The Hidden Cost of Guardianship: When Protection Becomes Control
An investigative look into how America’s legal system meant to protect vulnerable seniors too often strips them of autonomy, dignity, and wealth
The Silent Crisis Facing America’s Aging Population
When 76-year-old Eleanor Washburn handed her son Thomas power of attorney after her husband’s death, she thought she was ensuring her financial security and peace of mind in her golden years. The retired school teacher from Vermont had always been methodical and forward-thinking. Despite a mild heart condition, she was independent, sharp-witted, and determined to age with dignity in the home she had shared with her husband for over four decades.
“Mom has always been the planner in the family,” Thomas Washburn told our investigative team. “She organized everything from family vacations to my father’s medical care during his final years. It was completely in character for her to have her affairs in order.”
What Eleanor couldn’t plan for was how quickly her careful arrangements would unravel—not because of her health or cognitive decline, but because of a little-known legal mechanism that affects an estimated 1.3 million Americans: adult guardianship.
Eleanor’s journey into the shadowy world of court-appointed guardianships began innocuously enough. After a minor fall resulted in a brief hospital stay, her daughter-in-law Melissa—Thomas’s wife of six years—suggested that Eleanor move in with them “temporarily” while she regained her strength. Viewing it as a practical short-term solution and touched by the offer, Eleanor agreed.
“It seemed like the sensible thing to do at the time,” Eleanor explained during our interview at the modest one-bedroom apartment where she now lives—far from the spacious Colonial home she once owned. “I never imagined I was walking into a trap that would cost me nearly everything.”
The Perfect Storm: Family Dynamics, Legal Vulnerabilities, and Financial Incentives
Adult guardianship—also called conservatorship in some states—is a legal arrangement designed to protect individuals deemed incapable of managing their own affairs. A judge appoints a guardian to make personal, medical, and financial decisions for the “ward”—the person placed under guardianship. In theory, this system exists to protect vulnerable adults. In practice, experts warn it can be weaponized to exploit the very people it claims to safeguard.
“We’re seeing an alarming trend of unnecessary and exploitative guardianships, particularly involving seniors with assets,” explains Dr. Naomi Levin, director of the Elder Justice Initiative at Columbia University. “The legal threshold for imposing guardianship varies widely from state to state, but once established, it’s extraordinarily difficult to reverse—even when there’s compelling evidence of abuse or exploitation.”
For Eleanor, the nightmare began three months into her stay at Thomas and Melissa’s home. What started as occasional comments about Eleanor’s medication management (“Mom, did you forget your pills again?”) escalated to more serious accusations about her decision-making abilities.
“I noticed Melissa would exaggerate any normal senior moment I had,” Eleanor recalled. “If I misplaced my reading glasses, she’d exchange meaningful looks with Thomas. If I took an afternoon nap, she’d comment about how I was ‘confused all the time now.’”
According to Eleanor, the narrative being constructed around her supposed decline coincided with increasing questions about her financial assets—particularly her mortgage-free home valued at approximately $675,000 and her investment portfolio worth just over $1.2 million.
“Melissa began suggesting I should sell the house since I was ‘never going back there,’” Eleanor said. “When I resisted, saying I wanted to return to my home once I felt stronger, the atmosphere in their house became noticeably chilly.”