Family Attorney
Secrecy hides cozy ties in guardianship cases
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Karen Weed nearly lost her life when a cement truck crushed her car. She survived a coma and cardiac arrest, broken bones and brain damage. But she was determined not to lose her independence. After Weed got a significant insurance settlement, a family lawyer filed papers to have her declared a ward of the court, saying she couldn’t manage her money without professional help. Weed and her family later objected, but the lawyer persisted. So they fired him. Yet when Weed’s family walked into a Snohomish County courtroom last March for a hearing on whether a guardian would be appointed, there he was again: Michael Olver, the lawyer they had told to get lost. “What’s he doing here?” wondered Weed’s daughter, Laura Box. Olver had switched sides. He now represented EthiCare, the company trying to become Weed’s guardian. The same company had been Olver’s client for years — and would soon take control of Weed’s life, charging her thousands of dollars along the way. Weed and her daughter had stumbled upon a problem common to many guardianships, a complicated, little-known corner of the law where courts can grant strangers tremendous power over vulnerable family members. Potential conflicts of interest radiate through guardianship cases, a Seattle Times investigation has found. The roles played by lawyers, guardians, court-appointed investigators and investment managers often overlap or blur. Sometimes, the same person assumes multiple responsibilities that would normally be kept separate. And who’s to know? The Weed file, for instance, has been stamped secret — one of hundreds of such cases to be improperly removed from public scrutiny. Judges and court commissioners across the state have sealed the entire file in at least 398 guardianship cases since 1990, The Times found during its ongoing series investigating concealed court records. Most of the cases were sealed in King County. The Times has asked the Snohomish County court to unseal the Weed file. Documents obtained through other means reveal that Weed already faces more than $100,000 in lawyer fees — including Olver’s. He said he incurred them looking out for Weed’s own good. “This whole thing is just wrong,” said Box, Weed’s daughter. “I don’t know how they’ve done this and they’re getting away with it.” |
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