Got My Answer – Justice IS Possible in Florida!

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Leslie Sigal Javorek | 4 Comments

Posted by: Leslie Sigal Javorek • Date: Thurs. July 15, 2010 6:356 pm

For those of you who’ve been following my blog and my long, long wait for a ruling from the court, I can now say that the light at the end of the tunnel is finally in view! Yesterday, the Florida 4DCA finally posted their opinion on my case. The good news is that they denied my adversary’s appeal of the trial court’s order from 2008. The great news is that they granted my appeal, remanded the question about “how much” my adversary must pay me for attorneys fees and costs, and also paved the way for the Trial Court to be able to consider the question of breach of contract, damages and unjust enrichment. So while it’s not completely over yet, as my son said,

“It’s the beginning of the end.”

The opinion will not be considered “final” (or as they call it in Florida, a “Mandate” for 15 days in order to give the parties an opportunity to request either clarification or reconsideration. But for those of you who are interested, you can download the Court’s opinion in .pdf form here: Carlin v. Javorek. The opinion only addresses the issues that were addressed in the order on appeal so it’s not really very informative as far as what I consider to be the “real” issues which brought about this case in the first place. But that’s okay because, as I said above, they not only did not slam the door shut on those issues, they left it wide open with a sign above it saying “Enter”.

Because of the nature of the case where certain issues remain to be resolved, I do not want to unfairly influence either the court, potential jurors, nor be in a position where I could actually be held liable for slander or libel (vs. unreasonably be accused of it) despite the fact that the truth is always a strong defense against such charges. So I hope y’all will understand if I don’t respond to any question for more details on those unresolved issues at this time.

I owe a huge hug and Thanks to my appellate attorney, Robin Bresky, without who’s understanding of what was really at stake in this case, hard work in researching the law and fussing over the wording to get it just right, and kind patience and understanding for what I have been personally going through. I could not have gotten through this without her and heartily recommend her services to anyone and everyone!

And, Thanks to all of you who have so kindly supported me and taken so much time out of your own lives to write me (on and off the blog) and/or call me. You are truly appreciated and I am blessed to have such friends as you.

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Is Justice Anathema To Florida Probate?

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Leslie Sigal Javorek | 1 Comment

Posted by: Leslie Sigal Javorek • Date: Tues. July 13, 2010 8:40 pm

Waiting as long as I have to get a final resolution to the issues raised in my legal action against the Personal Representative to my mother’s estate has been absolute hell. I’ve yet to have the opportunity to even go through the grieving process despite the fact Mom passed away way back on March 14, 1998! It has been impossible for me to fully engage that process because of the continuing litigation, uncertainty of it’s eventual outcome, and the promise I made to my mother, hundreds of times since I was a small child upon her request, that I would ensure she be allowed to die with dignity and that her last wishes for the disposition of her assets be honored. Mom was obsessive about this concern, believed she could count on me to live up to my promises, and relied on that. I felt honored by her trust and certainly did not want to let her down by forgetting my promise much less betraying it, but despite my best efforts, I have largely failed in protecting her intent.

The cause of my failure has been partially due to my initial ignorance of Florida law and my rights under it while Mom was still alive but under a Guardianship (administered by the same individual later named as the Personal Representative) and which persisted during the first few years of probate administration until I finally was in a position to thoroughly educate myself on the applicable law. Additionally, my failure has been due in part as a result of my inability to actively participate in any of the court hearings or mediation because of my medical situation; in part as a result of the probate court’s inefficiency and inexplicable reluctance to enforce their own rules and orders; and last but certainly not least, I have been unsuccessful in my efforts to ensure Mom’s last wishes were honored because the Personal Representative has had her own personal agenda, in conflict with both Mom’s wishes (as expressed under her properly executed Will, Trusts, and Living Will) and with her legal and fiduciary duty.

There are certain aspects of my promise that I will never be able to make good on and a significant portion of the harm caused by the Personal Representative’s misconduct that can never be undone, no matter how the Appellate Court rules, simply due to the years of delay. Regardless, I am looking forward to that day when the Florida 4DCA finally issues its’ opinion, as I will consider any finding and remedy in my favor on the merits of my claims to be a vindication of my character, intent, and the appropriateness in bringing the original action to have the Personal Representative removed and in seeking to enforce the subsequent settlement. Of course, I am also praying that the Court will fully recognize the manifest injustice that will result if the Personal Representative were permitted to retain all of the benefits of the settlement, despite having breached it so completely, as well as recognize the likelihood of continuing misconduct on the part of the Personal Representative and additional harm to me, if the case were to be remanded to the Trial Court.

Given the fact the Court has been reviewing the record since November 2009 and actively deliberating since March 2010, certainly suggests that they viewed my claims to be significant enough to merit investigating them and found adequate support in the record and the law to merit serious consideration. What their ultimate conclusion will be remains unknown. As it is yet again another Tuesday evening, I am hoping that tomorrow will be the day their opinion gets released.

GLOSSARY:

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The following images are either full or reduced size previews. Simply right-click (or control-click) on the preview to save the image(s) of your choice to your desktop. (Unless otherwise noted, downloads are 512px X 512px in .png format). As always, usage of any of the images offered on this blog are free for your personal use while subject to the limitations of my Creative Commons Non-Commercial – Attribution – No Derivatives – Share Alike- 3.0 license. (See sidebar for details)

The Bronze Killer and Me (+Patriotic Desktop Pix)

Posted on July 3, 2010 by Leslie Sigal Javorek | 2 Comments

Posted by: Leslie Sigal Javorek • Date: Sat. July 03, 2010 5:05 am

Still trying to catch up to where I left off before my trip. Too much to do but my body and mind just refuse to cooperate for more than a half-hour at a time. I am truly thankful for the fact that I don’t suffer from the huge mood-swings or periods of sudden rage that often accompanies Hereditary Hemochromatosis, at the same time though, I’m really frustrated by the increasing inability to focus both my mind – and my eyes. It’s like I’ve suddenly developed ADHD at the age of 56 and someone keeps moving my monitor closer than farther away then closer then… Well, you get the idea. HFE is such an odd disease in that it can have so many manifestations and it seems that no two people have the exact same combination of symptoms and the mix changes constantly.

I’ve got great doctors – but none of them have HFE so they can’t really relate to what I’m going through, and I’ve been searching for other who have HFE to compare notes with. Through those searches, I came across a reference to the book “The Bronze Killer” by Marie Warder and on Amazon.com there were a ton of reviews of the book that were all just raving about how it’s considered the BEST book on the subject of HFE and more specifically, on the experience of the author’s husband and both children having it and how it’s affected all of them. Marie’s husband is like me in that he was not diagnosed until after he had already suffered permanent damage to his liver while her children were fortunately diagnosed before the disease had advanced that far. I ordered the book on Tuesday and received it Thursday. I used to read at least 1 book a day but those days are long gone and so I’m only on page 11. I’ll fill you in as I get farther along.

Completely off-subject but appropos for this weekend when those of us who are blessed to be Citizens of The United States celebrate our Independence Day on the 4th of July, I’ve created a few patriotic icons as well as a Desktop Picture (in 3 different screen sizes) for you. Enjoy!

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The following images are either full or reduced size previews. Simply right-click (or control-click) on the preview to save the image(s) of your choice to your desktop. (Unless otherwise noted, downloads are 512px X 512px in .png format). As always, usage of any of the images offered on this blog are free for your personal use while subject to the limitations of my Creative Commons Non-Commercial – Attribution – No Derivatives 3.0 license. (See sidebar for details)

Star Spangled 1600x1200