HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-29-09
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1 BY MR. DELUCA:
2 Q Dr. Hume, did you have occasion to meet and
3 interview a gentleman by the name of Wilbur Hubley?
4 A Yes, I did, on June 13th of this year.
5 Q Where did that take place?
6 A It took place at Country Meadows, Building 1,
7 Room 24.
8 Q Where is that located, sir?
9 A On Trindle Road in Mechanicsburg.
10 Q And what took place at that time?
11 A Basically it was an evaluation to determine
12 competency to manage his financial and medical affairs.
13 Q And also his personal affairs, being able to
14 take care of himself?
15 A Yes.
16 Q Did you conduct any testing of him at that
17 time?
18 A Yes, I did.
19 Q What did that consist of?
20 A Well, part of the testing consisted of a
21 mental status exam and gathering information and trying to
22 assess his understanding of his current circumstances, and
23 in particular was an issue about the sale of the house
24 coming up and an effort to change his power of attorney.
25 Q How did he respond to those issues?
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A He described the fact that he had a hole in
his brain and was not thinking clearly, that he was an
educated person but now could not think properly. He was
easily confused. He had clear and obvious problems in terms
of memory.
On the Mini Mental Status Exam, he scored 16
out of 30 which is clearly in the range of significant
organic impairment. When asked to recall three items after
a period of five minutes, he could only remember one. He
was not able to use a telephone to dial a number.
He related that he was upset about the fact
that they were trying to sell his house, but he had no
understanding in terms of the financial aspects of selling a
house, thinking that he would be the one to supply the
finances for the mortgage and that he would be getting paid
rather than when the house was sold with the mortgage he
would get the proceeds from that. He did not understand
that at all.
He was disoriented as to his room number. He
was disoriented to time, uncertain whether it was June or
July and could not get the date and month.
Q Did he know where he was?
A He knew that he was in Country Meadows but
that was the extent of it.
MR. THOMAS: Your Honor, I don't know if it's
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possible, but is there some way we can turn up the volume?
2 THE COURT: We will ask the doctor to talk a
3 little louder. My volume is set beyond my control.
4 BY MR. DELUCA:
5 Q Was there any other discussion with him,
6 Doctor?
7 A There was discussion about making contact
8 with a notary so that there could be a future time of
9 signing papers, which he did not have in hand and did not
10 know who the person would be who was going to be a new power
11 of attorney if such papers were available; but he had no
12 papers in hand and did not know the name of the person who
13 would become the power of attorney.
14 Q While you were there, did he receive a
15 collect call from anyone?
16 A He received a collect call from his son from
17 the Dauphin County Prison, and he related that that was
18 something that occurred several times a week.
19 Q Did you talk to his son?
20 A I talked to the son who described a person, a
21 notary, who would come to the house to notarize papers. But
22 I indicated there were no papers present, and he didn't know
23 what the papers said specifically or what would be the
24 direction or guidance as far as who the person would be to
25 become the power of attorney.
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Q Doctor, I'm going to read you a definition of
an incapacitated person and then ask you two questions. An
incapacitated person means an adult whose ability to receive
and evaluate information effectively and communicate
decisions in any way is impaired to such a significant
extent that he is partially or totally unable to manage his
financial resources or to meet essential requirements for
his physical health and safety.
Do you have an opinion, based upon a
reasonable degree of medical certainty, as to whether Mr.
Hubley is able to receive and evaluate information
effectively and communicate decisions in any way is impaired
to such a significant extent that he is unable to meet
essential requirements for his physical health and safety?
A It's my opinion, with reasonable medical
certainty, that he does not have the capacity to manage his
financial affairs or to make adequate medical decisions
about his healthcare.
Q Doctor, what was your diagnosis?
A My diagnosis was an early dementia due to a
medical condition. He had been treated in the Holy Spirit
Hospital for a cerebral vascular accident several weeks
prior to the time that I saw him and also had been
discovered to have prostatic cancer.
Q Is this a condition that can improve or
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deteriorate?
A There's some prospect following a CVA that
they could have a little improvement, but at his age of 88
it's unlikely that this would do anything except to
gradually deteriorate over time.
MR. DELUCA: Thank you. That's all I have,
Your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Thomas.
CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q Dr. Hume, did you discuss with Mr. Hubley who
the members of his family are?
A We discussed that. He said he had some
relatives, but they had abandoned him; and he did not name
who they were. He talked about a friend who had been in the
legislature or had important jobs but said when he had
called that friend for help the person hung up on him.
Q Did he indicate to you how many children he
had?
A He did not indicate how many children
specifically he had, no.
Q Had you asked him if he could identify the
members of his family?
A I asked him that, and he could not explain.
He said they left me; and that was the best example, they
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abandoned me, he could give. He obviously has a son who's
calling from prison while I was there.
Q During the course of your interview with him,
were you able to determine whether he had any other children
other than a son?
A There were other relatives, but they were not
specifically defined.
Q And did he indicate to you that his wife,
Evelyn, had passed away several years before you met him?
A I do not recall that that was part of the
discussion, no.
Q Would it be fair to say that your interview
with him was not designed to be able to identify immediate
family members?
A That was not the sole purpose, but part of
the exam would include whether there are people who would
have his best interest at heart. And as I say, his
description was that his family, except for his son, had
abandoned him, all of his relatives.
Q Did he indicate to you what the current
status was with regard to his son?
A Only that his son was in prison and that
prior to his going to Country Meadows he had gone to visit
him every two weeks.
Q At the prison?
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A At the prison.
2 Q When you met with Mr. Hubley, was he able to
3 identify or understand the value of his assets?
4 A He thought that the value of his house was
5 $100,000.00, but he could not give information about other
6 assets. And he complained that people didn't give him money
7 to have. He could not correctly count the amount of money
8 that he had in his room at the time and stated that he was
9 hiding some of it in his bedside chest to keep it away from
10 people who would be trying to take it from him.
11 Q Now, when you testified concerning the events
12 that led to Mr. Hubley going to Holy Spirit Hospital, are
13 these strokes, what we would commonly refer to as strokes?
14 A That was the understanding. He was on the
15 cardiac unit initially, but they didn't find problems
16 apparently with his heart.
17 Q And you mentioned that he had suffered, in
18 fact, some organic impairment to his brain. Could you
19 explain briefly what you mean by organic impairment to his
20 brain?
21 A Basically that means that his mental functio
22 is not what it had been prior to suffering the vascular
23 accident., specifically in terms of memory. As I said, on
24 the Mini Mental Status Exam normal is 28 to 30, and his was
25 16 which is in the range of significant organic impairment.
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An example is memory. He was disoriented in
many aspects. He was asked to follow three step directions,
and he could not do that. And clearly some of the things
that we had discussed he could not remember. At one point
he could name his guardian and later -- his current guardian
at that time -- excuse me, power of attorney, and then later
he could not remember what her name was.
MR. THOMAS: I have no other questions, Your
Honor.
MR. DELUCA: Just one.
(Whereupon, Petitioner's Exhibit No. 1 was
marked for identification.)
MR. DELUCA: May I approach, Your Honor?
THE COURT: You may.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. DELUCA:
Q Dr. Hume, I show you what's been marked as
Petitioner's Exhibit No. 1 and ask if you can identify that?
A This is a copy of my report dated June 15th
of this year.
Q Where you examined Mr. Hubley?
A This is the written report of the evaluation.
MR. DELUCA: Your Honor, I move for the
admission of that exhibit.
MR. THOMAS: No objection, Your Honor.
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THE COURT: It is admitted. Anything else?
MR. DELUCA: No, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Doctor, you are excused.
THE WITNESS: Thank you.
Whereupon,
KAREN SHERIFF,
having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. DELUCA:
Q What is your name, please?
A My name is Karen, K-a-r-e-n, Sheriff,
S-h-e-r-i-f-f.
THE COURT: I am going to let you move that
microphone a little closer. Speak a little louder.
BY MR. DELUCA:
Q How are you employed?
A I'm employed as an Older Adult Protective
Service Investigator for Cumberland County Aging and
Community Services.
Q And are you familiar with Wilbur Hubley?
A Yes, I am.
Q Is he here this morning?
A Yes, he is.
Q Would you please identify him.
A Yes. He's sitting in the light blue suit.
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Q Did you have an opportunity to review the
petition for the appointment of a permanent plenary guardi
of the person and the estate of Mr. Hubley?
A Yes, I have.
Q And did you execute the verification?
A Yes, I did.
Q Is everything set forth in there true and
accurate to the best of your knowledge?
A Yes, it is.
Q With respect to other relatives of Mr.
Hubley, there's a son --
A Correct.
Q -- that's been identified who's at Camp
Hill --
A Yes.
Q -- Correctional Institute? Are there any
others?
A Yes. There is two sister-in-laws. Their
names are Betty Williams and Helen Figdore. They live in
York. They had actually been contacted by coworker
Priscilla Whitman and inquired if they would be interested
in the responsibility of a power of attorney at the time fo
Mr. Hubley; and based on their age, they stated that they
did not wish to take on that role. And then there is a
cousin, Dennis Myers, that did become power of attorney for
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1 a short amount of time; but due to his age and health, he
2 was not able to continue that, and they appointed Keystone
3 Guardianship.
4 Q Were you contacted by Keystone Guardianship
5 regarding their wanting to withdraw as the power of
6 attorney?
7 A Yes, we were, in June of this year.
8 Q With respect to the exhibit that's attached
9 as Exhibit A on the guardianship fee schedule --
10 A Yes.
11 Q -- will you please tell the Court what that
12 means.
13 A Certainly. That means that individuals who
14 have assets that are in excess of the Pennsylvania
15 Department of Aging Medicare Waiver Program, which is an
16 income of $2,022.00 a month or 8,000 in assets, if they're
17 above that, then we had to set a fee schedule, a one time
18 initial startup of $350.00 and then a monthly fee of $150.00
19 a month.
20 Q Now, in the event that that money were to run
21 out and Mr. Hubley was to go on medical assistance, would
22 the Office of Aging have to request for payment under the
23 Department of Public Welfare regulations?
24 A Yes, we would. We would ask for payment
25 pursuant to those Medicare guidelines, which is $100.00 a
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month or ten percent of their monthly income, whichever is
lesser.
MR. DELUCA: Thank you. That's all, Your
Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Thomas.
CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q Would you be the individual who is actually
handling the finances for Mr. Hubley?
A Our office handles those finances. Typicall
Janet Paull manages those within our office.
Q Has your office already been able to make a
determination of the value of Mr. Hubley's estate?
A We don't have the exact value at this point.
That's managed by Keystone. We do have a figure of
approximately 150,000, and that was after the sale of the
home; but I can't attest to that being true.
Q And the proceeds from the sale of the home,
where were they placed after the sale of the home?
A I do not know that.
Q But if I understand correctly, part of the
Office of the Aging's responsibilities would be to garner
all of Mr. Hubley's assets and place them -- would they be
placed in a separate account or a pooled account?
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A I would be more comfortable if Janet Paull
would answer those questions. Sorry.
Q And I take it that based on your testimony
you were not able to determine whether or not Mr. Hubley had
any children other than his son, Mark?
A In all of our conversations, which I've know
Mr. Hubley since August of 2008, there has never been
mention of any other children.
MR. THOMAS: I have no other questions, Your
Honor.
THE
the State Correcti~
THE
THE
THE
MR.
COURT: His son, did
anal Institution Camp
WITNESS: Yes, that'.
COURT: You may step
WITNESS: Thank you.
DELUCA: Your Honor,
you say he was in
Hill?
where he is.
down.
just to clarify,
Janet Paull.
THE COURT: I think that is a good idea.
Whereupon,
JANET PAULL,
having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
THE COURT: I would ask you to speak loudly
into the microphone too.
THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
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BY MR. DELUCA:
DIRECT EXAMINATION
Q What is your name, please?
A My name is Janet Paull, P-a-u-1-1.
Q And how are you employed?
A I'm employed by the Cumberland County Aging
and Community Services as a Protective Service Investigator
and a Guardianship Care Manager.
Q You just heard the testimony of Karen
Sheriff. There was a question as to where the money would
be placed if the Office of Aging was appointed guardian of
the estate, whether it would be placed in a pooled account
with others or a separate account. Can you answer that
question, please?
A Yes, I can. Every time we become a guardian
of an individual, the individual's -- an account is set up
with that individual's name on it. It's considered a
guardianship account and the Office of Aging is also on it,
but his name is the primary name on it.
Q So it is not a pooled account --
A No.
Q -- with other people? It is a specific
separate account?
A Yes.
MR. DELUCA: Thank you.
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CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q Will a new bank account be established for
Mr. Hubley's monies?
A Yes. We establish what is considered a
guardianship account. It would be his name as well as the
agency. We try to do it in the bank that he is currently
managing, where his funds currently are, unless it's nowhere
near Carlisle.
We will continue the old account until such
time that there are any monies that are directly deposited
into that we can have those changed and directly deposited
in the new account. At such time then we would close the
old account and have the one single account for him.
Q I notice in the petition that reference is
made to his monthly Social Security payments, his monthly VA
benefits, and his monthly state employee retirement income
for a total of $2,526.66 a month. That's in the petition.
Is that, to your knowledge, an accurate statement of his
monthly income?
A I cannot attest to that, no. The current
power of attorney would have to attest to that.
Q But if you were to set up an account for him,
arrangements would be made for those monies to be directly
deposited into the guardianship account?
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A Yes. We would have to be applied for and be
accepted as representative payee for the Social Security as
well as a separate application for -- they consider it --
they call it a fiduciary for the veterans. For the state
account, the guardianship court order is sufficient for that
to be changed.
Q And then, if I understand you correctly,
right now all of his funds are in an account in solely his
name?
A I cannot attest to what is there now. That
would be Keystone Guardianship Services.
Q And I assume pursuant to the appointment,
assuming that the Office of the Aging is appointed and the
Judge so orders, there will be some accounting prepared that
will show the total assets of Mr. Hubley from the date of
the appointment?
A From us from this point on?
Q Yes.
A Yes, sir. We are required to provide an
annual report both of his person and his estate. Then it is
provided to the Register of Wills.
Q And would that account information --
accounting information be made available to Mr. Hubley or to
me as his attorney?
A That could be provided, yes.
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sale?
Q Does that include the sale of his residence?
A It does.
Q When did that take place?
A That was a public sale on June the 19th.
Q And how much money was received from that
A Eighty thousand.
Q Do you know how much his monthly income is?
A He receives monthly income from the State of
$1,370.66, from Social Security of $1,033.00, and from a VA
benefit of $123.00.
Q What does that total?
A I don't have --
Q Is that $2,526.66?
A If your math is correct.
MR. THOMAS: I would agree with that total.
THE WITNESS: Thank you.
BY MR. DELUCA:
Q You have indicated that you want to withdraw
as the power of attorney, is that correct?
A That is correct to a point.
Q Would you please explain your reason for that
request.
A Okay. I first got to know Mr. Hubley in
December. Well, not Mr. Hubley but his son. I was
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contacted by his son from prison to act as his power of
attorney.
Before I had the opportunity to make a
decision on that, I was contacted by Country Meadows and
also from a Transition Investors out of York. June Vaccario
(phonetic) was the person who was the contact person.
Apparently they were working on setting up an estate plan
with an annuity and several things, and Mr. Hubley was doing
that with them.
They approached me about being a power of
attorney. I went to talk to Mr. Hubley, and he did inform
me that he does only have one son and that son is in prison
for life for killing someone. That is how we got
established.
when I sent his son the power of attorney
that was signed in his room in front of several people -- I
read every line of that power of attorney to Mr. Hubley. I
explained every line. I was there quite a long time, and he
agreed with everything.
At that point he felt that everybody that ha
been priorly involved with him was taking his money. So we
went ahead with this because I felt he understood. He could
tell me where his investments were at that point.
I proceeded to receive a very large number of
correspondences from his son from prison, one of those being
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1 a correspondence where his son, quote, has a fine law
2 library at his establishment; and he rewrote the power of
3 attorney and wanted me to sign it. I refused.
4 At that point I felt and now I feel that his
5 son manipulates him from prison. I have seen a steady
6 decline in Mr. Hubley in his mental condition and his
7 anxiousness.
8 I have attended doctors' appointments with
9 him and when I report those back to his son -- one, in fact,
10 is for prostate cancer. I sat with Mr. Hubley during that
11 test and heard the doctor explain to him that he had cancer,
12 which we knew. He's had cancer for -- right now I think
13 it's three or five years, and it is getting worse.
14 He could not urinate, and we explained to hirr
15 if he wouldn't have a catheter, a Foley catheter, that his
16 life would expire; and through this his son was very upset
17 that we made the decision to do a catheter for him.
18 And I believe that the son is maybe trying to
19 do what he thinks is right; but he is not living in our
20 time, in our way, and some of the things that he wants to do
21 are not prudent in my mind.
22 He also is very threatening and intimidating,
23 and through work with the nursing home they also feel the
24 same way. They would direct a lot of his information and
25 questions to me.
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1 Q Is that threatening and intimidation a
2 concern to you and your firm?
3 A .Yes, it is.
4 Q And is that one of the reasons that you wish
5 to withdraw as power of attorney?
6 A Yes, it is.
~ Q Do you have a list of all the income that hay
8 been received from the time that you've been appointed as a
9 power of attorney as well as the expenses?
10 A Yes, I do. As a matter of fact, I actually
11 was filing an inventory or do have it time stamped with this
12 court, but I didn't send the original power of attorney
13 along. And this all happened within the same week, so I
14 didn't continue.
15 Q So you do have an inventory that lists all of
16 the assets and expenses?
17 A No. My inventory only lists the assets as of
18 the day that I took over. '
19 Q But you have other records that would
20 indicate the expenses that you paid out for him?
21 A Oh, yes.
22 Q And that would be available to the new
23 guardian if so appointed by the Court?
24 A That is correct. I also have -- we do notes
25 with every visit, with everything we do with him, and those
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would also be available.
MR. DELUCA: Thank you.
THE COURT: Mr. Thomas.
CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q If I understand you correctly, ma'am, you
were acting as the power of attorney through your nonprofit
corporation?
A That is correct.
Q And the son, through whatever means, either
correspondence or telephone conversations, made it an
uncomfortable situation for you in terms of intimidation and
things of that nature?
A Yes, sir.
Q And as a result of that, you are choosing to
relinquish the power of attorney that was previously granted
to you by Mr. Hubley?
A I am.
Q And as Mr. DeLuca just asked you, you do have
records that will show the assets and the dispositions of
those assets and things that you have done on behalf of Mr.
Hubley?
A I do, as well as notes on why we did it.
Q And then finally, you made mention of the
fact that the residence was sold at public auction and you
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said received $80,000.00. Was that the net proceeds from
the sale or was that the actual sale price of the house?
A The actual proceeds was 89,000. There was
only about $9,000.00. With the public sale that I did, the
buyer paid for the commission, we did not. One of the
reasons that we --
THE COURT: Wait a minute. What was the
gross sale price and what was the net proceeds? I think
that was the question.
THE WITNESS: Okay. I have the settlement
sheet. The sale price was 80,000, and the amount that we
received would have been $79,291.32.
MR. THOMAS: That's all I have, Your Honor.
THE COURT: You may step down.
THE WITNESS: Thank you.
MR. DELUCA: That's all we have, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Do you wish to present any
testimony?
MR. THOMAS: No, Your Honor.
THE COURT: You will send me up a standard
order, and I will appoint the Office of the Aging plenary
guardian of the estate and of the person. I want you to
explain very carefully to him what is happening and why this
is happening, and of course if fortune came and he improved
the situation can be different.
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