Following the findings of a yearlong independent probe, New York Attorney General Letitia James has opened an investigation into half a dozen guardianship organizations in the state. These agencies manage the financial and medical affairs of hundreds of the state’s elderly and infirm citizens, specifically the “unbefriended,” those deemed legally incapable of caring for themselves and who lack family or friends who can provide that care.
Judges have often turned to guardianship agencies in such cases, but independent reporting by the nonprofit ProPublica found that these agencies operate with limited oversight. Visits to the actual wards are few and far between, and the authorities have primarily relied on financial records to assess the well-being of these vulnerable citizens. This has led to many cases of delay, fraud, abuse, and neglect.
The Case of Judith Zbiegniewicz
For example, one of the agencies currently under state scrutiny is New York Guardianship Services, according to anonymous sources familiar with the investigation. ProPublica found more than a dozen cases in which court-appointed guardians with NYGS neglected their wards while enriching themselves financially at their wards’ expense.
In one such case, the agency placed Judith Zbiegniewicz, an elderly woman, in an unlivable residence with rats, bedbugs, and insufficient heat. Zbiegniewicz’s emails and the NYGS’s internal records revealed frequent complaints from the resident. Yet, the agency collected $450 monthly from their client’s income and reported her residence as safe and “appropriate.”
After the story broke last year, a New York Supreme Court justice ordered NYGS to pay Zbiegniewicz $5,400 (a year’s worth of fees for her court-ordered guardianship) and wrote that the agency had provided “minimal services, if any” during that year.
Extremely Limited Oversight
Guardianship agencies such as NYGS and others have insisted that state examiners already review their work. However, according to the most up-to-date court data, so few examiners—just 157 are responsible for reviewing the cases of New York City’s 17,411 wards—oversight is frequently delayed and rarely thorough.
Additionally, guardianship agencies are currently not well-vetted. NYGS presented itself to the courts and clients as a nonprofit but has not registered with the state or the federal government.
This lack of vetting and oversight creates a situation rife with opportunities for abuse of the system. Annual reports on wards’ financial health and physical well-being can take years to complete.
In one case reported by ProPublica, a guardianship agency continued to collect monthly fees from an elderly client after he expatriated and, later, after his death, all while reporting that he remained a New York resident in good health.
Then there was the case of court-appointed guardian Yvonne Murphy, who manipulated her client—an aging man with diabetes, dementia, and other ailments, as well as assets over $800,000 in value—into hiring a home healthcare firm that was her own private company. Murphy transferred nearly $100,000 from her client’s account to her company annually. By the time her ward died in 2019, Murphy had moved over half of his assets to her company—and then continued billing his estate.
A Push for Legislative Change
Until recently, the aging and infirm have been unable to bring their plight before state legislators, as they don’t have political influence or a powerful lobbying interest.
However, city officials have been pushing to engage legislators on these issues in recent months. In September, New York City Council member Crystal Hudson, who chairs the New York City Council’s Committee on Aging, called on legislators and the state governor to overhaul the guardianship system.
“Too many people have been failed by this system, and a real overhaul is long overdue,” Hudson said. “We need a system that instills confidence — one that guarantees people in need of guardianships a dignified existence.”
Hudson’s resolution calls for annual funding to hire more guardians and relieve the pressures on a historically underfunded and overloaded guardianship system. Her bill proposes a “significant and permanent statewide investment in nonprofit guardianship services,” amounting to $15 million each year, which, if passed, would allow New York to replicate a model currently used in Florida.
