We’ve read Bill 1259 which has been proposed and will be brought before the House Committee on Wednesday, January 30th, 2019.

There are some promising changes to Guardianship being proposed and we are especially supportive of those changes. There are also some gaps, which we plan to address in our testimony on Wednesday.

The Good

The big change that jumped out to us was the requirement for Guardians to disclose previous bankruptcies. We likely would never have selected Kristyan Calhoun at Senior Avenues if her bankruptcy filing had been disclosed.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 117. DISCLOSURE OF BANKRUPTCY OR CRIMINAL HISTORY.
(1) Before accepting appointment as a guardian or conservator, a person shall disclose to the court whether the person:
(a) Is or has been a debtor in a bankruptcy, insolvency, or receivership proceeding; or
(b) Has been convicted of:
(i) A felony;
(ii) A crime involving dishonesty, neglect, violence, or use of physical force; or
(iii) Other crimes relevant to the functions the individual would assume as guardian or conservator.
(2) A guardian or conservator that engages or anticipates engaging an agent the guardian or conservator knows has been convicted of a felony, a crime involving dishonesty, neglect, violence, or use of physical force, or other crimes relevant to the functions the agent is being engaged to perform promptly shall disclose that knowledge to the court.

Kristyan Calhoun’s mismanagement of funds has been costly and extremely frustrating. At one point she even let her business license for Senior Avenues lapse for non-payment.

Immediately after appointment as temporary guardian, Kristyan Calhoun began to cause financial trouble, letting a liability insurance policy on a commercial property (which was being rented out to 3 businesses and had very high traffic) lapse due to… yes, non-payment.

These issues arose virtually monthly — phone bills went unpaid and the company threatened disconnection of service. Jeff’s mother was sent to collections for not paying an electric bill (for which the utilities were disconnected). The commercial insurance lapsed AGAIN.

The day before Jeff’s father’s funeral, we received a notice from the bank that Senior Avenues had bounced a check for $5890.00 against a bank balance of $1810.71. This was a check drawn on Jeff’s joint account with his parents. Jeff had not used the account since Senior Avenues took over (7 months prior), so the responsibility for the overdraft lies solely on the shoulders of Kristyan Calhoun. The NSF fee of $30 was never returned to the bank account.

The weight of these constant financial issues was crushing — not only were Jeff’s parents at risk of losing services vital to their connection with their family and possibly even eviction for his mother, but Jeff’s name was on the bank accounts, which put him at some risk as well.

Kristyan Calhoun’s bankruptcy was symptomatic of a larger concern and behavior that continues even now — at best she is financially “sloppy”, but more importantly, she and Senior Avenues have shown no effort to remedy their financial issues. Their business license lapsed in November 2018 due to non-payment.

Only one time before had Jeff’s parents had issues paying their bills — his mother’s macular degeneration had advanced to the point she couldn’t read her statements and bills, and her dementia had progressed such that bills went unpaid or overpaid. Her payment of $1500.00 to the oil company caught Jeff’s attention and as Power of Attorney for 12 years and joint on their accounts, he began assisting his mother with her bill payments and correcting the issues that had arisen as her vision and cognition declined.

Credit scores are important for securing housing in assisted living facilities and other services so vital for the elderly. Financial health plays a role in one’s eligibility for Medicaid (did you know that if you’re found to’ve sold your primary residence for less than market value, you can be denied assistance?).

I’m glad to see the addition to the bill for disclosure of bankruptcy filing. In the case of Kristyan Calhoun and Senior Avenues, a person with no regard for their own finances should not be in a position to control anyone else’s.

Opportunities for Improvement

The bill does have some opportunities for improvement which will be included in our testimony.

1.) The court’s oversight of guardianship grievances needs to be addressed. Currently, there is very little in place to support investigations and not much in the way of remediation. We want this changed. Our grievance was filed in July of 2017 and here we are almost two years later with no progress made.

Even worse, if the victim dies before the investigation is complete, the grievance is closed. Nothing is done to hold the guardian accountable. This must be changed and guardians held accountable for their actions. In our case, it is unlikely that Kristyan’s breach of fiduciary obligation will ever be rectified.

2.) Grievances need to be made public. Grievances are not made public and should be. All other aspects of the guardianship records are available to the public except for certain sealed records (i.e. medical reports).

3.) The guardian should be required to notify interested parties in advance of changing a person’s location or living arrangement. Currently they are required to notify within 30 days of the move or change, essentially allowing guardians to sequester a person in their care.

4.) Guardians have too much leeway in restraining or otherwise blocking visitors to persons in their care.

5.) The bill has no “teeth”. There are no prescriptive measures for correction or remediation. This is the most important part of the bill that is lacking, and will be the major focus of our oral and written testimonies.

(In fact, in Washington State it is possible to commit fraud, embezzle thousands of dollars from a victim, and remain a certified guardian, as in the 2006 case of Certified Professional Guardian Northwest Guardianship Services (Judith Y. Williams).)  You can read the article here.

In the above case, the guardian even managed to restrain the settlement agreement from being released to the public.

These are just some of the points we’ll be addressing in our written and oral testimony.

If you are interested in commenting or testifying, you can view the bill at https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1259&Initiative=false&Year=2019 and attend the hearing at 8:00 am, January 30, 2019 in Olympia. You may also submit written testimony via the link above.

Contact us at info@guardianshipfocus.com to share your guardianship experiences with us.