Thursday, July 14, 2011

Abuse and Corruption Rampant in Probate Court of Cook County, IL

Appointment of ad Litem Guardian for Alice Gore

Consequently, Bev Cooper lost her Plenary Guardianship role and Judge Kawamoto granted Kimi Cooper guardianship of her grandmother. Judge Kawamoto was well aware of Kimi Cooper’s long-standing history of childhood psychiatric illness and that Kimi was unfit to carry out her guardianship role.

Shortly thereafter the Court, urged by Miriam Solo, removed Kimi as Guardian of the Estate and made her Guardian of the Person, thereby relegating Kimi to a puppet role. Miriam Solo was retained as Guardian ad Litem on the case.

Alice Gore, subsequently, under the direction of Guardian ad Litem Miriam Solo, was moved out of the apartment building owned by her cousin, Mr. Estofmes, into one of his nursing homes, at which time a feeding tube was inserted in Alice Gore’s stomach unnecessarily, for their convenience. In this facility Mrs. Gore’s health declined.

(To be noted: Mr. Morris Esformes has been under investigation by Lisa Madigan’s office in the past for allegedly placing homeless people into his public aid nursing home. These placements were done without proper criminal investigations prior to the placement. Regarding Probate Judge Lynne Kawamoto, an Associate Judge in Circuit Court, she was found not qualified in 1994 by the Chicago Council of Lawyers.)

Attempts by Beverly Cooper to bring her concerns about her mother’s decining condition to Judge Kawamoto resulted in Bev being restricted from visiting her mother without supervision for a number of years. Rehab Assist was assigned to supervise Bev, and allegedly brought false statements to Judge Kawamoto about Bev’s interactions with her mother while visiting, resulting in further visitation restrictions.

By the time Alice Gore died in February of this year, an estate worth over a million dollars was depleted. Annuity checks went missing and an inventory and accounting of how and for what checks were written has not been provided by the Cook County Probate Court, despite repeated requests by Beverly Cooper.

Alice Gore died a pauper. She lay six days in a morgue before her body could be claimed. To add insult upon insult, the Coopers had to pay for the burial of Bev Cooper’s mother, Alice Gore.

Full Article and Source:
Abuse and Corruption Rampant in Probate Court of Cook County, IL

See Also:
ProbateSharks

Abuse and Corruption Rampant in Probate Court of Cook County: The Case of Alice Gore, Beverly Cooper's Mother

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder how many other victims there are of Judge Kawamoto.

izzy said...

Very sad. We need change badly.

Rachael said...

I am so sorry, Bev, your story breaks my heart.

StandUp said...

Between the horror of what happened to Bev's Mom, this article makes a very good point about guardian of the person vs. guardian of the estate.

Of course, they removed Kimi from the estate so they could control the estate, but it's more than that. The guardian of the estate is really the guardian. The guardian of the person has no power because he/she has no funds. So, the reality is the estate guardian is in total control.

Guardian of the person is the "puppet position" just as this article so clearly states.

Connie said...

I will pray for you and for your dear Mother, Beverly.

Mike said...

I guess that's why they call it Crook County. This story makes me sick.

Anonymous said...

All one has to do is watch a few of Judge Kawamoto's cases on the 18floor of the Daley Center. The elderly wards' estates are all being depleted rapidy by the guardian ad litems, attorneys, and guardians.

It's a sad crime for which Kawamoto should be disbarred.

Anonymous said...

Earlier this summer, Judge Lynne Kawamoto "resigned" from her position as judge on the 18th floor of the Daley Center. Her plans are to move to Texas. It was indeed a happy day for the victims of this judge; we are hoping her next stop is federal prison.

Anonymous said...

If you have complaints about attorneys, nurses, guardians, social workers, doctors, banks, nursing homes, and/or judges invovled in your guardianship case in Cook County, please visit this website. It has information on how to report these criminals.

www.probateabusemanual.blogspot.com

Thank you.