95 Year Old WW 2 Hero Liberated From Exploiter/Guardian Jared Shafer, Celebrates New Year with Family

By Steve Miller

LAS VEGAS - On September 23, 2010, WW 2 hero Guadalupe Olvera, then 91, ordered his daughter Becky and son-in-law, Bob Schultz, to rescue him from the quasi-legal guardianship of Las Vegas for-hire "guardian" Jared E. Shafer of Professional Fiduciary Services of Nevada, Inc.  (PFSN).

Lured by promises made in glossy brochures sent to them by Del Webb Corporation, Guadalupe and his late wife, Carmela, moved to Sun City Anthem several years before her death, leaving family and friends behind in California.

Several years passed, and Carmela died. Days after Carmela's passing, it was discovered that the Olveras were wealthy. Appointed Clark County Guardianship Commissioner Jon Norheim was notified, and Guadalupe was immediately made a ward of the court and assigned PFSN guardians Jared Shafer and Patience Bristol (Bristol is now in Nevada State Prison for elder exploitation.)

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His family, who lived out of state, were told the guardianship would be temporary, and last just long enough to settle Carmela's financial affairs. Years passed, and the guardianship continued - draining Mr. Olvera's trust to pay for excessive PFSN fees at up to $425.00 per hour for Jared Shafer's guardian "services."

Pleading in open court to be allowed to move back to Santa Cruz, California to spend his final years with his loving family, Commissioner Norheim complied with only the wishes of Shafer who had by then converted over $300,000.00 of Olvera's savings for his own use. Olvera was denied his plea to move back with his family after Shafer referred to Olvera's daughter and son-in-law as "unfit," and "exploiters."

Olvera went into action, and within days of his move from Nevada, Clark County Family Court Judge Charles Hoskin - who appointed Norheim - issued a warrant for Becky Schultz' arrest. 

Then, using funds he withdrew from Olvera's Las Vegas Wells Fargo Bank Trust account without Olvera's consent, Jared Shafer paid his over priced attorneys in Las Vegas to fight to have Olvera returned against his will to Nevada to be placed into a rest home of Shafer's choice. 

Olvera went to court in California, and a Superior Court Judge there ruled that he was competent to handle his own affairs, and removed Shafer as his guardian. With Shafer ousted and his civil rights fully restored, Mr. Olvera lives happily and healthfully for over four years in the home of his only living child, Becky, while enjoying his granddaughter and great granddaughter and yearly honors bestowed on him by chapters of the Santa Cruz County VFW and other veterans groups as Santa Cruz County's oldest living veteran.

Like an old soldier who won't go down without a fight, Olvera has also filed a federal law suit against Shafer to try to recover his converted assets.

Had Guadalupe Olvera not been liberated from Shafer's exploitation, he would most likely have lost his half million dollar home in Sun City Anthem, what was left of his savings, and his life expectancy would probably have been less than six months while confined to a substandard rest home hundreds of miles away from his family and friends. 

At the next Nevada Legislature, a bill will be presented to limit the unfettered power of court appointed guardians over the persons and fortunes of wealthy retirees who have the misfortune of losing a spouse while living in Southern Nevada away from family members. The law will allow relatives who live outside Nevada to, for the first time, become the guardians and fiduciaries for their loved ones living in our state. 

Up until "Shafer's Law" is repealed, no one living outside Nevada can manage the assets of a parent or relative who is deemed a ward of the court after the loss of a spouse, opening the way for unscrupulous private guardians and guardianship commissioners to bilk the senior's fortune while out of state relatives helplessly watch this occur under color of Nevada law.

Steve Miller