Joy and Mackenzie
Content Warning: These stories are about violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and may include references to suicide or self-harming behaviours. They may contain graphic descriptions and strong language and may be distressing. Some narratives may be about First Nations people who have passed away. If you need support, please see Contact & support.
Joy was in her early 80s when she and her family learnt she had dementia. Two specialists – a psychogeriatrician and a neuropsychologist – said Joy was ‘incapable of looking after herself and her affairs’. Joy moved into a nursing home and her family made an application to the guardianship board for Mackenzie to be appointed Joy’s guardian.
On the day of the meeting with the board, Joy’s lawyer and accountant collected her from the nursing home and drove her to the meeting.
During the meeting, one of the specialists gave evidence of Joy’s incapacity to handle her own affairs and supported the family’s application for a guardianship order.
But then Joy asked if her lawyer and her accountant could make decisions on her behalf. The board adjourned the meeting to execute a Joint Enduring Power of Attorney (JEPOA).
Mackenzie is concerned about her mother’s capacity to give legal instructions at that time. ‘She would have agreed to anything [the lawyer] said!’
But the signed agreement was filed and executed. Joy’s lawyer and accountant now had legal authority to make financial, health and medical decisions on her behalf.
The guardianship order her family had applied for was dismissed.
Joy’s lawyer and accountant jointly managed her affairs from that point. The lawyer became executor of Joy’s will. Her estate included a number of investment properties. ‘Apart from rental income she also had Superannuation and a Government pension,’ said Mackenzie.
When Joy died about a decade later, there was ‘very little in Estate’. The properties had been sold and there was ‘personal property missing or stolen … war Medals stolen ... property unaccounted for!’ said Mackenzie.
Mackenzie and her family have been trying to find out what happened to Joy’s estate. ‘There were no records no joint records for the thirteen years of the JEPOA.’
Mackenzie lodged a formal complaint about the conduct of her mother’s lawyer to the legal profession’s complaint commission, which ‘found nothing wrong ... closed the case … stopped [Mackenzie] from appealing the decision’.
Mackenzie told the Royal Commission she doesn’t know where else to turn. ‘Please do not let this happen to other people,’ she said.
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.