Mr. McGrath had come to my attention because of news articles in the Orange County Register about his late Judge Betty Lou Lemoreaux. Judge Lamoreaux, who passed away at the age of 88 in the fall of 2018, had been diagnosed with dementia. After it was affirmed by a physician and an Orange County probate investigator that Judge Lamoreaux was very impaired and could not make decisions for herself, her “court appointed attorney” had her sign a Petition for Appointment of Probate Conservator. Judge Lamoreaux was given these documents to sign warning and, according to the Court Appointed Attorneys’ billing records, without being asked whether this was a step that she wanted to take. The Court Appointed Attorney even had the audacity to have her sign a statement that she trusted him. It is more likely that she couldn’t even remember his name and therefore, she could not have possibly understood the import and significance of the document that she was told to sign. When her family members rightfully protested, it led to attorneys’ fees and court costs exceeding half a million dollars. This should have never have happened, but the unholy trio of incompetence, cronyism and misogny aligned to devastate a wonderful family who deeply loved a Betty.
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