Judge Seeks Standards for Court Guardians By Barbara Carmen * Columbus Dispatch

Attorneys who hold in their hands the lives of addled, elderly and disabled soon will get a set of common sense rules, partly inspired by a man wrongly stripped of his freedom and property.

Franklin County Probate Judge Eric Brown is asking for public comment on 46 standards to govern attorneys who serve as guardians to wards of his court.

"These are the most vulnerable citizens in our community."  Brown said.  "We can do better."

Other states have embraced guardianship guidelines, and Ohio's Supreme Court is is working on standards.

"I saw a great need and didn't want to wait," Brown said.  For now he is setting the pace.

"It's pretty exciting," Sally Balch Hurme, a board member of the National Guardianship Association.  "This is the first time a local judge has adopted these standards of practice for (attorney) guardians.

She hopes Brown will inspire other judges across the country.  "There have been unfortunate headline stories accros the country for a very long time," Hurme said.

Brown was the Common Pleas Judge appointed to hear the case of Milous Keith after the previous Franklin County Probate Judge recused himself.  Keith, then 76 fought a court-appointed guardian for two years to regain control of his life.

"My learning experience with handling that case certainly caused me to be concerned about the issues that arose," Brown said.

Keith still lives in fear "at an undisclosed location," said his sister, Etta Brown.  "They took Milous out of his house in handcuffs and put him in a police car and locked him in an Alzheimer's ward for nearly two years."

The former city housing administrator had assets of more than $600,000 court records say.  Today Etta Brown figures her brother has less than $150,000.  Keith is suing his former guardian's law firm, alleging that guardian Jim Hughes sold assets at a loss, hired his father-in-law as a real estate agent and failed to inventory his safe-deposit boxes.

Brown found Keith competent in February 2006.  He removed the guardianship.

Brown's standards will apply only to attorneys, but he hopes family, volunteer and other guardians will find them helpful.  He's sending his draft to attorneys, other guardians, nursing homes, and fellow probate judges, among others.

Proposed rules include requiring attorneys to attend training, visit wards personally at least quarterly, not hire relatives without permission, and designate someone to take over if the guardian dies or quits.

"There are some guardians who have one or two or three wards," Brown said.  "Some have hundreds.  Those may have trouble meeting the standards."  But the rules, he said, are to protect wards.

Julia Nack, volunteer guardian program director at the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging, said the need for standards is increasing as people live longer and baby boomers age.  Her agency needs volunteers.  (For information, call 614-645-3883 or 614-645-1928.)  

"I'm thrilled with these standards," Nack said.  "Guardianship is a very serious matter.  You are given control of the individual.  You can grant consent for surgery or refuse.  It's the most the government can do short of putting you in prison."

"It's possible right now in Ohio to be a guardian and never visit the person."

Karen Lehman, a volunteer guardian with the agency, said the standards are needed.  She visits weekly with her eighth ward in 15 years: Darrell Russell, 74.  They chat about his life and the Buckeyes.   She checks with doctors and makes certain he's happy.

"I think the judges's idea for standards is terrific,"  Lehman said.  "This is more than paperwork.  There's a real human who needs attention."
                              December 28, 2009