Appearance alert: on TS Radio
I was joined by Jodee Sussman and Rita King to talk about the Orange County probate mafia.
I was on TS Radio for the first time in years.
Until recently, Marti Oakley hosted TS Radio, until she passed away tragically.
Marti became well-known for exposing the guardianship racket; she even made inroads globally, finding victims in Australia, Japan, and other countries.
Her friend, Cosmos “Coz” Whitten-Skaife, has carried on the mantle, and I joined Coz on Friday.
With me were Jodee Sussman and Rita King.
Jodee was recently featured in a news story by Wayne Dolcefino.
Rita attended a rally before a hearing for Jodee’s case in May.
{Check out my recent story on Rita’s case}
Jodee had several of the same probate mafia members on both their cases, but as the interview revealed, their cases intersected in many different ways.
Shady real estate deals
At the heart of Jodee’s mother’s- Marty Adair- corrupt probate case was a piece of real estate called the American Way Cultural Center.
Jodee said the people appointed to her mom’s probate demanded that Marty sell this real estate to pay for the growing cost of keeping her in conservatorship- the equivalent of guardianship in other cases.
The probate mafia made it so expensive for Marty to be in conservatorship that they demanded she sell her prized real estate.
That’s not the worst part. The cabal initially claimed it was worth $3 million, then it was auctioned off for $16 million, which is still millions less than it is worth, Jodee said.
Rita said the probate mafia is trying to something similar with property her father has.
Her father has been in temporary conservatorship for nearly five years: that passes for justice in Orange County.
Rita said her father has a Laguna Beach home. Rita said the court appointed conservator said it was worth $4 million.
Rita said an appraisal by real estate appraisers done over a year ago appraised it for between $5.5 and $7 million.
Selling real estate under market price is a tactic not only in corrupt probate in Orange County but all over the country.
Eric Becker and Samantha Morris-Jones
In Marty Adair’s case, the combination of Eric Becker and Samantha Morris Jones represented the corrupt conservator, Richard Huntington. They are asking for hundreds of thousands in fees.
Becker and Morris-Jones were the first lawyers that Rita hired. At the time, Rita said her father was going through a mental break. Becker recommended a temporary conservatorship.
Rita did not know much about conservatorship. She believed that her father would be protected. She was wrong.
Then, the conservatorship turned toxic. So, Becker recommended the appointment of court professionals.
That’s what was needed, Rita was told, when there is conflict in the family.
Rita did not see it coming, but the court mafia was churning its machine.
One person appointed upon the recommendation of Becker and Morris-Jones was David Shaver.
David Shaver
David Shaver is another character appointed in both Rita’s dad’s case and Jodee’s mom’s case.
Shaver was the guardian ad litem on both cases. Shaver is very hands on. For instance, in Marty Adair’s case he waited six months to meet with Marty. He met with her a whole two times in three years he was a GAL on her case.
Rita said that was a veritable lifetime of meetings compared to her father. David met with him: never.
Judge David Belz
Judge David Belz is a waste of space, and he wasted a lot of space and time on both Rita and Jodee’s case.
Jodee was in front of Judge Waste of Space in November 2022; that hearing accomplished nothing and everything was pushed off to another hearing in January 2023, after which Judge Waste of Space recused himself, foring months more of delays.
Rita and Jodee had nothing but kind words for Judge Waste of Space.
“Completely biased toward what the attorneys just had to say, and completely ignoring what the family has to say.” Jodee told me.
Frame it and put it in the Louvre.
Rita said somethng similar.
In the last hearing in front of Judge Belz, he made a startling statement.
“The public code is really clear on a couple things. When there is a lot of conflict internally- within the beneficiaries and the parties are basically affected by the trust- the public policy says the courts duty and responsibility is to bring in someone independent.” Judge Waste of Space stated in a hearing on July 31, 2023.
See that, if there’s any conflict, the public policy is to bring a court appointee. Where have I heard that before? That sounds like the reason Eric Becker thought Rita’s dad needed David Shaver.
It’s how the racket works. Create conflict to get people appointed, who create more conflict and get even more people appointed.
Now, you can see why Rita’s dad is in a “temporary” conservatorship which is going on five years.
Postscript:
Check out the previous articles on the series on Orange County. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8. Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25. Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29, Part 30, Part 31, Part 33, Part 34, Part 35, Part 36, Part 37, and Part 38.
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