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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-28-11IN RE: : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS :CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA GLEN H. STONER, An Alleged Incapacitated Person : N0.2011-1132 ORPHANS' COURT DNISION EMERGENCY PETITION TO PROHIBIT JANET AND ROBERT SWOPE FROM RELOCATING GLEN H. STONER PENDING DISPOSITION OF THE ABOVE DOCKETED MATTER AND NOW comes Ronnie Stoner, Wayne Stoner, and Kirby Hockensmith by and through their attorney, Mark F. Bayley, and in support of the within petition aver as follows: 1. The Honorable Albert H. Masland has been assigned to the above docketed matter. 2. The alleged incapacitated person is Glen H. Stoner, born on September 6, 1922 (age 89), who resides primarily at 11 Whitener Road, Shippensburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, 17257. 3. Petitioner Ronnie Stoner is a nephew of Glen H. Stoner, is age 52, and resides primarily at 24 Bedros Street, Windham, New Hampshire, 03087. 4. Petitioner Wayne Stoner is a nephew of Glen H. Stoner, is age 47, and resides primarily at 506 David Drive, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, 17055. 5. Petitioner Kirby Hockensmith is a nephew of Glen H. Stoner, is age 45, and resides primarily at 2185 Hartzok Road, Chambersburg, 17202. 6. Janet Swope is daughter of Glen H. Stoner, is approximately age 63, and ~..., resides in Arlington, Texas, with her husband, Robert Swope. n~ ~:-- ~ ,:-x' ~..._. ~p 1'll - - -, -> Ci . c ,J~~~ ~ ~~ O ~`1 I 7. Petitioners filed their Petition for Adjudication of Incapacity and Appointment of Guardian on October 25, 2011; the averments in said petition aze incorporated herein. (A copy of said petition is attached as "Exhibit A"). 8. A hearing with regard to said petition is scheduled for November 21, 2011. 9. As stated in said petition Glen H. Stoner underwent a neuropsychological evaluation performed by Dr. Christopher Royer on October 11, 2011 and was diagnosed with "mixed dementia" which included impairments in memory, attention, orientation, and judgment; he was found to be in the "severely impaired range" with regard to reasoning. (A copy of Dr. Royer's report is attached as "Exhibit B"). 10. Janet Swope now wishes to relocate Glen H. Stoner and all of his belongings to Texas and Petitioners believe that she is making immediate preparations to do so. 11. Janet Swope is Glen H. Stoner's only relative residing in Texas, has little experience in assisting Mr. Stoner with his various physical ailments, and has presented no plan for Mr. Stoner's care. 12. Such travel will potentially be arduous for Glen H. Stoner according to Physician's Assistant Nathan Petula who noted the same in an October 20, 2011 memorandum. (A copy of said memorandum is attached as "Exhibit C"). 13. Glen H. Stoner has various family members and friends residing in this area. 14. Petitioners are presenting a logical and immediately available living arrangement for Glen H. Stoner. 15. Petitioners, other family members, and friends already have proven experience and devotion in caring for Glen H. Stoner. 16. Petitioners believe that a relocation to Texas is simply going to result in Glen H. Stoner being expedited into a nursing home (probably in Texas) which is what Petitioners are diligently attempting to avoid. 17. Glen H. Stoner does not currently have capacity to evaluate the merits of such a relocation and is easily manipulated by Janet Swope. 18. The Court should have the opportunity to fully review and consider this matter prior to such a relocation taking place. 19. J. Edward Beck, Esquire, concurs with the entry of the attached Order although he does not agree with some of the averments set forth herein. WHEREFORE, Petitioners respectfully request that Janet Swope andlor her husband Robert Swope be prohibited from relocating Glen H. Stoner pending disposition of the above docketed matter and for the Court to enter the attached Order. Respectfully submitted, BAYLEY & MANGAN (~-~~-1 ~ Mark F. Bayley, uire 17 West South Street Carlisle, PA 17013 (717) 241-2446 Supreme Court LD.#87663 VERIFICATION I verify that the statements made in the foregoing document are true and correct. I understand that false statements herein are made subject to the penalties of 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 4904 relating to unsworn falsification to authorities. ay o.~Zo,, Date ~J ` Ronnie Ston IN RE: : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS :CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA GLEN H. STONER, An Alleged Incapacitated Person : NO. :ORPHANS' COURT DIVISION PETITION FOR ADJUDICATION OF INCAPACITY AND APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN AND NOW comes Ronnie Stoner, Wayne Stoner, and Kirby Hockensmith by and through their attorney, Mazk F. Bayley, and in support of the within petition aver as follows: 1. The alleged incapacitated person is Glen H. Stoner, born on September 6, 1922 (age 89), who resides primarily at 11 Whitmer Road, Shippensburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, 17257. 2. Petitioner Ronnie Stoner is a nephew of Glen H. Stoner, is age 52, and resides primarily at 24 Bedros Street, Windham, New Hampshire, 03087. 3. Petitioner Wayne Stoner is a nephew of Glen H. Stoner, is age 47, and resides primarily at 506 David Drive, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, 17055. 4. Petitioner Kirby Hockensmith is a nephew of Glen H. Stoner, is age 45, and resides primarily at 2185 Hartzok Road, Chambersburg, 17202. 5. Glen H. Stoner has two children as follows: Janet Swope, approximately age 63, who resides in Arlington, Texas and Glen Stoner, Jr., who resides somewhere in Illinois; Glen Stoner, Jr., has been estranged from his father since approximately 1999. 6. Glen H. Stoner's one surviving sibling (out of five siblings) is Betty Hockensmith, approximately age 85, who resides primarily at 3086 New Franklin Road, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. 7. Glen H. Stoner's spouse, Ella Stoner, died in 1999. 8. Glen H. Stoner's presumptive heirs according to his last known Will and Testament executed in 2009 as well as trust documents executed between 2004 and 2006 are Ronnie Stoner (nephew), Kenneth Stoner, Jr. (nephew), Bonnie Hockley (niece), Wayne Stoner (nephew), and Janet Swope (daughter). 9. Glen H. Stoner resided in Illinois until he moved to his present address in September of 2005; he relocated because he was living alone at the time which was complicated by his various physical conditions and he was in need of some day to day assistance with regazd to finances, bills, taxes, etc. 10. Glen H. Stoner's home in Illinois was sold around the same time and proceeds totaling approximately $800,000 were placed in an irrevocable trust that had been formed in 2004; Ronnie Stoner and Wayne Stoner are currently appointed Trustees. Glen H. Stoner's current assets include: Asset Trust (formed in 2004) Cash assets Mercury Sable (2008) Miscellaneous personal property Atmmroximate Value $710,000 (approximately $200,000 was used to pay taxes in relation to the sale of Glenn H. Stoner's residence) $92,000 $22,000 $12,000 11. Glen H. Stoner's income consists of the following: Union pension: Social Security: $1,400-1,500 per month $1,100 (approx.) per month Interest: $500 (approx.) per month 12. Glen H. Stoner was not formerly a member of the armed services or any of its allies and does not receive any benefits from the U.S. Veterans Administration or its successor. 13. Glen H. Stoner's,mental competence took a substantial downturn in January 2011; a neuropsychological evaluation was performed by Dr. Christopher Royer on October 1 1, 2011 who diagnosed Mr. Stoner with "mixed dementia" finding that he has impairments in memory, attention, orientation, reasoning, and judgment; Dr. Royer additionally concluded that Mr. Stoner is not "capable of making decisions in his own best interest as defined by Pennsylvania State Statute." 14. Glen H. Stoner has a variety of physical ailments including, but not limited to, multiple cardiac issues, Renal Insufficiency, Spinal Stenosis, Hypertension, and an eye condition that requires daily attention; he regularly consults with various local doctors and Shippensburg Civic Nurse Dee Parsons visits him weekly for prescription and monitoring purposes. 15. Up until approximately a month ago, Glen H. Stoner had been residing with his sister-in-law, Rosey Stoner (approximately age 81), until she injured herself and went to a rehabilitation facility. 16. Rosey Stoner had been assisting Glen H. Stoner with many of his day to day needs. 17. The other individuals that have taken the majority of the responsibility for Glen H. Stoner's day to day needs to date have been Wayne Stoner (nephew/Petitioner), Kenneth Stoner, Jr. (nephew), and Bonnie Hockley (niece) along with help from a few neighbors. 18. Glen H. Stoner's daughter, Janet Swope, and her husband, Robert Swope, have recently appeared in the area and are attempting to coerce Glen H. Stoner into relocating to their residence in Texas; Janet Swope had been estranged from her father for years up unti12005. 19. Glen H. Stoner has no other family members residing in Texas; such a relocation is ill-conceived and would remove him from his established support system which includes various family members and doctors; travel in relation to such a relocation presents a significant challenge to Mr. Stoner in relation to his physical ailments. 20. The Petitioners believe that Janet Swope's motives relating to her efforts to coerce her father into moving to Texas are not in line with her father's best interests and further believe that, in the process, Janet Swope has been attempting to alienate her father from local family members. 21. The Petitioners propose for Glen H. Stoner to move into the home belonging to his sister (Betty Hockensmith -approximately age 85) in New Franklin, Franklin County. 22. Petitioners and other family members have arranged for in-home services, paid for mainly by the county, whereby caretakers will spend eight hours every Monday through Friday at said residence for the benefit of Glen H. Stoner and his sister; Petitioners plan to augment this Gaze by acquiring private care services for weekends. 23. Betty Hockensmith's granddaughter, Kelly Hockensmith (age 23), is residing at said residence and will be able to provide assistance to Glen H. Stoner and his sister. 24. Glen H. Stoner's nephew, Kirby Hockensmith (Petitioner), plans to spend substantial time at the residence on a daily basis for the purpose of providing assistance to Glen H. Stoner and his sister. 25. The Petitioners have no interests adverse to those of Glen H. Stoner. 26. Guardianship is sought by Petitioners for the purposes of protecting Glen H. Stoner's best interests. 27. Glen H. Stoner's ability to receive and evaluate information effectively and communicate decisions in any way is impaired to such a significant extent that he is totally unable to manage his financial resources or to meet essential requirements for his physical health and safety. 28. Petitioners propose to continue to seek the least restrictive methods to assure that Glen H. Stoner's financial and physical needs are met. 29. Glen H. Stoner presently has no guardian appointed to handle his affairs. 30. Petitioners seek to be appointed plenary guardians. 31. Attorney J. Edwazd Beck has indicated that he will be representing Glen H. Stoner privately with regazd to the within matter. l~-Zs~ 11 Respectfully submitted, BAYLEY & GAN ark F. Bayley, E ire 17 West South Street Carlisle, PA 17013 (717) 241-2446 Supreme Court I.D.#87663 VERIFICATION I verify that the statements made in the foregoing document are true and correct. I understand that false statements herein are made subject to the penalties of 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 4904 relating to unsworn falsification to authorities. o?Y4,~~ui 2~i/ Date CHRISTOPHER ROYER. Psv.D. DONNA M. STRUCK. PSY.D„ LPC CLINICAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGY CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY COUNSELING CONFIDENTIAL For Professional Use Only The confidentiality of the information contained in this document is protected by the State Statute. Disclosure of this infonnatiai without the proper written consent of the patient, the patient's authorized legal representative, or the patient's legal guardian is prohibited. Neuronsycholoeical Consultation Patient Name: (ilen Stoner Age: 89 DOB: 09/06/192:? Education: 5 Employment: Retired Referral Source: Family REASON FOR REFERRAL: Service Location: Outpatient Procedural Code - 96116- 2 units Mr. Stoner is referred for an evaluation of his current neurocognitive status following reports of cognitive difficulties. BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Mr. Stoner is an f.9-year-old male who presented to the interview today with his nephew. His two nephews hold Power of Attorney. BB74 MARKET STREET • SUITS 2f~Q • CAMP HILL, PA 17Q77 PHONE 717-767-6771 • FAX 777-761-6173 Date of Eval: 10/11/2011 D Page 2 RE: GLEN STONER October 11, 2011 Mr. Stoner reports that he is a little short of breath. He states that he cannot get around too well due to aches and pains. He do<;s use a cane. He reports that his shortness of breath is basically on exertion. He takes Tramadol for the pain. He also has some hypertension and high- cholesterol. With his nephew's encouragement, he notes that a nurse comes every Tuesday to take his blood pressure and to "do my pills." He reports that the nurse fills his pillbox. In terms of family, he has nephews and nieces in the area. He has a daughter in Texas and ason-in-law. He has a son in Illinois that he does not speak with very much. He reports that he is planning on going out to stay with his daughter in T<:xas because "I am getting weaker." His nephew notes that he does have a younger sister in the area here who is also willing to take him in with a lot of care. Mr. Stoner describes his sleep as okay. His appetite is "good enough." He is quite hazd of hearing. Appazently, Mr. Stoner was st<lying with his sister. Apparently, she is now in a nursing home. As such, he is alone now in the house. He states that someone picks up food for him, "a neighbor girl." He states ,that PennDot took away his license. He also reports that this neighbor is doing his bills now. He does not feel that she is taking adv~intage of him. During the day, he reports that he walks around because he cannot do much else. He reports that his memory is poor. He states, "I cannot remember everything." He reports that he does not read because of his educational level. He feels that he needs help with things that are intellectual at this point. He reports that he does not smoke or consume any alcohol. He reports.that he does not have any pain when he is sitting still. He describes his spirits as generally good. He is widowed and his nephew was able to supply the timeframe, which is about 1999. Mr. Stoner reports, "I think she died three years before." In order to ease tension, his nephew provided a fairly lengthy note about the family's concerns. His nephew notes that Mr. Stoner has cazdiac problems and an implantable defibrillator. He has some ongoing visual issues as well. The note indicates that he had a fall in 2008, which exacerbated his arthritis and leg pain. Apparently, PennDot took hi:; license ui 2009. The note indicates that he only eats at restaurants or "highly processed foods." His nephew is concerned that he will cancel appointments with agencies that do prepare food for in- home service. Mr. Stoner's nephew indicates that he was unfortunately the victim. of a number of scams after his wife passed away. Apparently, he had an estimated $50,000-$100,000 stolen from him. The note does indicate some suspicion that the neighbors might be taking advantage of him. His nephew notes that the family offered three choices for him including a home nearer to the family, living with his sister or moving into a retirement home. The note indicates that he refused the options and "even threatened to shoot himself if forced to move into a musing home." The note indicates that his daughter was going to move him to Texas rather rapidly. His nephew states that he was concerned that he was going to have to move because he was being "forced out of his house." Page RE: GLEN STONER October 11, 2011 Mr. Stoner's nephew's note goes on to indicate that he will not wear his medical alert bracelets. He apparently wants to withdraw all of his assets from the bank on multiple occasions. The note indicates that he cannot account for "tens of thousands of missing dollars." The note states that he forgets many events in the past. The note indicates that he does not remember important events like the death of his wife or the beginning of the time when his Trust st~u~ted, etc. FINDINGS: Mr. Stoner appe<~red wary but was cooperative with the evaluation and consented to the procedure. He ambulated to the examiner's room with the use of a cane. He. was fully alert and aroused throughout the evaluation. Expressive speech was fluent and notable for word fmding difficulties. Thought processes were slightly disjointed and associations followed suit. No perceptual disturbances or other gross psychopathology were reported or observed. Overall, his judgment appeared to be impaired. Mr. Stoner's orie~itation was variable. He was able to state the month and year on direct questioning. He was off by one. day for day of month and one day for day of week. He was grossly oriented to time of day. He was able to state the current location. He was able to name the current President, On a test of recent recall, his ability to learn and recall a list of four words over a brief delay was impaired. On this task, he recalled only one word using a free recall strategy. He made intrusion errors on this task, but was able to recall two words using a recognition cue. Simple auditory attention was adequate for the interview and for brief tasks. He was not really able to accomplish any mathematic problems. Expressive speech was fluent and notable for some word finding difficulties. On tests that required him to draw, no gross perceptual distortions were observed. A copy of an alternating figure drawing was notable for perseverative errors. He was not able to complete even the simplest block design using a template. He made stringing errors on this task. Reasoning by analogy was moderately impaired. On this task, he had difficulty with abstract conceptualization. On reasoning tasks, he scored in the severely impaired range. On this task, he had difficulty responding to basic social dilemmas. He was not able to identify 911 as the number to call in case of an emergency. His affect was neutral. He denied any problems with his spirits or his mood. He noted that he was doing "oka Y• DIAGNOSTIC IMPRESSIONS: Mr. Stoner clearly has a dementia. He has a number of vascular risk factors, and at the current time, the most likely diagnosis is a mixed dementia (SDAT and vasculaz). He demonstrates impairments in the areas of memory, attention, and orientation. However, the most concerning impairments occur on tasks of reasoning and judgment, wlvch tend to be more highly correlated with daily functioning. At the current time, he is not considered to be capable of making decisions in his own best interest as defined by Pennsylvania State Statute. Page 4 RE: GLEN STONER October I1, 2011 RECOMMENDATIONS: Mr. Stoner really should receive 24-hour care at this point. This could be done within the context of a home environment where there were family members and/or trusted third parties, or within the context of an assisted living environment. It is important to note that the results of this evaluation suggests that his health and safety would be somewhat in danger should he continue living alone or should he be isolated from care for airy given period of time. 2. .Consideration should be given to the use of an agent designed to prevent further decline of memory difficulties such as Aricept o; Namenda or possibly an Exelon patch. 3. Mr. Stoner is considered to be at risk for manipulation by malicious third parties given his cognitive impairments. As such, he requires a trusted third party in the form of Power or Attorney or Guardian to manage his finances. 4. His nephew did express concern about transitioning into an environment that he was not comfortable with. Obviously, if he is moved into a nursing home environment or assisted living or other alternative facility, he should be monitored very cazefully for mood and potential behavioral changes and/or self- injuriousbehavior. Thank you Christopher Rc~yp~!~s? Clinical Neuro~vpsychol Licensed Psychologist ~~ ~J rma m 1 rNm A 1 ~~dY p ~ _~~ - O ~ 1Tn ~f _ .~. eD~ O N V ~ _ ~y J - ~ N.,m mQ ~po -aG cn2~D D3-y> m = u m a -~ ~_ _ - O Z "N' Z=rn = R Yn 0 3~ _-~ ~ -m0. - y ~~~Q m ~A. _ -_ _-Om r ~ m'r~ ~/~ i _ ry _ ~ A~ r -p,nr '" - ~ ~ - r. Q ~ q N I71= 1N RE: : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS :CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA GLEN H. STONER, An Alleged Incapacitated Person : N0.2011-1132 ORPHANS' COURT DIVISION CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Mark F. Bayley, Esquire, do hereby certify that I this day served a copy of the foregoing document upon the following by First Class Mail: J. Edward Beck, Esq. 1035 Wayne Avenue Chambersburg, PA 17201 l v ~ ~ ~ ~ Mark F. Bayley, Esquire