Your series highlighted problems our clients repeatedly experience. Many guardians and conservators never visit their wards, abscond with or lose cherished and valuable possessions, fail to file required accountings, dump wards in poor quality nursing homes, and are unavailable and uninformed in times of crisis. Nevertheless, it is exceedingly difficult to remove a guardian or conservator. Michigan's system often serves to protect the financial interests of guardians, health care facilities, financial institutions, lawyers and others, while ignoring the people it is supposed to protect.
Wards are invisible.
They generally do not appear in court, often are not represented by counsel, and may have no contact with the guardian or conservator who controls their lives. Michigan's Legislature must pass forceful measures to regulate professional guardians and conservators. Michigan courts must enforce the law, implement changes recommended unanimously by the Supreme Court task force two years ago, and ensure that guardians or conservators are never appointed when less restrictive measures are appropriate. The story on guardians is very heartbreaking, but true. I was a conservator for 10 years, and to think about doing what has happened to the people you profiled is a crying shame.