Granny-knapping: One Iowa family fights to free their mother from a predatory guardianship

Dees Illustration

Marti Oakley, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

This story recounted below,  is being repeated across the country in every state of the union as predatory guardians, with the aid of banks, attorneys and corrupt courts and police departments,  prey on the elderly.  Using the aid of the courts, and numerous violations of due process, civil rights and violating many laws, the elderly are being virtually kidnapped from their homes, isolated from family and friends and declared incompetent.  Once this process is set in motion with the sanction of the courts, the theft of the estate begins.  Everybody gets a piece of the pie while the victim….now held prisoner in a participating nursing home or other facility, is drugged, isolated and held against their will. 
 
Think this can’t happen in America?  We got laws, right?  Yes we do, but the courts have decided they can make their own and are not obliged to honor those pesky laws or the rights of the people victimized by them.
This is one Iowa family’s short history of the kidnapping and imprisonment of their mother as “the Team”, comprised of bankers, attorneys and a predatory guardian attempt to seize and liquidate the assets of the woman they now hold hostage.

Dorothy Driesen, a 90-year-old widowed Mother, has had her estate taken  away from her by court decree and forced to reside at a nursing home that has had multiple felony accounts charged against it in 2003.

The judge took our Mother into his chamber, asked her a few questions and then declared her incompetent, fired her son as Trustee,  appointed a bank to be her new Trustee and set a court appointed guardian over her.  All of this happened within one days time upon the filing of court documents by the wannabe guardian and friend of the court.

After this drastic and unbelievable event in the local district court, the two sons of our Mother have been falsely accused of various things and incarcerated on three separate occasions.  To add insult to injury, the two sons of our Mother and their families have not been able to visit their Mother since August of 2008.

The last call that was made from our Mother during New Years weekend in 2009 was a call of desperation in which our Mother claimed her life was in danger and she pleaded with us to get her out of this nursing facility.  That is the last time that the family of our Mother has heard her voice.  Mail that the family tries to send our Mother is received by the guardian and does not seem to reach our Mother.

Shortly after our Mother was incarcerated in this nursing home after the disastrous court decision, the family would attempt to visit our Mother and shortly after we would arrive, either the guardian would show up standing in the door way and demand that we leave or the town police officer would show up and demand the same.

This case has been heard at the county/district level starting in early 2008 and appealed to the state Supreme Court. The original trustee lost the first court battle as the Trust attorney did not preserve error relative to the long standing Irrevocable amendment of the Trust. The predators and bank, thinking they had victory, filed for more perceived damages from the original trustee, Jay Driesen who is Dorothy’s son in his neighboring, Lyon County.

Unable to find an attorney to represent himself or stand in the way of the bank and its “team”, Jay decided to fight back and save his incarcerated Mother and her Irrevocable Trust. For over one year, the predators and bank have attempted to gain their loot and then to shut the case down by way of motion. The bank has been unsuccessful and the case is scheduled for a jury trial the 14th of October. Jay’s goal is to reinstate the Irrevocable Trust and to secure his incarcerated Mother. Mother Driesen has had all of her visitation rights with her family taken away since the bank took over.

Update:  9/15/10:

  The Lyon County Clerk is listing the case as closed.  This ruling means a denial of our previously scheduled jury trial.  We are filing last minute items for preservation and to amend the ruling.  And then on to the Iowa Supreme Court appeal.  The appeal has been filed.  Numerous errors and illegalities, from the county case, are being brought to light in the appeal.

Update:  01/04/11 

The predators have filed again in the Sioux County, IA Court using a past customer of Jay’s business.  The “team”, as they are known, is now attempting to lay claims of a fraudulent transfer of land Jay made to his brother, Merlyn, three and one half years ago.  The bank, who is now trustee of Mother Driesen’s Irrevocable Trust is seeking to use the past customer in gaining access to Merlyn’s farm land as the bank/trustee has a judgment against Jay from the Lyon Co case which is currently under appeal.  It has come to light that old Judgment Dockets, against Jay’s former business, have fraudulently been changed in the caption to include Jay rather than only the former business of Jay as set in the original judgment ruling against Jay’s former company by the South Dakota Court.

Marti Oakley is a political activist and former op-ed columnist for the St Cloud Times in Minnesota. She was a member of the Times Writer’s Group until she resigned in September of 07. She is neither Democrat nor Republican, since neither party is representative of the American people. She says what she thinks, means what she says, and is known for being outspoken. She is hopeful that the American public will wake up to what is happening to our beloved country . . . little of it is left.  Her website is The PPJ Gazette 

Recently by Marti Oakley:
“No one is bound to obey an unconstitutional law and no courts are bound to enforce it.”

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3 Comments on "Granny-knapping: One Iowa family fights to free their mother from a predatory guardianship"

  1. If you desire to make a false charge such as this, please submit the material fact and evidence. The fact is the daughter guardian, has abused her Mother and isolated her from family and others for over 8 years.

  2. A corrupt court, following new laws in Iowa, finally put an end to this in May, 2015

  3. Hello folks,
    Jay Driesen here, son of Dorothy Driesen. My 98 yr old Mother passed away last evening after 10 + long years of isolation and guardian abuse. I was able to help pass guardian visitation laws in IA in 2015. I took those laws and went to court in a hard fought battle and did gain the right to visit my Mother now for over 1 1/2 yrs. I took my laptop along to play her favorite hymns, look at pictures of old time and more. Those are memories I cannot forget. Now the guardian does not have a “ward” anymore. Feel free to contact me for additional information. Jay

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