A Lawyer Works for No Charge

My sister and I unsuccessfully tried to get a guardianship for our mother Beverly.  She did end up with a Harvard lawyer with power-of-attorney that refuses all our requests and suggestions.

We get quarterly statements from our mother’s lawyer, Ladd Leavins, with her checking and Morgan Stanley accounts.  Mr. Leavins eliminated copies of the checks from the last round of statements after we made an issue of our mother having been taken for $1500 by an employee of the Sunrise retirement facility.  Even with reduced information, there are gaping holes in the quality of service he is providing our mother.

My sister works as a contract programmer on business databases.  She has an MBA and is a CPA.  She was the intellectual and moral lead on our efforts to safeguard our mother’s health and investments.  Her is her most recent email to Mr. Leavins:

Hi Ladd,

I previously asked you to have Beverly’s funds put in a no-load S&P index fund. You refused to do so. Instead, you and Robert Zorich decided that Mr Zorich should actively manage the account and take aout 2% in commissions.

I informed you that Mr Zorich would not be able to out-perform the market. You ignored this.

So had did Mr Zorich do in 2013 with Beverly’s money? Morgan Stanley commissions were $13,508.21. To my surprise, there was a positive return of $34,661.23 or 5.17%.

The S&P 500 had its best year in 16 years with a return of 32.39%. Had Beverly’s funds been invested in a fund with a 1% expense ratio, she would have seen a return of $199,395.20. I checked on several major no-load S&P funds and their return rates for 2013 were just over 32%.

Beverly would have earned $164,733.97  more had you done as I asked. I have attached the detailed information.

You make a big deal out of working for Beverly for free. Beverly did not pay you in 2013, but you and Mr Zorich cost her about $165K. And due to the compounding rate of return in investments, the cost would increase as years go by, because she can’t earn money on the $165K.

This is disgraceful. Shame on you Ladd for costing an elderly woman with dementia $165K. How would you feel if it were your mother?

I am grateful for my sister’s continued advocacy for our mother’s financial interests.  Mr. Leavins is 65 years old.  Hopefully he will retire soon and stop providing our mother with free legal advice costing her hundreds of thousands of dollars.