Very Disturbing Movie on Netflix

[Ms.Minnie]

Last night DH and I watched a movie on Netflix called I Care A Lot. This is a movie about a female con who makes a living as a court-appointed guardian, seizing and selling the assets of vulnerable elderly people. It is a very disturbing story and makes me wonder if this sort of thing could or does actually happen.

Does anyone have any knowledge if this could really happen? Is there a way to protect yourself from something like this happening? The poor people who were conned were basically helpless, they were being held against their will like prisoners. Why are movies like this even made? Why give bad people more ideas?

 

[GoingSince1990]

Yes, there have been some horrible cases of guardianship abuse.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/28/...S1ygpNw&giftCopy=1_CurrentCopy&smid=url-share

 

[mousefan73]

Oh I saw that a while back. Looooved the ending. I was like “yes!!” She got what she deserved.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

Oh I saw that a while back. Looooved the ending. I was like “yes!!” She got what she deserved.

Yes, I was hoping she would have gotten it much earlier in the movie. The sad part is that poor guy was probably going to be locked up for the rest of his life, that doesn't seem fair to me.

It's really sickening to think that there are people who would do this to others just to make a buck. Very discusting.

 

[MillauFr]

Last night DH and I watched a movie on Netflix called I Care A Lot. This is a movie about a female con who makes a living as a court-appointed guardian, seizing and selling the assets of vulnerable elderly people. It is a very disturbing story and makes me wonder if this sort of thing could or does actually happen.

Does anyone have any knowledge if this could really happen? Is there a way to protect yourself from something like this happening? The poor people who were conned were basically helpless, they were being held against their will like prisoners. Why are movies like this even made? Why give bad people more ideas?

Of course it happens all of the time. There are hundreds of scammers that prey on elderly and feeble minded people. People like KitBoga have YouTube channels where they con the scammers into thinking they are talking to an elderly person and an easy mark. His entire channel is based on Schadenfreude...

You can protect yourself by having a will and power of attorney so a trusted family member can make these decisions for you.

 

[nursemelis374]

I am a nurse and we used to have to really watch out for this at the hospital. The same "guardian" would be in place for multiple seniors. They would withhold hospice/comfort care so they could continue to be paid. It doesn't seem to happen as often.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

Yes, there have been some horrible cases of guardianship abuse.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/28/...S1ygpNw&giftCopy=1_CurrentCopy&smid=url-share

Thank you for the link. Very eye opening. I guess instead of being upset that this type of move was made I should be glad as I have had my eyes opened and maybe other too have seen what can happen to them.

Good luck to the aging population.

 

[Magical2017]

This IS scary, although Pike gives a fantastic performance. The new AI scam where the person hears the "voice" of their loved one asking for money is also frightening. It starts with a phone call. When you pick up, you think it is a relative asking for financial assistance. People are being told to have a private question or phrase to say to confirm it is really them.

 

[MillauFr]

Thank you for the link. Very eye opening. I guess instead of being upset that this type of move was made I should be glad as I have had my eyes opened and maybe other too have seen what can happen to them.

Good luck to the aging population.

The bigger issue with the elderly is finding someone to care for them. Many of them need help and even if you have cash it is very difficult to find people. Stories in our newspaper all of the time from ex-caregivers who got burned out and quit. People come back to them offering $50 an hour cash under the table and they say no thanks....

The vast majority of the guardians are honest and operate in the best interest of their clients. As with everything though there are a few bad apples.

 

[dez1978]

Guardians are often times Public Administrators who are court appointed and have no personal connection to the person. Some of them are decent, some of them are horrible.

But yes, there are horrible people who do this kind of stuff all the time.

 

[barkley]

timely topic-my son's guardianship paperwork is due to be submitted in a week.

i can only speak for my state (washington) but it was not an easy task to be appointed for my son (even with his full agreement and the support of his doctors/therapists). we had to go through background checks, guardianship training and court approval. we have to file very detailed reports and annual plans which are actually reviewed by the court (no rubber stamp-i got mine bounced one year for not being detailed enough). with the brittany spears stuff in the media it set the bar on qualifying, oversight and reporting even higher. i am 'only' a 'guardian of the person' so not dealing with the financial aspects of a 'conservator' which carries much higher training requirements, reporting and annual filings here. for my part-i have 25 pages of detailed paperwork i've completed that i need to take to the courthouse next week to submit, wait for approval and then turn around and re-file it with the actual once per year renewal request for the court's approval.

still not a perfect system by any means but the bad cases (at least the high profile) have drawn more attention and oversight that was needed.

 

[darnheather]

As a future lawyer this is actually an area of law that I would really like to practice in. The problem is that while being a guardian ad litem for children is well known and somewhat well (if low paying) funded it isn't as established for older people. However, with baby boomers reaching this stage I think more will be seen both the good and the bad.

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

It 100% happens. My grandmother moved to Florida, met a man (who was loaded) got married and he died. This couple would read the obits, research the people and then decide if they were good targets. They befriended my grandmother, earned her trust and then swindled her out of an insane amount of money. Absolute nightmare.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I remember seeing this a while back, she was definitely an awful person.

 

[barkley]

As a future lawyer this is actually an area of law that I would really like to practice in. The problem is that while being a guardian ad litem for children is well known and somewhat well (if low paying) funded it isn't as established for older people. However, with baby boomers reaching this stage I think more will be seen both the good and the bad.

another area of practice that we've found HIGHLY lacking is in the field of estate administration particularly for those under guardianship. in our case our oldest will likely become our youngest's guardian of the person (not certain who will be conservator-that may be left to the courts to decide b/c it's not a necessity while we are alive but it would be after our deaths and it's too much for one person to handle) but it would be a conflict of interest if the guardian were named the executor of our estate no matter how clearly everything has been set up. trying to find a professional to execute is nearly impossible outside certain financial institutions which you then have to arrange for all the trusts/able trusts...to be set up with.

 

[amcnj]

My state has volunteers to “watch the watchers”. I believe they monitor the financials and medical records and enter the info into a database. I have not heard how effective it is, if they ever caught someone, or if their presence helps keep guardians on the straight and narrow. And this may only be for court appointed guardians.

 

[barkley]

My state has volunteers to “watch the watchers”. I believe they monitor the financials and medical records and enter the info into a database. I have not heard how effective it is, if they ever caught someone, or if their presence helps keep guardians on the straight and narrow. And this may only be for court appointed guardians.

in our state the only kind of guardian is court appointed. in the case of a minor a deceased parent may have named someone they wanted but a court would have to approve it.

 

[Skippy918]

I’ve heard of this before. Buzzfeed news did an article about it around the time of the Britney case.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/heidiblake/conservatorship-investigation-free-britney-spears

 

[Lilsia]

Humans have done just about every despicable thing imaginable. It is not a case of IF it happened, but how often it happens.

 

[starry_solo]

Yes it happens.

1999 case in CA: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-nov-11-me-32277-story.html

attorney was in on it and also sentenced to prison