Righting a Wrong and Sending a Message
Donation protected
Update 10.8.20...this is the new account, the other one timed out.
I opened this GoFundMe account to help raise money for my legal fee's. I am trying to "Right a Wrong" and send a message that people can not just get a way with taking advantage of others, especially the elderly!
(update 9.20.20)
I do not have the exact updated totals,but it is about 90 thousand dollars, and I expect that after court it will be well over $100,000. I have been just too depressed. As of today, I have raised only 225.00 in the past 15 months. I see people raising money for their 3rd "dream wedding" and raising 18,000+ dollars for that, and here I am trying to fight against what was done to my dad. This is a noble cause, not just me trying to raise money for personal "enjoyment". I am not expecting anyone to give me their whole pay check, (I would not tun down a rich philanthropist helping), but my post on MINDS.COM has had over 27 thousand views and I have not had much luck raising money to help paying this incredibly large bill. PLEASE, if anyone can help with a gift of just a few bucks. I am really trying to do the right thing here, but man, I am going broke doing it!
Now the story...
I am currently going through probate court against someone who I believe exploited my father and switched his beneficiary designation on his retirement account from my brother at 100% to her at 100% . (a broke down of my costs are at the bottom) Any money she spent of my dad's is gone for good, no recovering it at all. What I am fighting for is what is left in his retirement account, which is only about 60,000. My attorney fees are currently 30,000 MORE then that, and will go higher as we go to court. So please do not misunderstand, I am not asking for help "to make money", I am going to be in the hole no matter what.
My dad was diagnosed with dementia in July 2017. He died May 1, 2019 at the age of 91. This woman is 32 years younger then him, but acted like she was his girlfriend. She is 59! I am trying to stop any more (alleged) steeling from him by getting the beneficiary designation set back to my brother. I NEED help.
In late November 2018 I was notified by my dad's retirement fund that they had classified him as a "vulnerable person", and at high risk to being exploited. They contacted me because they believed this was happening to him. I contacted the nursing home he was at, and was told the same thing, and even in more detail, by the two different social workers at the nursing home. They said that they believed she was steeling from him. I was told to take my power of attorney paperwork to the bank and to the retirement fund and get statements as far back as I could as evidence. I did and was able to go back to December 2016.
From December 2016 to December 2018, there was over 100 thousand dollars of expenses that I can not account for as being legitimate. This includes 4,000 to 6,000 dollars being charged on his Discover card every month. Even after my dad was permanently placed in the nursing home, she continued to use his credit card for several months, going to Starbucks, Fast food restaurants, nail saloons, and even gas stations, sometimes more then once a day to a gas station, which leads me to believe that more than one person in her family was using the credit card. I had suspected things like this were going on, but could not prove it because she was in control of his mail and had access to his finances, and I did not. It was not until I had some proof from the two Social Workers at the one nursing home, that I was able to utilize the Power of Attorney that my dad gave me years ago.
In February 2019, my dad was set to have a Conservatorship Hearing. A conservator is basically a court appointed accountant. I am not sure what caused my dad to seek this, but I believe it was because my dad wanted to protect what he still had left from her because I believe she was threatening to put him in a nursing home unless she had access to his money. His dementia has been worsening for a while but he knew he did not want to be in a nursing home. And there was no way I could take care of someone with dementia, especially one that is a "wonderer", and needed 24 hour supervision.
The court investigator deemed my dad was too bad for a conservator, and it was switched to a Guardianship with a March 21, 2019 hearing. The Court ordered an Expert Evaluation which was done and dated March 3, 2019 (or 4th). My dad scored 4 out of 30! A score of 20 and below is deemed incompetent. During the Hearing the judge looked at me and stated that the score of 4 "is very, very low". I applied for the guardianship of my dad, however, the court defaults to appointing a third party guardian first, while they investigate the applicant (me) and make sure that that person is not going to exploit the ward (my dad). This is usually about 3 months; my dad died before the court could finish any of this.
The day after my dad died, my dad's retirement fund called me asking to verify his death, saying the woman/girlfriend is trying to cash out the "beneficiary". I asked them why is she trying to do that because my brother was the beneficiary at 100%. They said that it was changed in January 8, 2019, to her at 100%.
I now have legal fees trying to fight against her. Even if I win, I will have spent more money then what is in the account, but that is how people get away with exploiting the elderly! I could have just chosen not to fight her in court, but would mean she succeeds again at exploiting my dad, I can not just let this happen. So much was already taken from him when he was alive, I can not just sit back and let her take more now that he is gone. If I chose to do nothing, I would be teaching her that she can get away with this, and it will only encourage her to do this to someone else. She needs to learn you just can not do this, it is wrong. And for all I know, she could be doing this to someone else already.
This woman already has a couple back up plans since my dad died. In June 2019 ( 1 month after my dad died) she flied a suit against Starbucks Coffee, because she is claiming that they did not put the lid on tight on her coffee, and she spilled it in her lap in the drive through. (yeah, I know; not like this has not been tried before). She is suing for 71,000.
And then in early July 2019 (2 months after my dad died), she has a second law suit, but now it is against a person from a car accident. In this one she is suing for 25,000.
My brother is scared off by the big expense of money, in fighting her in court. He is worried about spending a lot of money only to lose. So I said I would cover the cost for him. Again, just doing nothing only teaches someone they can do this and get away with it.
It looked fairly straight forward, we have a lot of doctor notes stating he was really bad, including that psychological test from March 2019 where he score 4 out of 30. Nurse's notes stating he is delusional, confused, and combative. I have the police report from September 2018, where he was trying to get into someone's car for over 30 minutes. The other person thought he was trying to break into it. He was confused which car was his, but it was not even the "same" type of vehicle. My dad was trying to get into a sedan, my dad drives a SUV.
My attorney believes we have a strong case but that they are fighting this to try and ware me down with expenses, so I drop the case and she then wins the money. I can't just do that. From my point of view, he has been victimized so much already, and to allow it to continue after he is gone is just wrong. And, I just can't let someone think that they can continue doing this and not get in trouble. All the money that she (allegedly) spent while he was alive is gone, there is no getting that back. And I just can not allow this to get worse.
It is turning out to be more expensive then I thought. As of 7/19/19 the legal fee's are over 18,420.93. And we have not gone to trial yet; they're still doing depositions/evidence gathering. In the end, I'm looking at 25,000+ in legal fees & she is purposely doing things to run my fee higher. I already borrowed 3,000 from my uncle but I need money to continue to fight her.
How did the cost go up so fast? 3,295.00 for the guardianship. Then another 65,696.11 for the attorney's fee's and filing fee's, and for expenses for the depositions and other evidence gathering. Then 3,500.00 for the psychologist to review all the nurse's notes, doctor notes, the police reports, etc. 1,383.09 for court reporters for the depositions. So all that added up is 73,874.20 so far.
UPDATED : As of 3/15/20 the total legal fee's are 73,874.20 = (3,295.00 + 3,500.00 + 65,696.11 + 1,383.09). And we still have more depositions and the actual trial. So I estimate another 15,000.00 and no guarantee of winning, you never know how a judge will see things.
I am asking for help. I can not just let her get away with this any more. If we don't win this, it will be even harder to go after her criminally.
If you can help, THANK YOU! If not, can you PLEASE share this with others, maybe someone else can. I am hoping that word will get out, and maybe several thousand people can help with a dollar or two. as of 9/13/19 I have raised $165.00. It has gone up by 10.00 since then to a total of 175.00
Thank you for your time reading this and any help you can, even if that is sharing this with others that you know.
Thank you again,
Brian
I opened this GoFundMe account to help raise money for my legal fee's. I am trying to "Right a Wrong" and send a message that people can not just get a way with taking advantage of others, especially the elderly!
(update 9.20.20)
I do not have the exact updated totals,but it is about 90 thousand dollars, and I expect that after court it will be well over $100,000. I have been just too depressed. As of today, I have raised only 225.00 in the past 15 months. I see people raising money for their 3rd "dream wedding" and raising 18,000+ dollars for that, and here I am trying to fight against what was done to my dad. This is a noble cause, not just me trying to raise money for personal "enjoyment". I am not expecting anyone to give me their whole pay check, (I would not tun down a rich philanthropist helping), but my post on MINDS.COM has had over 27 thousand views and I have not had much luck raising money to help paying this incredibly large bill. PLEASE, if anyone can help with a gift of just a few bucks. I am really trying to do the right thing here, but man, I am going broke doing it!
Now the story...
I am currently going through probate court against someone who I believe exploited my father and switched his beneficiary designation on his retirement account from my brother at 100% to her at 100% . (a broke down of my costs are at the bottom) Any money she spent of my dad's is gone for good, no recovering it at all. What I am fighting for is what is left in his retirement account, which is only about 60,000. My attorney fees are currently 30,000 MORE then that, and will go higher as we go to court. So please do not misunderstand, I am not asking for help "to make money", I am going to be in the hole no matter what.
My dad was diagnosed with dementia in July 2017. He died May 1, 2019 at the age of 91. This woman is 32 years younger then him, but acted like she was his girlfriend. She is 59! I am trying to stop any more (alleged) steeling from him by getting the beneficiary designation set back to my brother. I NEED help.
In late November 2018 I was notified by my dad's retirement fund that they had classified him as a "vulnerable person", and at high risk to being exploited. They contacted me because they believed this was happening to him. I contacted the nursing home he was at, and was told the same thing, and even in more detail, by the two different social workers at the nursing home. They said that they believed she was steeling from him. I was told to take my power of attorney paperwork to the bank and to the retirement fund and get statements as far back as I could as evidence. I did and was able to go back to December 2016.
From December 2016 to December 2018, there was over 100 thousand dollars of expenses that I can not account for as being legitimate. This includes 4,000 to 6,000 dollars being charged on his Discover card every month. Even after my dad was permanently placed in the nursing home, she continued to use his credit card for several months, going to Starbucks, Fast food restaurants, nail saloons, and even gas stations, sometimes more then once a day to a gas station, which leads me to believe that more than one person in her family was using the credit card. I had suspected things like this were going on, but could not prove it because she was in control of his mail and had access to his finances, and I did not. It was not until I had some proof from the two Social Workers at the one nursing home, that I was able to utilize the Power of Attorney that my dad gave me years ago.
In February 2019, my dad was set to have a Conservatorship Hearing. A conservator is basically a court appointed accountant. I am not sure what caused my dad to seek this, but I believe it was because my dad wanted to protect what he still had left from her because I believe she was threatening to put him in a nursing home unless she had access to his money. His dementia has been worsening for a while but he knew he did not want to be in a nursing home. And there was no way I could take care of someone with dementia, especially one that is a "wonderer", and needed 24 hour supervision.
The court investigator deemed my dad was too bad for a conservator, and it was switched to a Guardianship with a March 21, 2019 hearing. The Court ordered an Expert Evaluation which was done and dated March 3, 2019 (or 4th). My dad scored 4 out of 30! A score of 20 and below is deemed incompetent. During the Hearing the judge looked at me and stated that the score of 4 "is very, very low". I applied for the guardianship of my dad, however, the court defaults to appointing a third party guardian first, while they investigate the applicant (me) and make sure that that person is not going to exploit the ward (my dad). This is usually about 3 months; my dad died before the court could finish any of this.
The day after my dad died, my dad's retirement fund called me asking to verify his death, saying the woman/girlfriend is trying to cash out the "beneficiary". I asked them why is she trying to do that because my brother was the beneficiary at 100%. They said that it was changed in January 8, 2019, to her at 100%.
I now have legal fees trying to fight against her. Even if I win, I will have spent more money then what is in the account, but that is how people get away with exploiting the elderly! I could have just chosen not to fight her in court, but would mean she succeeds again at exploiting my dad, I can not just let this happen. So much was already taken from him when he was alive, I can not just sit back and let her take more now that he is gone. If I chose to do nothing, I would be teaching her that she can get away with this, and it will only encourage her to do this to someone else. She needs to learn you just can not do this, it is wrong. And for all I know, she could be doing this to someone else already.
This woman already has a couple back up plans since my dad died. In June 2019 ( 1 month after my dad died) she flied a suit against Starbucks Coffee, because she is claiming that they did not put the lid on tight on her coffee, and she spilled it in her lap in the drive through. (yeah, I know; not like this has not been tried before). She is suing for 71,000.
And then in early July 2019 (2 months after my dad died), she has a second law suit, but now it is against a person from a car accident. In this one she is suing for 25,000.
My brother is scared off by the big expense of money, in fighting her in court. He is worried about spending a lot of money only to lose. So I said I would cover the cost for him. Again, just doing nothing only teaches someone they can do this and get away with it.
It looked fairly straight forward, we have a lot of doctor notes stating he was really bad, including that psychological test from March 2019 where he score 4 out of 30. Nurse's notes stating he is delusional, confused, and combative. I have the police report from September 2018, where he was trying to get into someone's car for over 30 minutes. The other person thought he was trying to break into it. He was confused which car was his, but it was not even the "same" type of vehicle. My dad was trying to get into a sedan, my dad drives a SUV.
My attorney believes we have a strong case but that they are fighting this to try and ware me down with expenses, so I drop the case and she then wins the money. I can't just do that. From my point of view, he has been victimized so much already, and to allow it to continue after he is gone is just wrong. And, I just can't let someone think that they can continue doing this and not get in trouble. All the money that she (allegedly) spent while he was alive is gone, there is no getting that back. And I just can not allow this to get worse.
It is turning out to be more expensive then I thought. As of 7/19/19 the legal fee's are over 18,420.93. And we have not gone to trial yet; they're still doing depositions/evidence gathering. In the end, I'm looking at 25,000+ in legal fees & she is purposely doing things to run my fee higher. I already borrowed 3,000 from my uncle but I need money to continue to fight her.
How did the cost go up so fast? 3,295.00 for the guardianship. Then another 65,696.11 for the attorney's fee's and filing fee's, and for expenses for the depositions and other evidence gathering. Then 3,500.00 for the psychologist to review all the nurse's notes, doctor notes, the police reports, etc. 1,383.09 for court reporters for the depositions. So all that added up is 73,874.20 so far.
UPDATED : As of 3/15/20 the total legal fee's are 73,874.20 = (3,295.00 + 3,500.00 + 65,696.11 + 1,383.09). And we still have more depositions and the actual trial. So I estimate another 15,000.00 and no guarantee of winning, you never know how a judge will see things.
I am asking for help. I can not just let her get away with this any more. If we don't win this, it will be even harder to go after her criminally.
If you can help, THANK YOU! If not, can you PLEASE share this with others, maybe someone else can. I am hoping that word will get out, and maybe several thousand people can help with a dollar or two. as of 9/13/19 I have raised $165.00. It has gone up by 10.00 since then to a total of 175.00
Thank you for your time reading this and any help you can, even if that is sharing this with others that you know.
Thank you again,
Brian
Organizer
Brian Last
Organizer
Cleveland, OH
