Opinion ID: 2160038
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Jane Pollack

Text: Finally, Jane Pollack testified. She described at some length a close and long-standing relationship that she and members of her family in New York had with Ms. Orshansky, how they had been visiting her regularly and looking after her, and how they had been unable to convince her to accept help as her ability to care for herself was declining. When Dr. Meyers notified the family of the extreme situation in which she found Ms. Orshansky, the family was prepared to take further steps. It held off doing so, Ms. Pollack testified, because Dr. Meyers reported that she was visiting Ms. Orshansky and had succeeded in persuading her to accept a home care worker. Ms. Pollack said that she relied on this report after confirming it directly with her aunt. The next thing the family heard, Ms. Orshansky was in the hospital. Ms. Pollack described why and how she removed Ms. Orshansky from the Hospital relying on her authority as Ms. Orshansky's health care agent under the health care proxy. [6] She testified that she brought her aunt to the apartment that Ms. Orshansky owned in the same building in which her sister, Rose Orshansky, resided so that Ms. Orshansky's family would be able to visit with her and care for her both physically and emotionally. According to Ms. Pollack, her aunt had purchased this apartment in 1987 so that she would have it in [the] circumstances that she's in now, and had stayed in it regularly during her frequent visits to the city. After bringing Ms. Orshansky to New York, Ms. Pollack hired an aide who had thirteen years of experience caring for elderly people to live with her aunt and look after her. Ms. Pollack had been monitoring her aunt's care very closely, and saw that the aide is very dedicated and ... takes good care of her. [7] Ms. Pollack also took Ms. Orshansky to see Rose Orshansky's doctor, who examined her and found that she did not need to remain hospitalized. [8] The doctor discussed Ms. Orshansky's diet and nutritional needs and the best course of therapy for her. Ms. Pollack understood that Ms. Orshansky would benefit from physical therapy, and said that the family was in the process of deciding where it would be furnished. Ms. Pollack believed that her aunt was in much better shape, mentally and physically, than she had been in at the Hospital. Having researched nursing facilities in the New York area, Ms. Pollack also believed that her aunt was far better off in her own apartment than she would be in a nursing home. [9] Ms. Pollack confirmed that her aunt's pension checks were being deposited in the Merrill Lynch account which was held in the revocable trust that Ms. Orshansky had established. Ms. Pollack testified that Rose Orshansky, as co-trustee and co-signatory on the Merrill Lynch account, began paying all her sister's bills for her about two years ago, when she discovered that Ms. Orshansky was neglecting her financial affairs. Contrary to the testimony of Mr. Jordan, Ms. Pollack said that she did not know of sale proceeds or any other funds in the Merrill Lynch account that did not belong to Mollie Orshansky. Ms. Pollack testified that while she had little knowledge regarding the trust, she understood simply that Rose Orshansky had lent her sister money in 1987 to help her buy the New York apartment in which she now was living. Ms. Pollack testified that while Ms. Orshansky was not able to take care of herself, she knew about the petition in the District to appoint her a guardian and conservator and emphatically opposed it. This testimony came out after the Hospital's counsel informed the court during a break that Mr. Teitelbaum had delivered to him and Ms. Castro a typewritten statement signed by Ms. Orshansky and two witnesses in which she purportedly stated her views. Questioning the propriety of securing the statement from Ms. Orshansky without the knowledge of Mr. Jordan or Ms. Castro, Judge Christian asked for an explanation. Mr. Teitelbaum responded that her lawyer has never spoken to Mollie Orshansky  a startling piece of news the significance of which all concerned overlooked at the time. [10] Ms. Pollack then resumed the stand and testified that it was she who typed the statement after Rose Orshansky brought it to her in handwritten form and told her that her sister had made it. Ms. Pollack also testified that she herself had read the Hospital's petitions to Mollie Orshansky and tried to explain them to her; that her aunt was very agitated about the proceedings; that she was absolutely capable of saying what appeared in the statement; that I have personally heard her say the things that are in there; and that she has said every single one of those things. Mr. Jordan opined that, based on his interviews with Ms. Orshansky, she could not possibly have made the statement attributed to her or even understood it. Ms. Castro opposed admission of the statement on hearsay grounds. But if Ms. Pollack's testimony is to be believed, Ms. Orshansky has expressed the strong desire to continue living in her New York apartment near her sister and other relatives, and is dismayed by the prospect of being put in a nursing home. She does not want the court in the District of Columbia to supersede the trust and health care arrangements that she made and to appoint her a guardian or a conservator, and is unhappy and angry about strangers purporting to represent her against her own wishes. We discuss the significance of Ms. Pollack's testimony concerning the wishes of Ms. Orshansky in Part II.C.2.b(iii), infra.