My husband’s sister used a Power of Attorney (POA) to take control over his personal and financial matters while he was hospitalized at the VA. After obtaining a copy of the POA, I hired a certified document examiner to review it. The examiner determined that the POA was invalid for multiple reasons and was willing to testify in court.
During the guardianship proceedings for my husband, who has dementia, the judge dismissed the document examiner without allowing her to testify and turned off her Zoom camera. The judge also accused me of committing fraud on my husband’s bank account because I transferred funds from his account to mine. However, according to my husband’s bank, no fraud occurred, as my husband had previously given the bank permission to speak with me about his account on multiple occasions.
Additionally, the judge disregarded information that my husband’s sister has multiple property judgments against her and has filed for bankruptcy. Despite this, the judge appointed her as my husband’s guardian and conservator instead of me, his wife. The judge also issued a “no contact” order, preventing me from seeing or speaking with my husband. In court the judge said, "I will never bring this couple back together again."
I have filed an appeal, but I understand that the process can take a long time. In the meantime, I would like to know what steps I can take to request a new judge or challenge what appear to be biased rulings.
I'm guessing you went to this hearing without representation and got your butt kicked. And now you want to do it again. Just because you don't like a ruling doesn't mean it's biased. It's like when people have buyer's remorse after an ill-advised or unresearched purchase and they call it a scam. No, it's called a consequence of the choice.
Also, we are only getting your side of the story. If your SIL could comment, what reason would she give for fighting you over the guardianship? Judges *hate* when there is family infighting. You are lucky that judge didn't decide to assign a court-appointed third party guardian for your husband instead.
Please hire an attorney to at least see what your chances are for a successful appeal, or at least spring for an AI subscription where you can ask it questions all day long and will get more accurate advice than here.