After working hard to build your nest egg, you are finally making plans for your retirement years. But will you be free to make your own choices when those golden years finally arrive? Or will you fall victim to ruinously expensive involuntary conservatorship/guardianship proceedings and be stripped of your rights, your money, your independence -- for the rest of your life?
In an onimous trend that threatens America"s successfully aging population, state judges are imposing an increasing number of unwanted conservators and guardians upon allegedly incompetent men and women to manage their property and personal affairs. The results are grim. In New York alone, judges appointed over 32,000 guardianships during 1997, up from 15,000 in 1992, and Michigan"s guardianship petitions have more than quadrupled since 1981.
These little-known state laws were originally created to safeguard the rights of "infants and lunatics." Today, involuntary conservatorship and guardianship laws are being used by calculating heirs to seize control of their parents" assets and by protectors in the social welfare community to control the vulnerable elderly themselves. And who is "elderly"? To be declared incompetent on the basis of age you only have to be 62.
Drawing on sadly typical cases from courtrooms across America, Dr. Armstrong shows how competent elders can be victimized by arbitrary conservatorships and guardianships. She describes the historical roots of our codes and shows how they function in today"s courts, highlighting concepts that are problematic and suggesting appropriate changes. Dr. Armstrong summarizes every state"s conservatorship/guardianship statutes and provides contact numbers for national services, legal organizations, state offices of aging, and other resources for the elderly. Most importantly, her breakthrough book gives YOU the tools you will need to protect yourself or someone you love when your retirement years usher in the real threat of predatory litigation. Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге The Retirement Nightmare: How to Save Yourself from Your Heirs and Protectors : Involuntary Conservatorships and Guardianships (Golden Age Series) (Diane G. Armstrong Ph.D.)