So I read the entire thing, and this one is slightly more complex than “dad is abusive conservator.” So I’m going to lay out here what’s going on:
1) Nichelle has dementia.
2) In 2010, this guy approached her all “hey so I want to make this movie with you as a costar, very good contract, please accept.”
5) during the next several years he moved onto her property and became a squatter, billing all his utilities and expenses to Nichelle. In other words, she’s paying for the privilege of him using her property.
6) during this time he also managed to get her to give him power of attorney over both financial AND MEDICAL decisions. Much of her savings has just kind of vanished, and it seems likely he’s been leeching it away.
Okay. So, recap: this guy is NOT a conservator. He got power of attorney, which is actually a very good and useful thing when appropriately applied. (Basically, it means if you become incapacitated you’ve already selected a person to handle certain kinds of affairs for you.) In this case, however, it’s pretty clear POA is being abused and seriously misused.
7) Nichelle’s son managed to become her conservator, with the goal of kicking the deadbeat off the property and ensuring his mom has access to her hard-earned funds so she can be old with dignity. (In a perfect world, this is how conservatorship would always be used. His interest is in protecting the person, not making a profit.) He has become her primary caretaker.
I don’t know how advanced Nichelle’s dementia is, but I can tell you from experience that as the disease progresses, being a caretaker can become a full-time job, and that, yes—this is one of those extremely limited cases where conservatorship might actually be a good idea. My grandmother had Alzheimer’s (not all dementia is caused by Alzheimer’s, but all cases of Alzheimer’s are dementia), and nearly burned down the house once because she turned on the stove, forgot she’d turned it on, and went to take a nap. Having someone of sound mind who can make arrangements for things like appropriate in-home care so this doesn’t happen is deeply important.
8) deadbeat is fighting to get conservatorship removed—and possibly reassigned to himself. That part is a little less clear. What is clear is that he does not have Nichelle’s best interests at heart.
9) this fundraiser is to help with legal fees to get deadbeat off the property and help assist Nichelle and her son in securing what’s left of her assets.
So just so we’re clear: in this case we are actually fighting FOR a conservatorship. However, this conservatorship is to protect someone with an actual medical diagnosis that means she has diminished mental capacity to care for herself (literally, that’s what dementia is: loss of memory and cognition on a scale significant enough to interfere with daily life), and to ensure that what is hers, REMAINS hers.
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