Nessel takes step to intervene in guardianship case
In an unprecedented move, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a notice late last week to intervene on behalf of the people of the State of Michigan in a controversial guardianship case in Macomb County.
Nessel’s action comes less than a month after she and Supreme Court Justices Megan Cavanagh and Richard Bernstein wrapped up the last of a 12-stop statewide Elder Abuse Listening Tour. The single most frequent complaint heard was that regarding guardianships, said Nessel.
“It is absolutely incumbent on the courts to ensure that the state’s guardianship system is providing properly for the vulnerable and that the court-appointed conservators fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities to those in their custody,” said Nessel. ”That does not appear to be happening in the case of Caring Hearts, which was appointed by Judge Kathryn George as guardian and conservator for Robert Lee Mitchell and Barbara Delbridge.”
The appointment of an outside guardianship company was done despite a petition submitted by the daughter and stepdaughter of the couple.
Of significant concern to the attorney general is the web of connections between Caring Hearts of Michigan, Inc., a guardian agency owned by Catherine Kirk, and two companies also owned in part by Kirk or her husband — Executive Care, a 24-hour in-home care company, and Kirk, Huth, Lange and Badalamenti, PLS, a law firm owned by Kirk’s husband. Caring Hearts hired Executive Care to provide in-home care for Mitchell and Delbridge. Legal counsel for the couple was — again at the direction of Caring Hearts — provided by Kirk’s husband’s law firm.
“The law is very clear on this issue,” said Nessel. “The court shall not appoint as guardian an agency, public or private, that financially benefits from directly providing housing, medical, mental health, or social services to the legally incapacitated individual. In fact, the Estates and Protected Individuals Code specifically prohibits certain financial self-dealing by the guardian with respect to the ward.
The case now proceeds into discovery where the parties can seek information as well as file additional motions. Chief Judge James M. Biernat, 16th Circuit Court, set Jan. 10, 2020 for a settlement conference and end of discovery.
Man rejects deal, chooses trial in slaying, dismemberment
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A Grand Rapids man accused of killing a woman and dismembering her body has rejected a plea deal that offered an opportunity for parole after 31 years in prison.
Jared Chance told a judge Monday that he wants to go to trial in the death of 31-year-old Ashley Young. If convicted of first-degree murder, the 30-year-old would go to prison for life. Jury selection in Kent County court began after the plea deal was turned down.
The victim was from the Kalamazoo area. Young’s torso was found in December in the basement of Chance’s Grand Rapids rental home. Other remains haven’t been found.
Police quote Chance as telling a neighbor that he knew how to commit murder and “get away with it.”
Separately, Chance’s parents are charged with perjury and accessories after the fact.
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