The dramatic Netflix thrillers I Care \u00a0Lot<\/em>, and Take Care of Maya <\/em>have also depicted the appalling actions of court-appointed guardians and have exposed their unspeakable, horrific plots against unsuspecting vulnerable individuals.\u00a0 In these films, the guardians place their victims in solitary confinement-type scenarios as if they were convicted prisoners and block their victim\u2019s access to loved ones.<\/p>\n One particular case you may not have heard of despite being in the news recently, is the case of Barbara Musikar and her daughter Illana Musikar\u00a0\u00a0 This specific guardianship story is a clear example of one woman\u2019s motivation to help her mother, and, unbelievably as a result, she now faces a real threat of jail time.\u00a0 The danger of being arrested is a common tactic used in many guardianship cases to completely block family members’ access to their loved ones.\u00a0 Despite guardians lacking any evidence of wrongdoing, unscrupulous guardians often gain unwarranted familiarity with judges presiding over their cases and, essentially, are given carte blanche to do whatever they want in overseeing the care of their wards. This could mean anything, even blocking entire families from the alleged incapacitated individual, and is the precise reason why legislation is so badly needed to protect the rights of family members and vulnerable individuals.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This guardianship case focusses on 81-year-old Barbara Musikar, who lived with her daughter, Illana.\u00a0 Illana affirms that following a medical procedure, it was decided for her recovery that Barbara should temporarily move to Illinois to stay in a facility near her other daughter, as Illana was concurrently dealing with another immediate family member\u2019s health issue. The move to Illinois was intended as a temporary arrangement for medical recovery not a permanent residence change for Barbara.<\/p>\n During this period, Illana\u2019s sister obtained a medical power of attorney, revoking the one previously held by Illana and placed Barbara in an assisted living facility which restricted Illana’s access to her mother. Tensions escalated when Illana\u2019s sister allegedly attempted to prevent Illana’s family from taking Barbara out to lunch, leading to police intervention which allowed the outing with Illana and family to proceed.\u00a0Illana asserts that Barbara has expressed not only in several court documents, but also on the phone and in person during supervised family visits that she wants to come back to live in New York.<\/p>\n Many aging adults such as Barbara have already carefully planned for their elder years by executing legal advanced health care directives.\u00a0 Illana\u2019s mother and father had also done so and specifically appointed Illana to be both their Health Care Surrogate (HCS) as well as their Power of Attorney (POA). However, in many cases, probate courts seemingly toss aside these documents and invalidate them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to Illana, the situation in the case of Barbara Musikar intensified after Cook County Probate Court appointed Illana\u2019s sister as Barbara’s guardian, despite questions regarding jurisdiction given Barbara’s New York residence. The court issued orders prohibiting Barbara’s removal from her assisted living facility, restricting Barbara from hiring her own attorney, and limiting her communication with Illana and other family members.\u00a0 Both Illana and her husband Michael, who are licensed practicing attorneys in New York, state \u00a0were blindsided by the tactics of the Cook County Probate Court System. Illana reveals, Barbara\u2019s expressed wish was to spend time freely with her family, and her desire was ignored and her mother has not been deemed incapacitated.\u00a0 So, why is Barbara\u2019s desire to spend time outside her assisted living facility with Illana being restricted? \u00a0Illana affirms Barbara was recently placed in a locked section of the Assisted Living Facility despite never being declared incapacitated causing great concern to Illana and her family.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Illana explains that Barbara never had a Suggestion of Capacity hearing. Frequently, these hearings are known to be extremely problematic; for example, courts will appoint their own medical examiners to conduct the capacity evaluations who receive payment directly from the alleged incapacitated person’s (AIP) trust.\u00a0\u00a0 Oftentimes, many of the court-appointed doctors conducting the actual evaluations, aren\u2019t even psychiatrists, they are internists and psychologists. In many cases, the courts won\u2019t permit testimony from the doctors treating the alleged incapacitated person, the same doctors who have been providing ongoing care and who have already had the AIP undergo evaluations in which they were determined to have capacity.\u00a0\u00a0 Even worse, many times, courts will not allow opposing counsel to question the medical examiner\u2019s decision of incapacity during the hearing.<\/p>\n As a result of Illana\u2019s efforts, she now faces potential jail time for allegedly purchasing a plane ticket to facilitate Barbara\u2019s return to New York.\u00a0\u00a0 On the surface, it appears that the guardianship court system is designed to protect the rights of vulnerable individuals; however, it is a system that is susceptible to abuse by unscrupulous court- appointed guardians, care managers, attorneys and power of attorneys. This is the precise reason why legislation is so desperately needed to protect the rights of vulnerable individuals and their loved ones..<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Guardianship Abuse – Causing Serious Concern for American Families By Christine Montanti Imagine waking up one day only to find you are suddenly blocked from complete access to your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13904,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/social-life-magazine.s3.amazonaws.com\/~sociall1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/15221653\/IMG_9709.jpg\")
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