Tag: Conservatorship Guardianship

Another Probate Murder?

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Another Probate Murder? More Questions Surface on Melodie Scott Cases By Janet C. Phelan Lawrence Yetzer was standing in his front yard, yelling. The fifty-two year old Rialto man, who was blind and suffered from cerebral palsy, had just discovered his father lying unmoving on the front room floor. “Help!” yelled Yetzer. “Something has happened to Dad!” Please help us!” Neighbor Yvonne Boone remembers that the paramedics came. Yetzer’s step-father, Max Vantilburg, had died of a heart attack. And Lawrence Yetzer, who had lived with his parents his entire life, was left alone in the world. He was also left a chunk of money, as the sole beneficiary of the Anne and Max Vantilburg estate. The court appointed Melodie Scott, of C.A.R.E., Inc, as the Successor Trustee of the Vantilburg estate. In a separate proceeding in San Bernardino Court, Melodie Scott moved to have herself appointed as Lawrence Yetzer’s conservator. In her application for the conservatorship, Scott declared to the court that Lawrence Yetzer had an IQ of only 59 and was unable to comprehend the conservatorship proceedings. Yvonne Boone, who knew the family for years, disputes this statement. “He wasn’t retarded like that,” said Boone, who had also served as a caregiver for Yetzer. “He was a real sociable, talkative guy. Sure, he was blind, but he understood what was going on around him.” The conservatorship lasted less than four months. On February 6, 2001, Lawrence Yetzer died. On January 14, Boone, who was caring for Yetzer on a full time basis at that point in time, noticed that he was sick. “He was coughing and his color was bad,” she recalls. He was taken to San Bernardino Community Hospital and admitted. The Sentinel has obtained these records, which… Read More

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Announcing the Guardianship Shield Program

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Guardianship abuse has reached the level of a national epidemic. Those whose family members have been abused by a guardian quickly find that there is often no legal redress. The Guardianship Shield program is designed to activate a national network of human rights members who will take constructive action to protect the vulnerable person. The Guardianship Shield is a proactive, grassroots program which issues human rights alerts concerning individuals at risk for problematic or coercive guardianship practices. These alerts go out to all the GS members and to human rights groups. The GS members agree to contact the parties and institutions involved in initiating the actions in question and advise these parties of their concerns. The GS members also agree to contact local media in an effort to raise public awareness of specific incidents of guardianship abuse. The issues that the Shield program addresses : 1) removal of protected person from home 2) Isolation of protected person 3) Efforts to sell home without permission of protected person 4) Attempts to legally restrain concerned family and friends 5) Efforts by guardian to remove family/friends as Power of Health Care 6) Efforts by guardian to withhold necessary medical care from protected person How it Works: If a family or friend is at risk for the above, the Shield member will contact the Shield Coordinator and ask for a public human rights alert to be issued. The Shield Coordinator will evaluate the request and then may issue the alert to all the Shield members and also to other human rights groups. By adding your name to the Shield Program, you are stating that you will take action on the behalf of others in the Shield Program. While we cannot guarantee the results in… Read More

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