Guardian Estate of Mary, Cook County Probate Court

Oct 31, 2017

OUTCOME: The guardianship was granted, and the disabled person's home was saved.

I have been practicing law for 30 years and it’s not too often that I get a heartwarming feeling from something I was able to do for a client. It’s even rarer when I’m able do something which I had no ... business being able to do. This morning was one of those not too often times. About a month ago, a man, we’ll call him “Jim,” hired me to seek a guardianship for his mother, let’s call her “Mary.” Mary suffers from… well, let’s call it an Alzheimer’s type condition. Mary is a strong woman who has lived in Chicago all her life. She worked for the same company for more than 40 years and retired just a couple years ago. She took care of everything, she was always in charge. In addition to running a household, she took care of her husband (let’s call him “Bill”) who has his own medical conditions which have persisted since he came back from his tour in Vietnam during the war. Mary and Bill raised their one son and helped him start his own business which has flourished. Jim’s business kept him busy and out of town often, so he didn’t notice the early signs of his mother’s condition. When Mary’s condition progressed and was noticeable, Jim immediately sought out medical assistance for her. He also moved in with his parents to care for them. Jim discovered that Mary neglected to pay her bills including the mortgage, and that the home was in foreclosure. In fact, by the time Jim hired me, this parents’ rights to redeem the mortgage had passed, a judgment of foreclosure had entered, and a sheriff’s sale of the home had been completed and was awaiting confirmation. If you don’t follow, this all means that the home was essentially lost! Within two days, and with the assistance of a great court appointed guardian ad litem, I was able to get Jim appointed as temporary guardian. Yet, at this point, Mary had no right to fight the foreclosure or cure the mortgage default. However, Jim told me that moving his parents was not an option. Mary can’t walk, speaks very little and even has difficulty sitting up. Jim wanted his parents to stay in their home, PERIOD. So, rather than spinning my wheels by filing motion and after motion in the foreclosure case, which would’ve been useless, I decided to go directly to the mega mortgage lender to find a sympathetic manager. I made numerous, yet unsuccessful attempts to contact the mega mortgage company and its mega foreclosure law firm to get them to voluntarily accept payment from Mary and reinstate the mortgage. After all, Mary had sufficient resources to pay all the amounts due. When this failed, I aimed higher. I persistently called and wrote to Mary’s Congressman, Senator and Alderman. After several days of mild harassment, out of the blue, I got a call from one of the attorneys for the mega mortgage company who advised that they would accept the payment and reinstate the mortgage but on some unattainable conditions. So, while my letter writing campaign apparently worked, this seemed to be nothing but a ploy just to make the mega mortgage company look not so heartless. So, I fought on. Jim was appointed plenary (ongoing or semi-permanent) guardian, and we got court orders gaining access to certain retirement accounts. Well, this morning, the mega mortgage company relented, and my client is, today, sending them a check to reinstate the mortgage. Mary and Bill have sufficient income to make future mortgage payments, and their son is there to make those payments. This family will spend the holidays in their home. When I got that call, I had an overwhelming feeling. My client was thankful for having met me, and for all that I was able to do for his family. This is the second home beyond that brink which I was able to save. About 8 years ago, I helped a guy get his home back from foreclosure by finding questionable compounding bank charges. To avoid a consumer fraud lawsuit, the bank dropped the case, and issued a release of mortgage. Every Christmas eve, that guy calls and thanks me for my help.