In May of 2017, Jan Garwood was driving home from a meeting in the suburbs of Orlando, Florida, when she got her ended.

She was driving home and she had just a fender bender with someone on the road.

That's Hillary Hold. She's a guardianship reform advocate who worked on Jan's case.

Jan was 67 years old, a retired hairdresser and real estate agent who had been having a tough few months.

Jan had three sons and one of them died of a terrible disease and like any mother she went into a deep depression.

Jan was still struggling with the grief of losing a child but knew she needed to get back into the world.

And now, her car was totaled. She needed a new one.

Jan had the money to afford a new car. Only it was in the trust that her late uncle had set up on her behalf.

She asked the trust company for permission to withdraw the money she needed and expected life to return to normal.

Well, whatever the new normal was for her.

But even as Jan got back on her feet, some of the people in her life were worried.

Nobody knows who for sure, but we do know that somebody called in a professional guardian to assess the situation.

The guardian's name was Rebecca Fierle.

So Rebecca Fierle filed a petition alleging that Jan was incapacitated, aka that Jan was no longer of sound mind.

And back in 2017, a professional guardian in Florida could file a petition like this for anyone.

Rebecca Fierle's petition laid out a very different version of Jan than how she saw herself.

It claimed that she had a seizure disorder, poor judgment, and was a vulnerable at-risk senior who's a victim of potential financial exploitation.

Rebecca Fierle filed a petition to determine incapacity stating that Jan could not handle her financial affairs, her day to day routine,

and that there were absolutely no alternatives to guardianship and that one had to be appointed to basically step into Jan's shoes and become Jan Garwood.

If there's no one in the family able or willing to take on the role, the court will appoint a professional.

Someone meant to act in the person's best interest, which is a huge deal when you think about it.

Somebody making decisions for someone else, the court doesn't take it lightly.

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