Why should you NEVER retire in New Mexico? Because the government there can detain a senior against his or her will, commit her to a nursing home, seize all of her assets, and use that money to KEEP her in a nursing home, all in the name of keeping her safe with a "guardianship". That's exactly what had happened to Dorris Hamilton, who's 91, and had lived in Las Cruces NM for over 50 years. And she's not alone.
As reported by the Santa Fe New Mexican news Dorris had lived the same for decades, then one day, her mail stopped coming. Then she's locked out of all of her bank accounts. Then she got a letter stating that a judge had granted an emergency petition to put her in a nursing home. WITHOUT EVER TALKING TO HER OR HER RELATIVES.
So she drove herself down to the courthouse and trying to ask someone. Where she encountered a police sergeant, who was sympathetic, but a judge's orders were not discretionary. He put her in the back of his cruiser and drove her to a hospital where she was then transported to the nursing. In the meanwhile, her car was towed and sold. Her mobile home was also sold along with her possessions.
So what exactly happened?
It appears that Dorris' son Rios may have had an accidental hand in what happened to his mother.
According to Rios, Dorris and he had spoken to an attorney in Las Cruces, CaraLyn Banks, about giving Rios powers of attorney, as Dorris had taken up hoarding, and Dorris realized she is having a bit of diminished capacity, and wanted Rios to handle a part of her life. They went to the attorney to draft such documents. And they had several meetings.
From there on, the narrative diverged. Rios remembered Banks mentioning that she can find someone who can help clean out his mother's house, but he had made no further commitments.
Banks, however, apparently came away with a completely different set of instructions, as she petitioned the court for emergency appointment of guardianship over Dorris Hamilton, listing Rios as the petitioner.
Rios, who lived and worked in NYC, apparently did not think to ask questions as he did receive an email from Banks. He said he believed it was about cleaning up the house, not declaring his mother unfit to live by herself.
And a few weeks later, Dorris' life was uprooted.
And this was NOT the first time Banks had done it to seniors and their families in New Mexico. In several cases, a distant child, a local senior, a meeting about the will, and BLAM! An emergency petition to put a guardianship on the parent. The child denied that guardianship was EVER discussed, much less requested.
SEVERAL court cases happened where Banks argued, supposedly for the seniors, AGAINST the relatives who denied ever authorizing the petition. Banks argued that the senior should stay in the care of the guardian she had chosen, a company called Advocate Services. Keep in mind, both draw their salary from Dorris' estate... while she's still alive! Your jailer is using your money to keep you in jail against your will! And it's all LEGAL!
What's worse, the chief guardian of Advocate Services is fond of filing restraining orders against the relatives of the seniors. Fortunately, some reforms in 2018 barred guardians from preventing families from visiting the seniors in question, but the fundamental problem had not been addressed... If the guardianship was appointed by mistake (or fraud), how do you undo it?
Turns out, you really can't. Guardianship is supposed to be only done to people who are no longer capable of taking care of themselves, and little provision exists to undo a guardianship. Hypothetically, one can petition the court for a review of the guardianship (and it was supposed to be done every 10 years) as per 45-5-307F NMSA (2009). But there is no deadline for the judge to review the petition or any requirement to do it in a timely manner, even though the judge can rubber-stamp an "emergency petition" that uprooted Dorris' life in only 4 days.
What's really weird is the senior in question has NO SAY in the matter, since s/he was ALREADY judged to be incapacitated. Even the death, resignation, or removal of the guardian will only result in the appointment of a new guardian. Only a judge can undo a guardianship, and remember what happened to Dorris? She never got to see a judge, lost a good percentage of her property, because a judge signed an order, sight unseen, and declared she is no longer fit to live by herself. Now she's living in a place she never wanted to be, her assets dissipated and sold to KEEP her there, and there's no way out...
And that's why, folks, do NOT retire in New Mexico, at least not with any money. Or they can do this to you.
