John Hartman said he was a 23-year-old janitor with no legal, medical, or psychological training when he was hired as a professional guardian in 1976. He found a system with practically no oversight.
A decade later, Hartman testified before a U.S. Congress committee in a hearing titled “Abuses in Guardianship of the Elderly and Infirm: A National Disgrace.” Hartman, a tavern janitor-turned-guardian and convicted thief, testified that the probate court’s guardianship system almost encouraged abuse.
