Opinion ID: 2205480
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: shaners' guardianship

Text: Jeff's will appointed the Shaners as the guardians of V.B. and S.B., and the Rigginses as successor guardians. On March 8, 2001, the Shaners accepted the testamentary appointment as guardians for V.B. and S.B., and their acceptance was filed with the county court on March 30. For the first 6 months of the guardianship, V.B. and S.B. stayed with Martin in the house where they had lived with Martin and Jeff. After about 6 months, the children began staying more with the Shaners, but still spent three to four nights a week with Martin. George testified that the Shaners paid Martin $1,000 per month to babysit; the money came from V.B.'s and S.B.'s Social Security benefits. However, Martin testified that she was paid $500 per month. The Shaners also allowed Martin to live rent free with her own children in Jeff's former house, which had been inherited by V.B. and S.B. The Shaners paid Martin's utilities, bought food for the residence, and also helped Martin pay attorney fees. Martin testified that she was provided with the use of a vehicle by the Shaners and that George paid the insurance and fuel expenses for the vehicle. George had been the personal representative of Jeff's estate, but on May 13, 2002, George resigned as personal representative and First Nebraska Trust Company (First Nebraska) was appointed as successor personal representative. A trust officer for First Nebraska confirmed that Jeff's residence, which belonged to the children as an asset of Jeff's estate, had been lived in rent free and that estate assets were being used to pay the utilities for that residence. The trust officer was also asked about the property that she was managing for the children. She was reluctant to talk about the family trust because of privacy concerns, but the trust officer stated that most of the assetsapproximately $243,000were still in the estate. Catherine testified that she and George owned a Quonset hut in Lincoln and that they had owned it since  '95, '96. The hut had an upstairs and downstairs. The upstairs had been off limits to children from the time it was built until about a year before the hearing. Catherine testified that V.B. and S.B. had visited the Quonset hut with Jeff and that the Shaners, Martin, and a [f]ew other friends were often present. Catherine testified that the upstairs was an adult room, where they did cigarette smoking and play[ed] Dominoes and had a few beers. Martin also testified that the upstairs was an adult room, but she refused to explain why, on the ground that it might incriminate her. Martin invoked her Fifth Amendment rights when asked whether George brought drugs to the Quonset, whether George used drugs there, or whether V.B. and S.B. had been present at the Quonset when drugs were used.