‘A predator of the worst kind': The real-life fraudster that inspired Marla Grayson of ‘I Care A Lot’
The film I Care A Lot—one of the top movies in Netflix Philippines since it started streaming on Friday, Feb. 19— tackles a very frightening premise: the elderly losing their civil rights legally under the premise of guardianship.
In the movie, Rosamund Pike plays Marla Grayson, a seemingly kind and saintly woman who runs a business as a guardian in the United States appointed by the court for the elderly people who may no longer have the physical or mentally capacity to care for themselves.
But in reality, Marla is a fraudster who uses legal guardianship to exploit the elder. She targets elders who live alone, fakes medical documents that claim they can no longer manage care for themselves (with the help of accomplices in clinics and health care facilities), and takes the case to court, where the judge appoints her as the elders’ legal guardian.
Once the elder has become her wards, Marla has the legal right to control every aspect of their life—where they live (they are placed in assisted living facilities), what food and medicine they take, who they talk to (she can cut her wards’ contact to friends and family), and how they spend their money (Marla pays herself as her wards’ legal guardians using their money, hence the scam).
The idea of losing nearly all your civil rights just because you were targeted by a conman, having no power to contest a decision made for you by the court, is a terrifying idea.
It also happens in real life.
In essence, legal guardianship is a system in the United States that’s put in place so the court can appoint care to someone who may not be able to support himself anymore.
But because a legal guardian has the authority to make decisions and care for the personal, property, and financial interests of their wards, it is a system that has been exploited.
In an interview with Collider, I Care A Lot director J Blakeson, who also wrote the film’s script, said that the inspiration for the movie—particularly his character Marla—came from similar events that have happened in real life.
The true-life stories of it are really quite harrowing and horrifying so unfortunately, yeah, it does happen.
"In Marla’s approach, a lot of it happens, unfortunately. It’s true to life in the fact that there are lots of these predatory guardians who do prey on vulnerable and elderly people, and sort of entrap them in these guardianships and basically sort of strip their life apart," Blakeson said.
He added, “The true-life stories of it are really quite harrowing and horrifying so unfortunately, yeah, it does happen.”
So while the specific story of the film itself didn’t happen in real life (in I Care A Lot, Marla meets her match when she picks the mother of a mafia leader as her elderly ward), its premise is based on facts.
Cases of exploiting elder legal guardianship have been reported in the US media. But perhaps the most popular piece of reportage about it is the 2017 New Yorker essay ”How The Elderly Loses Their Rights” written by Rachel Aviv.
The New Yorker story follows April Parks, a legal guardian similar to I Care A Lot’s Marla Grayson. Parks owned the company A Private Professional that managed over 400 wards via means not unlike her fictional counterpart's—fake medical documents, a network of medical staff and social workers who gave her the leads for her next target, and court hearings that would last from just two to 10 minutes.
She preyed on Rudy and Rennie North, a married couple living in Las Vegas. Parks managed to become the couple’s legal guardians after presenting falsified documents to the court that said Rudy was no longer capable of taking care of his wife Rennie as “his dementia is progressing.” In truth, Rudy was never diagnosed with dementia, nor did he or Rennie undergo cognitive assessment.
Parks then sold the Norths’ belongings—including their house—and transferred their savings to her personal account, despite the protest and legal appeal of their daughter Julie Belshe. As in the movie, Parks’ rationale for selling the properties of her wards was so she would have the money to take care of them. But as a guardian, she also has the right to earn from the sale of the properties via commission. A court-appointed guardian’s service is paid for by the ward. A guardian can also charge, upon her discretion, for visits, consultations, and conversations with her wards and their relatives. The New Yorker essay noted that Parks charged the Norths for conversations, the price of which ranged from $20 to $180.
The Norths were later moved to a cheaper assisted living home; Julie suspected Parks thought her parents were wealthier than they really were. Parks was suspended by the court as the North's legal guardian after Julie exposed her parents' story with the local Las Vegas media.
In 2018, Parks pled guilty to six felony charges, including two counts of elder exploitation, following the publication of the New Yorker expose. Parks was sent to prison for 16 to 40 years.
“There are some evil people in this world. And April Parks is a predator of the worst kind,” one of her victims said during the court hearing.
Said another, “The choices she made were out of greed, not because she didn’t understand the ethical obligations of being a guardian.”
Banner photo from Netflix