Our Vision:
Reforming Guardianship and Conservatorship
F.A.C.E.U.S. (Families Against Court Embezzlement Unethical Standards) is a nonprofit organization that seeks to correct abuses in our legal system involving guardianships (and conservatorships). Far too often, courts allow and even sponsor unethical behavior by guardianship professionals. The professionals often focus on profiting at the expense of those whom the guardianship system is intended to serve and protect. F.A.C.E.U.S. seeks to address the problems of unnecessary and overly restrictive guardianships. Our goal is to ensure that everyone has a fair and just due process, that the guardianship process is transparent and open to public view and the voices, documents, and freedoms of wards and their families are preserved, and their properties protected from expropriation.
The Probate Trap Website includes podcasts that provide hundreds of personal stories that illustrate how guardianship professionals (including court-appointed guardians, conservators, guardians-ad-litem, and their counsel, supported by courts) ignore and override the constitutional rights of wards and families. Courts give control of wards and their property to court appointed strangers, without due process and often without sufficient need. Wards are isolated, removed from their homes -and held in institutions against their will; denied visiting rights, and their life savings stripped. Trusts, durable powers of attorney and other legal documents are ignored, and basic rights denied.
Our mission and vision is to build a guardianship system that intervenes only when truly necessary, using the least intrusive means; that respect wards’ personal liberty and prevents stripping of their assets to benefit professionals; where court-appointed professionals are held accountable for their improper and often unlawful actions; and courts side with wards and their families instead of with guardianship professionals. Courts and court-appointed professionals should face public scrutiny of their actions. Guardianship professionals should face censure and prosecution when their actions harm those in their care, including financial exploitation. For the sake of yourself, your children, and grandchildren: Join us in creating transparency and accountability in our courts!
Guardianship and Conservatorship Abuse
For those who have not been personally involved, the unethical and sometimes criminal activities that occur over and over in guardianship proceedings are largely invisible to the public. Many state courts seal their guardianship cases. Neither state nor federal governments keep track of guardianship’s, their costs and their outcomes. Many cases remain open for years, and sometimes decades.
The U.S. guardianship industry is poorly regulated, and provides very little protection for our loved ones. It’s estimated there are up to 3 million active adult guardianships, with upwards of five hundred billion dollars in assets controlled by guardians. These amounts are often spent primarily to benefit the professionals.
Many people still believe courts are halls of justice, but for guardianships there is often very little justice to be had. Safeguards are nearly nonexistent. As hosts since 2016 of a radio show and now podcast, we’ve heard similar stories repeated thousands of times.
Veterans, seniors, disabled young adults, stroke, and other brain disorder victims, trapped and suffering under an unethical system that strips their constitutional rights, and forces a for-profit court appointed guardian, conservator, and often both upon them. Vulnerable people are stripped of their dignity, voice, freedom, life savings, homes, and personal belongings. Many are locked in a facility or group home, isolated, medicated with psychotropic drugs, and, often, they die alone. Sometimes, families aren’t notified until days, weeks, or months later. This unethical, broken system is full of flaws that allows guardianship professionals to take full advantage of what they call a “ward” (for a guardianship) or a “protected person”(for a conservatorship). All this is done under ‘color of law,’ and the supposedly watchful eyes of a judge. Many court appointees are well-meaning and trustworthy, but all too many are predators. Courts are often captured by predatory guardians; rubber-stamp their requests to initiate a guardianship and their fees, no matter how outrageous; and ignore family efforts to protect wards against the guardians’ actions.
Many of the stories captured on our website, under Podcasts, Personal Stories, and News Articles paint a picture of how outrageous the system has become. Some will anger you or seem unbelievable! Still more stories can be found in our book, The Probate Trap, and other books. They are true. The hard facts of how abusive guardians and conservators have taken advantage of the guardianship system and ruined millions of lives are undeniable. For our most vulnerable seniors, golden years turn into stolen years, a living nightmare that they cannot escape!
Recognizing the abuse is a first step. Taking a stand, and speaking up against abusive guardianships and the courts whose actions support these guardianships can improve the guardianship system and restore its original purpose to protect, rather than exploit those in need. We all must become educated, and take precautions, so we don’t get trapped and become legal hostages of a corrupt guardianship system, and the courts that support it.