Updates

–Advocates push for reform of adult guardianship system in Texas

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

By Julie Chang– American-Statesman Staff

It all started when Denise Tighe passed out at a restaurant in her North Texas hometown. The 85-year-old was taken to the hospital, deemed incapable of properly caring for herself and became a ward of the state against her will.

After she was assigned a guardian in 2011, she was taken to a nursing home 20 miles from her hometown near Fort Worth, which she adamantly protested, and her home and a lifetime of jewelry and antiques were put up for sale. She died in January with friends and family questioning whether the state did her more harm than good.

Now one of Tighe’s friends, Virginia Pritchett, is pointing to what happened to Tighe as an example of a broken adult guardianship system in Texas.

Pritchett is one of about two dozen advocates who gave testimony to the state Sunset Advisory Commission on Wednesday hoping to spur change. They say the guardianship process is stripping the rights from competent people and dragging them through a court system that requires them to spend thousands to protect their independence.

The push has gained momentum since the last legislative session when only a handful of critics lobbied with little success. Since then, a coalition of disability and elderly groups from across the state has banded together to develop and refine a set of proposals for the next session — calling for guardianships to be the last option and for more independence for wards of the state.

“These elderly people are being warehoused in nursing homes, and these court-appointed attorneys are going through all their money in court hearings that the elderly people don’t even know is occurring,” said Debby Valdez with the San-Antonio based Guardianship Reform Advocates For The Disabled & Elderly.

Adult guardianship cases are lawsuits designed to ensure vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities are not abused, neglected or exploited. A probate court must determine whether people are competent enough to keep themselves safe and healthy. If the answer is no, the judge can appoint a guardian to make medical, financial and other decisions for them.

Lawyers and judges have said that the system is protecting people and that proposed changes would leave people more vulnerable and throw unnecessary roadblocks into the process.

Texas has about 46,000 people in guardianship, according to the state. Between September 2011 and August 2012, more than 4,500 adult guardianship petitions were filed in probate courts across the state. Of those, 206 were filed in Travis County.

Advocates say that guardianship should be the last option for proposed wards and supported decision-making should be the alternative. This means allowing people with limited disabilities to hire supporters whose jobs are strictly to give information so they can make decisions for themselves.

“Even though it seems counterintuitive, not all people under guardianship are totally unable to make decisions,” said Bob Kafka with the Austin-based group Guardianship Reform and Supported Decision Making.

Supported decision-making has also garnered the support of former Texas Health and Human Services Commissioner Tom Suehs.

A few years ago, the Travis County probate court appointed Suehs’ mother-in-law a guardian ad litem, whom she paid about $300 an hour. She also hired her own attorney to fight the process.

After $30,000 in court fees, Suehs’ mother-in-law settled the dispute in mediation and she got her independence back.

“Some people have started using guardianship as an easy way out, to try to attack and resolve family disputes when they don’t need to,” Suehs said. “My own personal belief is that over the last five or six years, lawyers are creating an industry here.”

Suehs worked with lawmakers in the last legislative session for guardianship reform, but some laws passed that did more harm than good, according to advocates. The law that has garnered the most criticism gives guardians the authority to decide where a ward can live and peace officers must enforce it.

“It gives the guardian the authority to call the police and say, ‘I’ve got a court order and I can remove the little old lady from her house,’” Valdez said.

Advocates want people under guardianship to have the ability to decide where to live. And guardians should be forced to visit with their wards monthly and submit reports that are reviewed by the court, advocates say.

“Every alternative must be explored before even thinking about taking away someone’s civil rights,” Kafka said.