HOW A FRAUDULENT GUARDIANSHIP COMMENCES AND CONTINUES~
Beverly Duff operates her Guardianship business like a 4 year old steering a car!
She takes no responsibility or ownership of her ward. She was designated to oversee my father's guardianship 4 1/2 months ago because "unfortunately" my family cannot speak with one voice on matters for my Dad and Ms. Duff has clearly taken advantage of that.
She does not communicate with family and takes no responsilbilty in helping to allow my father to be comfortable in his day to day living in a memory care facility. I addressed a back brace with her immediately upon her taking her position as it had been left behind when she moved my father to a new facility. He cannot walk well without it after having back surgery years ago. She ignored my pleas to get the back brace on him and I finally had to go to the director of his facility myself and make sure he got one while also requesting for physical therapy for my father. Beverly Duff did nothing to help him and only appears at his home when my Uncle comes into town from N.Carolina to show as if she's working diligently to oversee his well being. I told Ms. Duff several times that if he didn't get a bace brace back on, he would fall and could hurt himself possibly causing him to be bedridden. He did just that and when I arrived to visit him one day, he had two skinned knees and a laceration above his right eye. He fell down because he had no help in walking and was unstable without his brace..He could have put his eye out falling on his face literally! After his dangerous fall; that was the only time I got her attention!
I told her that if he was neglected again, that I would call the Americans Against Abusive Probate Guardianship which is a Florida-based group that helps assure due process and adherance to the constitutional and statutory safeguards of our elderly. She's now stopped all communications with me because I told her that and refuses to answer my calls or emails.
I've stopped by her office several times which she shares with a real estate biz but never answers the door or notes left on her door. I've asked if I could obtain my father's Christmas decorations that she put in a storage facility there in Ft. Myers so that I can have them to decorate his place and ours and she refuses to let me get any of my belongings. I'm a single parent with a single earning income but I've now had to go out and buy my father all new Christmas decorations, new bedding, shoes, clothing, tolitries for his home, etc whereas Ms. Duff is "supposed to be" buying and bringing those things for him but she doesn't. She certainly gets paid to do that but doesn't. I am the only sibling in our family that visits my father. I drive 4 hours once every week to see my father and make sure he has what he needs. Ms. Duff will not allow me to have my father moved closer to me so that I can spend quality time with him. She refuses to listen to anything that "my father would want" and only listens to family that lives in N.Carolina and never visits my father. She is horribly negligent in performing her duties as a professional guardian.
If your family does not need a guardian, than don't use one. If you do; choose another!
She's only out for the M$oney and is the worst example of a Guardian for her ward that I could ever imagine. Run... don't Walk from her services. She's more interested in her part time real estate business than your family member.. I'm an unfortunate witness to that.
Resources for Research:
1.National Guardianship Network~ Group of Organizations "dedicated to effectively oversee adult guardianship law and practice"
2. National Center for State Courts~ an independent, non-profit court improvement organization.
3. The American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging~ A section of the attorneys' organization whose mission is "to strengthen and secure the legal rights, dignity, autonomy, quality of life, and quality of care of our elderly.
4. National Guardianship Association ~ A professional group "to advance the nationally recognized "standard of excellence in guardianship".
5. Americans Against Abusive Probate Guardianship~ Florida-based group with a mission to "assure due process and adherance to Constitutional and statutory safeguards".

6. Florida Department of Elder Affairs~ Administers the Statewide Public Guardianship Office and the Long-term Care Ombudsman Program.

In the Age of Information... "Ignorance is a Choice"
Ignorance is allowing Beverly Duff to oversee your loved one.