New York woman claims a guardian was appointed for her even though not needed

Phyllis Funk, a 77 year old woman living in New York City, has a master’s degree from Columbia University, a pilot license, used financial advisors in both New York and in Maine, and previously freelanced for the Times. But when she crawled under her covers after the 2016 election, she claims she just wanted to shut the world out for a bit of time. Funk says she was not suicidal, but depressed. But when the manager of her building tried to evict her for not paying her rent for months, Adult Protective Services stepped into her apartment in March, 2017, and she entered the world of adult guardianship.

In the eyes of New York States, Funk is considered an “incapacitated person” and unable to manage her personal and financial needs on her own. In the state, anyone can petition to have someone declared incapacitated. A judge may then appoint a family member or a third party, often a lawyer, to be guardian over the person’s physical needs, financial affairs or both. “It’s worse than incarceration,” she said. “At least in prison you have rights.”

In November, the United States Senate Committee on Aging called for a major overhaul in the guardianship system. The Committee is worried that some guardians have used their position over vulnerable people and then “liquidate assets and savings for their own personal benefit.” Funk says she should have hundreds of thousands of dollars to her name, mostly inherited from her parents, but that she has “no access to her accounts.”

In a country that guarantees the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, at what point does a person forfeit the right to make bad decisions?

See John Leland, I’m Petitioning… for the Return of My Life, New York Times, December 7, 2018.

Special thanks to Lewis Saret (Attorney, Washington, D.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.