Sonoma County CA separates elderly gay couple and sells their home

[SoCalNative]

Clay and his partner of 20 years, Harold, lived in California. Clay and Harold made diligent efforts to protect their legal rights, and had their legal paperwork in place--wills, powers of attorney, and medical directives, all naming each other. Harold was 88 years old and in frail medical condition, but still living at home with Clay, 77, who was in good health.

One evening, Harold fell down the front steps of their home and was taken to the hospital. Based on their medical directives alone, Clay should have been consulted in Harold's care from the first moment. Tragically, county and health care workers instead refused to allow Clay to see Harold in the hospital. The county then ultimately went one step further by isolating the couple from each other, placing the men in separate nursing homes.

Ignoring Clay's significant role in Harold's life, the county continued to treat Harold like he had no family and went to court seeking the power to make financial decisions on his behalf. Outrageously, the county represented to the judge that Clay was merely Harold's "roommate." The court denied their efforts, but did grant the county limited access to one of Harold's bank accounts to pay for his care.

What happened next is even more chilling.

http://www.bilerico.com/2010/04/sonoma_county_ca_separates_elderly_gay_couple_and.php

[MadMaddie]

1. WTF?

This is a travesty. I am curious who the individuals were that made these decisions?

[SoCalNative]

2. Since the MSM isn't covering this

we'll likely have to wait until July when the court case is heard to find out.

[DURHAM D]

3. This is so unjust I can not think of anything to say. Disgusting. nt

[ruggerson]

4. thanks to everyone who voted for Prop 8

[queerart]

5. Just Another Story.....

.... about how filthy Queers want "special rights" that they don't need.......



Queers just want their "pony", and are pissed they didn't get it.......



.... and for the Fuckers whom said... "It's Only One Song", and "It's Only One Prayer"..... and even worse the Queers whom defended that "Hit Me Harder Next Time Daddy Treatment"...... eat shit.......

[HillWilliam]

6. This goes on quietly all the time

Most people don't realize that wills mean nothing when going up against greedy, gay-hating families. They won't have anything to do with you until one partner is incapacitated or dead. The instant they smell easy money, they come crawling out of the woodwork.

I know. Something similar has happened to me twice and has happened to people I personally know many times. Once, when my previous partner passed away, his family who would have nothing to do with either one of us overturned his will and I wound up with the clothes on my back and legal bills. I didn't even wind up with my own furniture or common belongings. The second time, when my dad passed away my brother convinced him to change his will a week before he died, cutting me out "because queers don't deserve anything" (a quote). I got lucky that time when I fought back (asking for only the original equal division) because I had my dad's previous wills and my brother showed his ass in court -- before a judge I found out later was gay. That, I will guarantee you, was a pure fluke. I won purely on the merits of the case under the law, but I have witnessed time after time after time when the law didn't matter to a crooked, gay-hating family and a right-wing, gay-hating judge.

Most GLBT people aren't as lucky as I was. From what I have witnessed, nearly all such cases end in disaster for the non-hetero party in a suit. The first time, I was young and lucky enough to recover on my own. The second time, I had a good attorney who knew the law and pressed my brother and his attorney to reveal their true motives in court.

Looking ahead, I fear to the depths of my soul what would happen to my beloved HillbillyBob should something befall me. Our home would be paid off free and clear, but I don't trust my family as far as I could toss the Empire State Building. Even though they won't have anything to do with either of us now, they will try everything in their power to come and take our home and land out from under him and leave him homeless. You can bet the world on it.

Wills mean nothing; powers of attorney mean nothing. These are so very, very easily overturned. NC won't recognize our marriage so no matter what, we're still "legal strangers". The heart of my heart will be all-but powerless to stand against a crowd I know to be truly evil in intent. Without real marriage and real equality, there is not one single, solitary, goddam thing on this wide world I can do to protect him.

How do you think that makes me feel? I worry about this day and night; real, deep worry.

I really wish my fellow DU'ers who don't yet understand that this isn't a pet issue. Real lives -- long, long-term lives together -- are suddenly brought crashing down, will have a moment of enlightenment. People -- real people -- are suddenly made homeless, penniless, the fruit of entire lives together is suddenly taken away and given to people who actively, virulently hated the original partners. Somebody, please explain to me the fairness or righteousness in that.

The fact is that nobody can because there is no fairness or righteousness in it.

Real equality, in the face of such quiet acts of treachery, is not a "pet issue", nor a "pony", nor something that can wait until next year, next election, or "until the time is right". The time is never "right" when there is injustice, unless we're talking about "right now".

[dsc]

8. I am going to PM you with a name of someone who might be able to help you

this is NC's leading expert on protecting gay's rights in those situations.

[HillWilliam]

9. This is fantastic

I'm in Durham fairly often. It's only about 50 minutes from home. HillbillyBob's health care is at Duke, so it's not like an arduous trip.

I'll give them a call tomorrow.

[mitchtv]

11. watch out for the county to re asses the property

even if it is "tenants in common with survivorship rights" It is their favorite trick to pull on greiving, senior Gays who thought they had covered everything. The feds can come in and charge the deceased half as a "gift" and make it impossible for the recipient of the gift to keep the home( depending on the value of said gift) The case of Raymond Burr;s death is a case study. His partner was challenged by a greedy nephew or neice(not close) aand lost in Sonoma County, this was before the current advances in Gay law. One important legal maneuver they used, was at the time of death, besides being executor and beneficiary, the partner was the largest creditor around, and first to be paid by the estate. It stopped all challenges short. they had good lawyers.(The reassessment is no longer practiced in CA

[mitchtv]

7. Typical, every Gay I know has some horror story like this

typical too, the news blackout. what does suprise me is Sonoma Cty. thank you California for Prop H8. You deserve a good long depression.

[sui generis]

10. oh I hope they make this hurt.

not that bankrupt California will EVER pay out on a lawsuit.

Evil isn't just expressed in violence. This was some twisted sick sociopathic fuckers who just enjoy causing mortal pain. Exactly how does the State of California manage to "force" someone to go into a nursing home?

I am very curious about that. That truly IS the nanny state gone wrong, not that nanny states were ever right to begin with.

[Smashcut]

12. The story has hit the NYT.

http://bayarea.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/suit-charges-elderly-gay-couple-was-forced-apart/

[keepCAblue]

13. Here are the despicable bastards responsible for this travesty

Those below are listed as defendants in the lawsuit, Greene vs. Sonoma County:

North Bay Auctions
http://www.nbauctions.com/
[e-mail]

Jo Weber
Director of Human Services, County of Sonoma
http://www.sonoma-county.org/human/


Sally Liedholm
Public Guardian, Office of the Public Guardian, County of Sonoma
http://www.sonoma-county.org/Human/adult_aging.htm
Sally Liedholm has a history of probate fraud, dating back more than 10 years, stemming from similar cases while she was a public guardian in El Dorado County. She was fired from El Dorado County and sent packing to Solano County. It appears she left Solano County to work in the same capacity in Sonoma. Oh, this is getting quite interesting. I hope Kate Kendall and the NCLR blow the lid off this large ring of corruption. Read the whole dirty bag of details on Sally Liedholm and others: http://wjfa.net/pg/perfect_crime.html">The Criminal Side of Probate

Karen Stagg-Hourigan
Deputy in the Office of the Public Guardian
Hey, Karin has a facebook page! Send her a message!! http://www.facebook.com/kstagghourigan

Michael Brewster
Deputy in the Office of the Public Guardian
This defendant is apparently one of *those* Evangelical Christians. No surprise there.

Here is an excerpt of the legal filing against Sonoma County (posted on Joe. My. God's blog), detailing the *Christian* love and respect Brewster showed for Clay Greene, one of the elderly among whom Brewster was to have been *protecting*.

On or about June 28 and continuing through August 2008, Defendants ACV, DILLINGHAM, COUNTY, LIEDHOLM, STAGG-HOURIGAN, BREWSTER, and others and each of them, did not allow Plaintiff GREENE access to , his partner of 25 years, who was terminally ill. On or about June 28 and continuing through August 2008, Defendants ACV, DILLINGHAM, COUNTY, LIEDHOLM, STAGG-HOURIGAN, BREWSTER, and others and each of them, falsely imprisoned Plaintiff GREENE, keeping him behind a locked gate at Defendant ACV's premises and restricting and limiting his movements and communications with his friends, family, and the general public.... Plaintiff was put in fear of physical harm, was and felt intimidated and attacked, and remains fearful that he will be chased down and locked up again. On or about August, 2008, Defendants MICHAEL BREWSTER and KAREN STAGG-HOURIGAN, as employees of the COUNTY acting in their official capacities... did disparage and demean Plaintiff GREENE in his presence and in the presence of others, making and/or ratifying derogatory references to Plaintiff GREENE's sexual orientation and age, stating "you know how those 'gay boys' are"... After death, Defendants BREWSTER and STAGG-HOURIGAN further expressed displeasure at dealing with expressions of grief by a gay man who had lost his long-time partner.

And lastly here is a little Internet write up on Brewster's wife, complete with all the JesusGodChristian bullshit.

Leilani Brewster grew up in San Jose, CA and graduated from San Jose State University with a degree in Business Administration. She is happily married to Michael Brewster, a Deputy Conservator for Sonoma County. Leilani has held a variety of jobs, one of which was volunteering at San Jose Juvenile Hall as Assistant Chaplain. Her aim was to enhance the lives of the young people she counseled. She did this for 10 years. Leilani’s motto for her life: “As a Christian, I take seriously the commandment to love God and to love my neighbor as myself.” This belief motivates her to help and encourage people. When she lived in San Jose, she distributed the neighborhood newsletter. This allowed her to get to know her neighbors and as the years went by, watched all of the neighborhood children grow up. Her interests now include membership in an ecumenical Bible Study group numbering 300 women. She enjoys meeting women of different faiths and viewpoints.

[keepCAblue]

14. Here is the actual court filing

in pdf format:

http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2010/04/19/1271722918-greene_v_sonoma_county.pdf