America’s “Property-Poaching-By-Probate” Paradise Strikes Again

by Estate of Denial.Com

Whoever believes that “good” ultimately wins out over “evil” may have to rethink that position after any scrutiny of America’s probate system. Of late, Connecticut has deservedly received much attention and today is no different with the resignation of probate court administrator James J. Lawlor.

It’s hard to know what to say. You want to believe wrongdoers get their comeuppance, but the truth is that bad people do bad things to good people on a daily basis and they get away with it — sometimes with the help of our American judicial system. As James Lawlor, a guy tasked with protecting Connecticut’s taxpayers and upgrading the state’s level of judicial integrity, likely “ruffled some feathers,” he’s gone.

Next week, we’ll see if former Connecticut attorney Peter Sivaslian, accused of embezzling nearly $5 million from the estate of an elderly Barkhamsted woman suffering from dementia, will receive any jail time. (Check back tomorrow for background on this story.)

And of course in August we’ll be watching to see if Austin (TX) attorney Terry Erwin Stork gets jail time or any significant sentence for stealing from three of his clients’ estates.

Bottom line: government - and that means elected and appointed officials as well as employees - no longer deserves to be considered trustworthy in their role “of the people, by the people and for the people.” That may position some good people in a bad light, but that’s okay as we’ve seen too many good people uselessly harmed by an unresponsive government which too often is self-dealing or else aids and abets (either directly or through tacit complicity) its unethical, greedy allies.

We’re tired of this betrayal, but we’ve got lots of energy to keep “shining light on the dark side of estate management” - and government, this means you, too!