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Originally conservatorship was to make financial decisions to protect the person, whereas guardianship was to make all decisions of life and limb, complete control.
There have been some famous people in the tabloids, Britney Spears, Amanda Bynes, Lindsay Lohan, Brian Wilson, Joni Mitchell, Casey Kasem, Mickey Rooney, Mariah Carey, Peter Falk, etc etc.
When ever I heard about one of them I figured it was about money, keep them earning more and not pissing it away, plus lawyers on both sides, fer and agin.
But I never though much... well anything, about the little, normal, non-celebrity people.
Data is hard to get as many states don't report it even if they collect it from the local courts, but roughly 1.5 million at least, are under a court order with someone else, usually a stranger, controlling $50+ Billion in assets.
The local courts handle most cases with the Guardian paying themselves $65/hour to handle stuff, like paying doctors, lawyers, banks, nursing homes, and selling your house/car/valuables.
I read of one in FL, a pro guardian and former real estate broker (who never contacted his relatives in PA), sold a man's house to some real estate friends who flipped it for a $132,000 profit weeks later.
This is typically what the local Judge signs...
This is not a good situation.
Online!
It's a system that relies on a judge considering the presented facts and making a considered, thoughtful decision. There are so many judges who are just phoning it in, or worse, are corrupt, like those two monsters in Pennsylvania enslaving youth.
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The movie "I Care A Lot" was about this--Rosamund Pike plays a corrupt guardian who takes over the lives of elderly people who are not at all incapacitated, but this time she picked the wrong lady, i.e. the mother of a mobster, played by Peter Dinklage. Very funny and highly recommended.
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That sounds like a potential great movie!
I just read the AP article on the 10% grifted off COVID relief, we have some horrible people in this country.