patience Bristol, an employee of Jared E. Shafer who is currently out of prison after being convicted for exploiting the elderly.

As all of this unbelievable cruelty takes place, the guardians profit. Jared E. Shafer has been openly bragging for years about bribing judges to many different witnesses in order to get the court rulings he needs to continue his personal brand of exploitation.

“Instead of serving to protect the assets of incapacitated persons, the existing guardianship system presents the opportunity for unscrupulous guardians to loot the assets of their wards and enriches them with impunity.” –New York Grand Jury

The New York Grand Jury is on target with this statement. If a family member wants to fight a guardian, the guardian’s ward or client’s money will be used to pay for the guardian’s attorney. In the case of a Nevada law firm who represented Jared E. Shafer, one attorney, Alan D. Freer, told me directly that he was under strict orders to increase the firm’s bill by at least 300% on orders from his boss Mark Solomon and Jared E. Shafer. The bogus billing was charged to punish our family for questioning the guardian’s practices. As he stated in a 2010 phone call, “As a beneficiary family member you can do nothing about this”. As unbelievable as this may appear, the courts approve the bogus bills. Judges consider billing $10,000 for answering simple E-mails to be completely normal. Yes, the stealing goes on.

“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.” Dr. Angela Woodhull

Doctor Woodhull may have worked with some of the victims our site has interviewed. When a guardian takes charge of a ward or client, the first action of the guardian is to isolate the ward from family members. The next step is to create conflict within a family to ensure family members will never speak to each other after the ward dies and the guardianship is terminated. One family I can’t name, reported a guardian stating to a senior’s daughter that it would be a nice thing if her brother was hit by a car while crossing the street. When families are separated by conflict, the chances of uniting to fight the guardian abuse are very low. This ensures that the crimes of the guardian will never be reported.

“…usually after the victims are purportedly diagnosed with a disease such as Alzheimer’s (often by a non-expert without medical evidence), then, in spite of protests by family members, the family court has historically and consistently approved the bilking of the hard earned assets of elderly or disabled persons by crooked for-hire guardians under the color of often-ignored Nevada laws.” Steve Miller, former Las Vegas City Councilman

Steve Miller has written about many cases where doctor opinions have been bought and sold like worthless penny stocks. One case, which was revealed to our staff, involved the story of a senior who was declared to be competent by three psychiatrists in Kansas, but found to be incompetent by one family therapist with a PHD from Hawthorne Nevada. Naturally, the Nevada court totally ignored the opinions of the doctors in Kansas. We found this court activity to be very strange.

Conclusion:
After reading this article, you may believe that this can’t happen to you. Please think again.
“A simple slip-and-fall can put someone into the guardianship of unknown persons with no knowledge to family and a friend until the deed is done. Forced incompetency; get control over everything and the ward (senior) loses all rights.” Robert W. Melton, Pinellas County Internal Auditor, “Dirty Tricks of Guardianships – The Need for Change”, April 2004

The system needs to be changed. Guardianship fraud could be the cause of at least one to three billion per year in Medicare fraud. The lost funds personally affect anyone who is reading this article.