1. Father was in his 80's and had four children. One child lived in Florida. The remaining children resided in Ohio. The children in Ohio learned that the son in Florida was manipulating the father and his assets. One of the sons in Ohio filed an application for guardianship seeking to secure the appointment of a guardian over their father. I represented the son in his application for guardianship. The father, in conjunction with the son in Florida, retained counsel and sought dismissal of the guardianship application for lack of jurisdiction claiming that the father was a domicile or resident of Florida. Shortly before trial, the son in Florida removed the father from the jurisdiction of the Ohio courts against court order and brought the father to Florida. We successfully obtained the appointment of the Ohio son as guardian and successfully secured the return of the father to Ohio.
2. Represent guardian in an action against ex-son-in-law seeking to recover real estate obtained by ex-son-in-law through purchase contract. It is alleged that the ex-son-in-law, while the ward was suffering from dementia, forced the ward to sell the real estate for a price substantially less than fair market value. It is alleged that he convinced his mother to sell the real estate for less than fair market value by convincing her that she would otherwise lose the house due to Medicaid issues. Trial is scheduled in an effort to set aside the real estate transaction on the grounds of fraud, incompetence, and undue influence.
3. Represented son who was a California resident in an action to remove daughter as guardian for the reason that guardian refuses to allow mother to return home. The mother has sufficient assets to pay for home care and wants to return home. The guardian has taken the position that, because mother is incompetent, the incompetent ward has no right and it would be too expensive to remove mother to her home. Resolved removal by agreement whereby mother would be moved home.
4. Mother sought guardianship over her husband and sought to force husband to stay in a nursing home against his will. Represented daughter in action to seek the appointment of guardian in an effort to secure the return of father to his home or discharge from assisted living facility.
5. Represented niece in competing application against grandson for guardianship over the proposed ward. Niece was appointed power of attorney by her aunt. Competing applications were tried and the appointment is pending. Nonetheless, it was argued that because the power of attorney was being appropriately handled, that the court was required to consider the less restrictive alternative to the guardianship and, rather than appoint a guardian, allow the powers of attorney to remain in effect.