When Conservatorships Go Wrong with Diane Dimond

Easy Prey

As people age and their physical and mental health declines, conservatorships are often considered. If you’re not careful, the entire estate can be spent on management costs and abuse can occur. There are things a family can do for better outcomes.

Today’s guest is Diane Dimond. Diane is the author of four books and is a veteran investigative reporter for radio, TV, and print. Crime and justice is her preferred genre and she broke the Michael Jackson story twice. Currently abusive guardianship and conservatorships are her focus.

Show Notes:

• [0:55] - Diane shares her background as an investigative reporter.

• [2:48] - Her recent book We’re Here to Help: When Guardianship Goes Wrong is all about the possible pitfalls and risks of conservatorships.

• [5:15] - Diane explains how guardianship and conservatorship is granted.

• [6:21] - In a lot of cases, Diane has found that judges assume if conservatorship is being asked for that the family is dysfunctional.

• [8:59] - Guardians are paid out of the ward’s estate and many charge an outrageous amount of money.

• [10:31] - The most public conservatorship that went wrong was Britney Spears’s. But some celebrity guardianship scenarios have been beneficial.

• [12:29] - Diane firmly believes that guardianship needs to be harder to establish.

• [14:06] - Anybody can initiate a petition.

• [17:14] - Once it is in front of a judge, it can become a catch-22 situation.

• [19:11] - Every state is different and many are starting to pass some reform. Florida in particular is a terrible state for this system.

• [20:42] - SEAR is a very useful resource if you are in an abusive guardianship situation.

• [23:07] - It is almost impossible for the ward to make any decisions.

• [25:50] - It is you against a whole system.

• [27:52] - Unfortunately there is a lot of criminality that is possible.

• [29:51] - It isn’t impossible for abusers to be caught and punished, but it is not common.

• [31:59] - There are alternatives to guardianships that really should be considered.

• [34:21] - If these abusers were punished, they would go somewhere else and commit a different crime, but they would at least leave these vulnerable people alone.

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