Questions Remain for Kidd's Guardian

DALLAS - A state board will conduct a special meeting Monday after FOX 4 raised questions about an accountant who swore on court records he was a certified guardian in Texas.

Collin County Judge Weldon Copeland appointed Michael Taylor of Greenville to serve as the Guardian of the Estate of Eugene and Michael Kidd. They are the Richardson couple that was stripped of their rights and placed in a nursing home against their will.

The Kidds were away from their home for nearly one year after the state determined they couldn’t take care of themselves or their finances. After FOX 4 aired their story, they regained their freedom and returned home but it has been a tough adjustment. They have had to rely on the help of total strangers and neighbors.

The Kidds say the system that was supposed to protect them and their assets failed miserably. They still have no accounting of their finances. Michael Taylor was appointed Guardian of the Estate in June 2009. He is still in charge of their money until the house is refinanced.

“We need a financial guardian in place until we get the house taken care of,” said Tim Taylor, the Kidd’s pro bono attorney.

“ The mortgage is really the big one,” her said.

Attorney Tim Taylor says the Kidds were paying their bills until the state took over in January. Judge Copeland then appointed Michael Taylor in June. Tim Taylor says the Kidd’s mortgage was not paid for months, leaving their credit a mess.

“All of those problems have arisen in the past year while the guardianship was in place,” Tim Taylor said.

Michael Taylor is still refusing to talk to FOX 4 but we have learned he is now applying to become a certified guardian.

The questions is why he was ever in charge of the Kidd’s money in the first place without that certification.

FOX 4 has uncovered documents filed in Collin County court where Taylor swore he was a certified guardian and not just in the Kidd’s case. Another case in Collin County shows his notarized signature.

In Hunt County, Judge Andrew Bench appointed him to serve as the guardian of an incapacitated person. Judge Bench told FOX 4 Adult Protective Services represented that Taylor was qualified to serve.

“That should be a concern to the legislature,” said Terry Hammond, Executive Director of the National Guardianship Association.

Hammond says guardians are making life and death decisions and managing entire estates.

As of September 2007, Texas requires certification to ensure guardians have the proper credentials, have passed criminal background checks and a test. Hammond is troubled Taylor is now applying for certification.

“It provides a precedent for others to follow that you really don’t have to be certified until someone calls you down on it and that is not the intent of the legislation,” Hammond said.

Other guardians, who went through the process, are outraged.

“Come on down and take the test and if you pass the test, everything is hunky dory,” said Harold Willis, who is a certified guardian in Texas.

“That is wrong and it shouldn’t exist,” Willis continued.

FOX 4 tried to talk to the director of the Texas Certification Board, Leslie Ondrechen.

She said she did not feel comfortable talking on camera.

Months before Michael Taylor was appointed guardian, the state’s own guardians were managing the Kidd’s affairs. Bills went unpaid during that time and the house was neglected.

Tim McGinnis heads up the guardianship program for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability or DADS. He also had nothing to say to FOX 4. He referred us to the DAD’s press office.

No one wants to talk about why the Kidd’s were left in this financial mess.

Trying to reverse the damage has been more difficult than anyone expected. Hammonds says that is exactly why a guardianship should be a last resort.

“We do not want the courts coming in and using a hatchet to adjudicate people’s rights when they should be using a scalpel,” Hammonds said.

Collin County Judge Weldon Copeland says sometimes the court believes someone is certified when they are not and admits the court should have double checked Taylor’s background. Judge Andrew Bench promises he will check for any other cases Michael Taylor has handled in Hunt County.