Free at Last

I want to share the story of the amazing release of my mother, Patricia C. Rosen, from conservatorship. Her conservatorship was ended July 28, 2011 by Judge Colleen Sterne.

It took six years to end this unjust conservatorship. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were lost to a profit-making network. None of the people who made money off the conservatorship have responded to letters to the editor, and I welcome them to do so.

The last professional conservator resigned and turned the conservatorship over to the Santa Barbara Public Guardian, who was a horse of a different color than the professional conservators.

Professional conservators claimed my mother had dementia, citing their own evaluators. She was portrayed as going downhill and in need of caregiving. Using my mom’s money, they fought her efforts to get out of conservatorship, and even tried to take away her medical right of informed consent. When my mother’s doctor of many years wrote a letter stating she shouldn’t be under conservatorship, he was told he couldn’t see her anymore. When my mother chose her own evaluator, and got a positive result, it was discounted, and the evaluator wasn’t paid.

On the other hand, the Public Guardian’s office saw my mom as competent and able in every way, and fought for her rights and dignity. The case manager genuinely cared for her welfare.

I believe in the Public Guardian as an alternative to private, professional conservators. There is no incentive to devour estates, as the salaries of staff members are fixed. People are so easily corrupted by money.

My mother has been the victim of elder financial abuse. One can hear my mother’s story by going to ustream.tv and searching for “Are Conservators Robbing the Elderly?” To avoid this kind of problem, before choosing a conservator or fiduciary, go to the National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse website.