Hello, my name is Patricia Cody, AKA Lynn. I am the author of Oh My God, Lynn! that is currently on Amazon. I created this webpage, along with my autobiography to bring awareness to the atrocities of Elder Abuse under guardianship that is being ignored by legislators.
My sister Donna Nakhlé, and I did everything in our power to save our mother from the atrocities of elder abuse while she was under guardianship, that ultimately took her life. Guardianship guidelines and judicial conduct guidelines for Clerks of Court to follow actually contributed to her continued abuse with no accountability at the hands of her guardian and no follow-up by the Clerk of Court that issued the guardianship. The Department of Justice has stated more than once that guardianship is the vehicle to elder abuse without follow-up. My sister and I are alarmed that legislators are ignoring simple changes in the wording of their judicial conduct and guardianship guidelines that could prevent Elder Abuse from occurring. After our mother’s death my sister and I attended the General Assembly at the request of AARP to address concerns that once a ward of the court is turned over by the Clerk of Court to a guardian there is no follow-up by the Clerk of Court leaving the guardian exposed to abuse and or the extortion of their funds. Our pleas fell on deaf ears of the judicial system. Current procedures/guidelines are open ended and misused because of wording such as should meaning not mandatory.
We created an initiative called “PATSY’S LAW” named after our mother Patricia Croom Hague, AKA “Patsy” that would create change in the wording of procedures and judicial conduct guidelines, making it mandatory for the Clerk of Court that issued guardianship to follow to ensure the ward of the court’s safety and when malfeasance is reported the guardian must be immediately removed until (APS) Adult Protective services investigates.
We are asking for your help to show legislators that our mother is not an isolated problem. We have created a space on this webpage for you to tell your stories of guardianship atrocities, and why there is a need for change. Don’t forget there is power in numbers. By submitting your name, zip code and state, you are joining our cause to make immediate changes in guardianship procedures that need to become law and not a suggestion for the Clerks of Court to follow when issuing guardianship, letting legislators know that the dark side of elder abuse will not be tolerated. Your name, zip, code and state will be sent to legislators, Senators, US Senate Special Committee on Aging and the North Carolina General Assembly.
Our mother is not an isolated case. There are millions under guardianship that need immediate attention before they also become victims. This is an open forum so that my sister and I can hear your stories of guardianship abuse that can support our cause for change. We have provided a space for your stories, and they will be provided to legislatures to prove that guardianship abuse is not an isolated problem. It is happening right now to millions without being addressed.
Thank you,
Patricia Lynn Cody and Donna Nakhlé
The Patsy's Law Initiative
"The dead can't cry out for justice, it is the duty of the living to do that for them."
~ Lois McMasters Bujold
The atrocities our mother endured under the North Carolina guardianship that was approved by the Clerk of Court were horrifying. I hate to think how many others have experienced the same atrocities because of current guardianship procedures in North Carolina that lack clarity and are left open ended for clerks to interpret.
Guardianship is supposed to protect wards of the court, but under current procedures, it does the opposite, leaving open the door for abuse by legally appointed guardians. If guardianship procedures don’t have mandatory rules, they can and will create a dark side of guardianship.
Professional ethics are at the core of guardianship hearings. Wording in the judicial ethic guidelines for Clerks of Court does not provide clear guidance. Changing “can” and “should” terminology to mandatory will prevent Clerks of Court from interpreting judicial ethics guidelines and making arbitrary moral choices of good or bad and right or wrong.
Clearer guidelines and direction will also hold Clerks of Court accountable if they are violated.
Understanding Patsy's Law
The United States Department of Justice has stated more than once that guardianship is a vehicle to elder abuse, but it can also be a remedy to prevent it. This issue was first addressed to North Carolina state legislators in 2021, but there was no follow-up from lawmakers.
Under “Patsy’s Law,” as it is proposed, the following will occur:
1. It is mandatory that the Clerk of Court immediately contact Adult Protective Services (APS) verbally and then follow up with a written statement to APS concerning any allegation of malfeasance that is reported to the Clerk of Court within 24 hours of receiving the complaint of malfeasance. The Clerk of Court must immediately remove the guardian until the investigation by APS finds out whether or not the allegation was creditable. In the interim, the Clerk of Court is to appoint another guardian until the investigation by APS is completed.
If guardianship procedures would have had the mandatory wording and rules of “Patsy’s Law,” the following abuses endured by Patricia Croom Hague from the guardian that led to her questionable death would have been prevented:
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In bed two weeks with a broken hip.
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Starvation with a loss of 32 pounds in two weeks.
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Bruises from physical abuse.
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Bruises from being tied down by restraints.
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Removal of life saving medication.
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Isolation from family members.
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Burial without family members being notified.
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None of the above was ever referred to APS by the Clerk of Court.
2. Regarding exploitation of the wards funds, it is mandatory that the Clerk of Court refer any accusations of financial fraud to a certified public accountant (CPA) whether or not the clerk finds the accusation creditable.
A CPA will identify whether or not financial fraud of reported assets has occurred, by conducting interviews, collecting bankruptcy records, identifying fraud, following leads, and reconstructing economic damages. Funds to support a CPA audit would be paid out of the estate. Because they are not CPAs, Clerks of Court cannot produce this information without cost and time, while still maintaining public confidence in the integrity of the court system.
If guardianship procedures would have had the mandatory wording and rules of “Patsy’s Law,” a CPA would have been brought in when accusations of financial fraud and bankruptcy were presented to the clerk. Yet our mother’s long term care funds were hidden and not requested by the Clerk of Court even after assets, stocks, bonds, IRAs, and insurance were reported missing from the guardian’s accounting. Numerous requests to have the Clerk of Court list those assets were ignored. It is estimated that mother’s long term care funds were close to $500,000. This was money our father had left in his will for that purpose. The Clerk of Court was made aware verbally that our brother had filed for bankruptcy two years earlier, maxing out five credit cards without making one payment, but that was ignored by the clerk.
As a result, our mother was sent to a long-term Medicare facility that had been cited for numerous violations and deficiencies and had a two star rating. Our mother’s funds were intended to be used to place her in a highly rated facility, so she could live out the rest of her life like our father had planned, receiving proper care.
3. Pertaining to Code of Judicial Conduct Canon 3, recusal, current regulations have overreaching power as to when a Clerk of Court is to recuse themselves. Recusal regulations lack clear guidance that threaten the integrity and proper functioning of judiciary guidelines and create misconduct. Therefore, it is mandatory that the Clerk of Court recuse themselves if there is an accusation that the clerk is being biased or has had, or still has, personal knowledge of the facts of the guardianship or any familiarity with the applicant applying for guardianship.
Anything that puts into question the clerk’s actions, judgment, or decision making as biased threatens the judicial system, betrays public confidence, and plays a major role in elder abuse. If guardianship procedures would have had the mandatory wording and rules of “Patsy’s Law,” the following would have been addressed in our mother’s situation:
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The Clerk of Court worked with the applicant for guardianship on various occasions in his role as a jailer for the sheriff’s department.
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The Clerk of Court ignored video of a relative who was raped at age 17 by the applicant for guardianship, as well as dismissed as hearsay allegations of abuse from the applicant’s ex-wife that included death threats.
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The Clerk of Court ignored affidavits from every living relative of the applicant for guardianship who expressed concern about the harm the applicant could cause as a guardian. That guardian was convicted of first-degree murder years later and is serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole.
Get Involved
Contact Lawmakers Today!
I am asking you to address the issues presented in the Patsy's Law initiative that resulted from poorly monitored procedures that lack clarity and sufficient follow-up. Wards of the court are being placed in the wrong hands, putting them in extreme danger of abuse, potential violation of their civil rights, and possible death.
Meet Patsy
Patricia (“Patsy”) Croom Hague was an amazing mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, who left a lot of broken hearts behind after her death.
She was the center of our world growing up, and catered to her children and grandchildren with small gestures of love that meant the world to each of them. It was not uncommon for her to sneak the kids out of the house for some McDonald's french fries, little token unicorns for the girls, homemade Cabbage Patch Kids for the grandkids, and Matchbox cars for the boys.
She was mother, cook, nurse, and therapist to all the kids that came to our ranch for summer horseback riding camp. She attended to and was nurse maid to all the newborn animals and all the stray animals that were brought to the ranch by strangers that found them roaming the streets.
Her first son-in-law was one of her favorite kids visiting the ranch every day, every summer and even had such a good rapport with him, that he used to surprise her at any given moment with a bologna smack in the face, and then she would chase him to return the favor! She was a good sport and friend to all the kids and their parents. She was a caregiver her entire life.
She also worked jobs selling wedding dresses, worked as a nurse in a psychiatric hospital, and had numerous jobs to help support her husband and family. She loved crafting and sold items at flea markets and craft shows, painted oil and acrylic paintings as a hobby and loved to keep her hands busy. Our father and mother also loved to square dance and spent many years going to competitions.
She joined almost every volunteer opportunity that came her way from school positions in the classrooms and social clubs in the area to knitting a whopping 10,000 newborn caps for the local hospital. She was a Star in the Masonic lodge and volunteered in the church.
Our mother meant everything to us! We won’t stop fighting for her justice.
About Us
Most children love their parents and strive to not only respect and care for them in their senior years, but secure their safety and prevent any harm from being done to them. Unfortunately for us, protecting our parents was taken out of our control and placed entirely in the hands of a stranger, a Clerk of Court, whose decisions concerning our mother, who had Alzheimer's Disease, and the appointment of her guardian were detrimental to her health.
When our father, our mother’s caregiver, passed away, we knew we had to secure her future care. We immediately filed for her guardianship to protect her, just as our father had instructed in his will. However, she endured suffering and extreme abuse because the Clerk of Court chose to appoint our brother despite sworn affidavits from every living relative warning of the potential of harm he would cause if he were appointed as our mother’s guardian. The Clerk of Court chose our brother (who was also her friend, coworker, and constituent) over us because she had unilateral authority to rule as she deemed without any fear of consequences.
Therefore, we are pleading for change in the current guardianship laws that contributed to our mother’s horrific elder abuse. Her pain and anguish were preventable. We want lawmakers and other government authorities to rectify the inconsistencies that contributed to our mother’s extreme suffering. The three simple yet life altering requests detailed in the Patsy's Law initiative will prevent Clerks of Court from exercising their authority harmfully and secure consequences if they do. Patsy's Law will ensure the prevention of elder abuse that places the ward of the court at risk.
No one’s parent should be exposed to the terror and pain our mother experienced from the lack of proper procedures and inconsistent guidelines that would have protected her. Not only will Patsy’s Law give our mother's death respectful meaning, it will prevent others from experiencing her pain.
Patricia Lynn Cody's book, Oh My God, Lynn!, includes details of what happened to our mother and father, along with incredible stories from Lynn's life. Order Oh My God, Lynn! today.
Our Story
As summarized from the book, Oh My God, Lynn! Mom was still in the hospital when her guardianship hearing was held before the Iredell County Clerk of Court — a clerk who just happened to work in the same office as our brother, since he worked as a jailer for the Iredell County sheriff’s office. Our brother interacted regularly with the clerk when transporting prisoners. Had the Clerk of Court properly followed the procedures and policies outlined for guardianship hearings, she would have recused herself and referred it to another county since she knew our brother, the party applying for guardianship. She didn’t do that. We have several theories about why she didn’t recuse herself, but there was nothing we could do in a broken justice system where the Clerk of Court’s job description states that clerks are not held accountable for their decisions, falling under the same guidelines as a judge. All we could do was fight for our mothers’ protection. The hearing took place not in a courtroom, but inside the Clerk of Court’s private office. It was just three weeks after dad had passed away—and it was heartbreaking. We quickly found ourselves fighting a losing battle as our pleas for our mom’s guardianship fell on deaf ears and the law was manipulated at the expense of mother’s life. We provided certified affidavits, documents, verbal statements, and video to the Clerk of Court. Most of the time, our attorney spoke on our behalf as he presented our evidence in favor of gaining guardianship of our mother. Yet the Clerk of Court never got up from her desk to take or examine any of it. She never mentioned the affidavits being there at all. That was deliberate. We were convinced our five points of evidence were overwhelming. 1. Every living relative on both sides of the family submitted notarized, certified affidavits saying our brother should not be made a guardian of our mother because of his anger issues. 2. My daughter provided a notarized certified affidavit and a tearful video documenting how our brother had drugged and raped her, along with her girlfriend, when they were minors. 3. Our brother's ex-wife shared a powerful, four-page notarized certified affidavit about numerous beatings that she endured at the hands of our brother while she was married to him. 4. We provided documentation from the bankruptcy court proving that our brother had filed bankruptcy in North Carolina just two-and-a-half years earlier. It included clear evidence that our brother was hiding money to use after the bankruptcy. Being financially responsible was one of the four criteria required to be a guardian. 5. Finally, our bo perjured himself numerous times in the hearing. After less than two hours, the hearing came to a close—and the Iredell County Clerk of Court gave her ruling immediately. It was short and shocking. “I am going to give your brother a chance. I am making your brother your mother’s guardian.” We could only look at each other in paralyzing fear as our attorney buried his head in his hands, then quickly bolted out of the courtroom, insisting he had another client waiting for him in his office.
Contact Us
If you would like to contact us and share your personal story as we demand a change to the current guardianship laws, we'd love to hear from you!