A matter of convenience

Man's competency status fluctuated to accommodate system

Lou Kilzer and Sue Lindsay, News Staff Writer

Published April 14, 2001 at midnight

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William Susman was considered incompetent, then competent, then incompetent again, all in the span of a few days.

His status fluctuated to meet the needs of a system that required his approval to cut off life support to his dying sister.

In 1996, William was 86, suffering from Parkinson's disease and living in a nursing home.

His 75-year-old sister, Frances, saw to most of his needs and took care of his bills. Then, on Sept. 26, she fell seriously ill and several weeks later was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, related to the fatal "mad cow" disease.

A family friend petitioned Denver Probate Court on Oct. 18, 1996, to appoint a guardian and conservator for the Susmans, who jointly held an estate worth about $285,000.

Dr. Robert McCartney supported the petition in an Oct. 30 letter to the court saying he had been treating William for a month for senile dementia and that he was not competent to make "informed decisions regarding his possessions and his person."

But before a judge could rule, doctors concluded that Frances faced certain death. A decision had to be made on whether to try to keep her alive.

On Nov. 9, McCartney said William was competent to make an informed decision about life support for his sister.

Court visitor Layne Quirling came to the same conclusion.

William needed help managing his finances and "is physically unable to care for himself," Quirling said. "But he is mentally alert enough to know his own mind in regards to his sister's care."

William was adamant that he and his sister wanted no heroics to prolong their lives. Based on that, Frances' feeding tube was capped, and she died Nov. 13.

But the petition to make William a ward of the court proceeded and went before probate Magistrate Sandra Franklin. On Dec. 10, William was found incompetent and professional fiduciary Gordon Wolfe was appointed temporary conservator and co-guardian of William's estate with his niece, who lived in Florence.

William's shifting status raised red flags for attorney Linda Smoke, who served briefly as a guardian ad litem for Frances Susman during her fatal illness.

"I thought Mr. Susman needed an attorney to represent him," Smoke said. "Since he had been found competent to make medical treatment decisions on behalf of his sister, there was a question whether he really needed a guardian and conservator for himself. Those two findings seemed inconsistent."

Smoke told the court she didn't think William needed such a restrictive arrangement.

The guardianship proceedings were ordered terminated on Dec. 18 after Smoke arranged for William's niece and a friend from his church to have powers of attorney for handling his affairs when necessary -- at a fraction of the cost of a professional guardian or conservator.

"There was no reason to pay an organization large amounts of money to do things for him," said his niece, Darlene Margleman. "With the power of attorney, I was able to pay his bills and do everything he requested, which I was so happy to be able to do."

Since she lived in Florence, a friend from the Susmans' church assisted William in Denver. The arrangement continued until his death in 1998.

Smoke is convinced that without her intervention William would have joined the ranks of those paying thousands of dollars a year to have their lives overseen by professionals appointed by probate court.

"It would have gone through," she said, "if the court had not appointed representation for him."

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