Opinion ID: 1764161
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Guardianship of Kenneth Jackson

Text: On July 15, 1993, Nevin was appointed guardian of the property of Kenneth Jackson, a four-year-old child who had received a medical malpractice settlement. The court authorized Nevin to purchase a house for Jackson and his mother. At Nevin's direction, the house was titled in Jackson's name, and the deed indicated that the tax bills were to be sent to Jackson. The deed did not reflect that Nevin had purchased the house as guardian for Jackson or that Jackson was a minor. Nevin testified that he believe[d] that the deed was correct because Kenneth Jackson was the owner. Although Nevin later became aware that the child's mother was renting the house to a third party, he did nothing to ensure that the rental income went to the child. Moreover, due to Nevin's failure to establish a procedure to ensure that the tax bills were sent to him for payment, the taxes on the property went unpaid, and the house was sold at a tax sale. Nevin testified that he did some things that [he] could have done differently and would have had a better result but that he did not violate any ethical canons. Nevin admitted that his malpractice insurance carrier paid the child $38,376 for the loss he suffered when the house was sold at the tax sale.