Brenda Daniel has not seen her mother, Ana, in nearly a year and she blames some of her siblings along with a heartless court system for isolating her mom.
Ana Daniel, now 96, was an active 93-year-old in May 2019.
She had many friends, a tenant, and lived an active life.
There was no reason, Brenda told me, for what happened that May.
One day, her mother disappeared. No one knew where she was, and it take a friend who was in law enforcement to reach out to her sister, Lynn Severn.
Lynn finally responded, “nonchalantly” Brenda told, by email to say that Ana had been moved from her home to an assisted living facility.
I reached out to Lynn by phone, but she did not respond.
Normally, this sort of elder isolation is done with the use of guardianship, but in this case, Lynn used a power of attorney (POA) drawn up in 2015. Part of that POA is below.
The POA is in order, and her mother signed it. It also clearly gives Lynn medical decision-making authority.
So, what is wrong with it?
Brenda explained that this POA was drawn up in secret, without consulting her and others in the family.
“My mother would not have wanted to leave her home,” Brenda said. This was her home of over forty years.”
Initially, Brenda was allowed to see her mom at the facility, and she told me that her mother’s movement was not significantly restricted.
Still, her mom made it clear to Brenda that she did not want to be there and wanted to go back to her home.
By the end of 2019- and especially once COVID hit- Ana’s movements were restricted even more.
Things came to a head in July 2021, when Brenda had a visit with her mom.
She told me that her sister Lyn arrived and attempted to interject in the visit.
Brenda said she closed to door and locked her sister out in order to avoid any further escalation.
The police were called- by Lynn- but they did not press charges or even write up a report.
Still, not a week later, Lynn filed for a protective order (PO), now claiming that Brenda got physical with her.
The judge who granted the PO wrote in the order that this would not forbid Brenda from seeing her mom. That part of the order is below.
That should have created an uneasy truce. Brenda could see her move, but she had to stay away from her sister, Lynn.
Not so, Brenda told me. She was then told by the facility that the POA- Lynn_ had barred her from seeing her mom.
She believed that this was taken care of, and she last saw her mother on December 23, 2021.
She went back the next day, and her mother was no longer at the facility. Her mother never returned.
She’s been told her mother is with her sister Lyn. Lyn is using the PO as a reason to bar contact between Brenda and her mother.
In February 2022, there was supposed to be a hearing to settle this. Instead, it turned into a star chamber.
Part of a letter is below.
The letter was written by an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Advocate, Janice Grenadier, who witnessed the hearing. Along with sending this letter to the court, Janice also sent the letter to three lawyers: Alan Winik, Leslie Powell, and Thomas Murphy.
I reached out to all three, but I received no response.
Winik and Powell represented Lynn, and Brenda told me they quickly ended their representation after receiving the letter.
Brenda has appeared on other podcasts to talk about what happened. Check her out on Slam the Gavel, TS Radio, and Hidden Truth Revealed.
Michael Volpe Investigates Special Report: the isolation of Ana Daniel