Judge’s wife accused of taking fees before court OKs them
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Cover photo: Professional guardian Elizabeth Savitt, married to Judge Martin Colin, says complaints from families of double billing and sending disputes to court to run up fees are ‘frivolous’ and ‘baseless.’ (Madeline Gray / The Palm Beach Post)
Elizabeth "Betsy" Savitt, a tennis pro turned professional guardian for incapacitated senior citizens, profits from her marriage to a sitting judge, a Palm Beach Post investigation has uncovered.
As the wife of Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Martin Colin, Savitt wields power in her husband’s Probate & Guardianship Division, where guardians are appointed to take over the lives of seniors no longer able to care for themselves. Fees for guardians and their attorneys are paid from the assets of their elderly wards and approved by the court.
In several cases, Savitt has taken tens of thousands of dollars from their accounts without prior court permission, The Post found in court documents.
The chief auditor for Palm Beach County's clerk and comptroller says that in about 800 guardianship cases he's reviewed, only one guardian has taken money without first getting court approval: Judge Colin's wife.
Some of the seniors’ family members express frustration with what they say are unnecessary legal disputes pursued by Savitt that drive up fees for her and her lawyers, depleting their loved one’s assets. In addition, they say Savitt funneled cash and assets to family members accused of financially, or in one case, even physically abusing the senior she is sworn to protect, court documents show.
In December 2014, Savitt held a “mini estate sale” advertised on Craigslist at Judge Colin’s address. “Cleaned out a home and selling all I could find,” the ad said. A lawyer said in court that he was concerned the items belonged to one of the seniors.
In another case, court records show Savitt, working for a family guardian, seized items inside a home and helped load them onto a moving truck. A lot of the items, however, belonged to the homeowner and not the senior. Sheriff’s deputies and a judge made Savitt and her attorney return the items.
Savitt doesn’t appear in front of her husband. She does appear in front of his colleagues.
Judge Martin Colin, a fixture at the south county courthouse, was admonished by an appeals court in 2007 for conflicts involving Savitt after he represented her in her divorce. (Madeline Gray / The Palm Beach Post)
Savitt claimed in an email exchange that her detractors are “disgruntled.”
Besides how she takes retainers and fees, families take umbrage with other actions of Savitt.
The judge’s wife double-billed seniors’ accounts. In one case, she paid back the money after a family member spotted it, court records show. Another instance, cited by the clerk, is part of an ongoing investigation.
Savitt even pursues seniors’ money after their deaths, taking $30,000 in one probate case without court approval and with no apparent justification other than it was to be “held in trust.” The court required her to give most of it back.
Families say they have depleted their own savings fighting her, to no avail.
Judge David French once planned a vacation with Colin and Savitt but Colin couldn’t get a passport at the last minute. (Damon Higgins/The Palm Beach Post)
“Colin and Savitt are a particularly good example and a very illuminating one of the conflicts of interest that exist within the guardianship system and how these conflicts lead to a miscarriage of justice and unspeakable amounts of pain, loss and frustration on behalf of families,” said Dr. Sam Sugar, co-founder of Americans Against Abusive Probate Guardianship, the force behind guardianship reform last year in the Florida Legislature.
Several families separately told The Post that Savitt openly cites her husband’s powerful position.
When James Vassallo, whose father Albert Vassallo Sr. is incapacitated, asked Savitt to provide receipts for expenditures he questioned, she told him to mind his own business.
“She told me, ‘In the real world, it doesn’t work that way, but I can get away with it because I’m married to a judge.’”
Savitt declined to address specific documents submitted to the court accusing her of wrongdoing in various cases.
Instead, in an email, Savitt noted that judges always approved her fees, even if she took the money beforehand. She denied selling wards’ possessions out of the judge’s home and said she did nothing wrong in withdrawing the $30,000 from one senior’s accounts.
She called such numerous concerns by families of the seniors in her guardianships “frivolous” and “baseless.”
“To the best of my knowledge, I have not been found by a court after a hearing to violate in any material way an order of the court or a rule that I was to follow,” Savitt wrote.
Savitt also accused The Post of searching for “something negative to write” and that the newspaper was not interested in reporting about her “good work.”
“It is obvious to all who are aware of what you desire to do that you do not intend to be fair, accurate and balanced,” Savitt wrote.
Savitt’s husband presided over cases involving her attorneys for years before The Post began questioning the practice. After that, between July 1 and the end of 2015, he had recused himself from 115 cases involving his wife’s lawyers.
Colin, as well as most of Savitt’s attorneys, also spoke to The Post but were limited in what they could say on the record.
High cost of family discord: Fees blossom in court
During a hearing before Judge David French, James Vassallo represents himself in a case centering around the guardianship of his father. (Damon Higgins/The Palm Beach Post)
Families who spoke to The Post say Savitt exploits those rifts to pursue litigation that drives up her fees. Savitt’s attorneys, though, say it’s the family rancor that necessitates costly actions in guardianships, such as removing a sibling from a trust of a senior.
“I don’t know if they seek out cases where there is family dysfunction, but they certainly take advantage of it,” said Bruce Rosenwater, a West Palm Beach attorney who sought to remove Savitt from a guardianship.
Some family members applaud Savitt. The husband of one of her wards, Dolores Thur, said she’s been a good caretaker and his wife’s assets have been documented painstakingly. Lester Thur, 84, says he doesn’t think any criticism of Savitt is justified even though his wife’s case is under investigation by the clerk, which has questioned several items in the annual inventory, including double-billing.
In five Savitt cases The Post examined, however, family members said the judge’s wife seemed more interested in the money from the estate than caring for the incapacitated senior.
The cases involved Brooklyn plumber Vassallo, 87; Kansas schoolteacher Helen O’Grady, 83; New York accountant Robert Paul Wein, 89; Chicago-area decorator Lorraine Hilton, 94; and Gwendolyn Batson, 89, a retired school administrator who lived in Lake Worth.
O’Grady died in 2012, Batson in 2013 and Wein died Dec. 1, but the other two are still alive and under the power of Savitt.
Gwen Batson: Savitt clears house with husband's order
Gwendolyn Batson, who died at 89 in 2013, was a retired school administrator in Lake Worth. (Contributed)
Colin’s order appointed Batson’s brother and sister-in-law as emergency temporary guardians for Batson in late January 2012, court records show. That decision would be reversed by a successor judge, but not before Savitt and Hazeltine in mid-February broke the lock on the home that Batson lived in and seized all of the belongings.
It turned out the home and much of the property seized didn’t belong to Batson but to restaurateur Skender Hoti, a Kosovo native who had taken care of Batson for decades. To get appointed emergency temporary guardian, Batson’s brother, Kenneth Davis, claimed Hoti had taken financial advantage of his sister. Colin agreed, noting in his order that immediate action needed to be taken to safeguard Batson’s belongings.
But if Hoti was taking advantage of Batson, it was a long con. Their relationship spanned decades. She traveled to Kosovo to attend his wedding and was a fixture at Hoti’s Lake Worth restaurant, Little Italy. Hoti claimed the guardianship was a means for Davis to seize his sister’s properties.
Savitt and her attorney cleared out the home where Gwen Batson lived. But it was her adopted son Skender Hoti’s house. Hoti says most of what they took was his.
As Savitt and others moved items into a truck, Hoti called sheriff’s deputies who stopped them. The two argued that they had authority from Judge Colin but the deputies said the order was insufficient, that they needed what is called a writ of possession.
Hoti said he saw Savitt scream at deputies: “You can’t do that. I’m a judge’s wife. I’m Judge Colin’s wife."
Three days after the seizure of Hoti’s property, Colin recused himself from the case.
Savitt wasn’t Batson’s guardian, yet Judge French approved paying her $1,500 of Batson’s money. The clerk questioned the expenditure more than a year after the house was cleared out and then Savitt submitted a bill, court documents show.
Hoti said even though deputies made them return his possessions, he later found valuables missing: jewelry, firearms and about $18,000 in cash.
Last summer, Hoti said he filed an additional complaint about Savitt with the sheriff’s office.
In a remarkable document, Savitt’s bill filed with the court shows she worked as a hired hand for Batson’s brother to spirit Batson to Alabama.
The bill indicates Savitt spied on Hoti at the restaurant he owns to make sure she could operate unencumbered and take possession of valuables from the Batson residence.
In the end, the restaurateur fought the brother and persevered, getting a judge to order Batson back to Florida.
Savitt's home: $308,000 staves off auction
Elizabeth Savitt’s house in Delray Beach: She took out a $250,000 home equity loan but didn’t make payments on it for years.
Savitt’s path from tennis professional to professional guardian didn’t require much heavy lifting. She completed 40 hours of training, put up a $50,000 bond for her firm Savitt Guardians and submitted to credit and criminal background checks.
The Department of Elder Affairs registered her as a professional guardian in 2011 despite a pending foreclosure on a home she owns in Delray Beach.
Savitt passed the credit check after telling the department that she was in a dispute with her lender and wasn’t past due because of “neglect or oversight.” It wasn’t until November 2014 that her dispute was settled with a judgment of foreclosure, sending the house to the auction block.
Six days before the home was to be auctioned off in March, she came up with $308,000 to satisfy a delinquent home equity loan, court records show. She didn’t make payments for several years on the $250,000 loan and rented out the home for a portion of that period.
Colin’s Atlantis home: He was sued for foreclosure in 2009 but told The Post it was a mortgage modification.
Despite the delinquencies, Savitt said she paid off the home equity loan on her property before the note was due. “I do not know how many professional guardians are debt free as I am,” she said.
Most of Savitt’s cases are in front of Judge French. Two of French’s ex-wives have described Colin and French as good friends who once planned a vacation together. The two judges have lunch together frequently in Delray Beach.
Families say they are also frustrated by the lack of transparency in the guardianship cases of their loved ones. It's not unusual for key documents regarding the guardian's activities to be sealed.
The Palm Beach County Clerk & Comptroller’s Office audits the guardians’ annual accounting of the seniors’ assets and the guardianship plan. It also investigated complaints, but the office’s investigations and findings are confidential under state law. Records show that at least four of Savitt’s cases have been investigated by the clerk’s inspector general, but any findings remain confidential.
Helen O'Grady: Lawyer aghast as Savitt withdraws $30,000
Helen O’Grady, a former Kansas schoolteacher, invested her money well. (Contributed)
Even with Savitt as guardian, it was Mayes who made his mother’s doctor’s appointments, managed her transportation, readied her house for sale — all tasks he thought Savitt should have handled.
After Mayes’ mother died, Savitt recommended that the family urge the court to appoint her curator of the estate, telling them it would save money for her to temporarily manage it until the family disputes were settled.
Once that happened and Mayes became personal representative of the estate, he said he could not get Savitt to pony up details of his mother’s financial picture and relinquish control.
Before Mayes could get a grip on his mother’s finances, Savitt started withdrawing money, court pleadings show.
She wrote herself a check for $1,725 and another for $1,745 to Hazeltine for fees before a judge approved it, according to a pleading filed by attorneys. Hazeltine said Savitt obtained an order allowing her to write the checks, but the order Hazeltine referenced said nothing about fees, court documents show.
Then Savitt took without proper court approval $30,000 to be “held in trust” by her and Hazeltine.
Once Helen O’Grady’s family settled their battles over their inheritance, O’Grady’s son said he couldn’t get Savitt to turn over management of the money. (Contributed)
Mayes’ lawyers, Andrew M. Schwartz and Salivar, told the court that Savitt actions amounted to the unlawful taking of O’Grady’s property.
“The foregoing actions in and of themselves fall within the textbook legal definition of conversion.”
Mayes agreed. “To me, I thought it was a criminal act. They were intentionally stealing it. This is how they make their money.”
Judge Edward Garrison ordered Savitt and Hazeltine to return all but about $2,600 of the $30,000.
But that was not all. After the $30,000 withdrawals, the two asked for flat fees of $55,000 each, citing a state law that entitles personal representatives to 3 percent of the estate. Personal representatives, also known as executors, administer and close out the estate. Savitt was simply the temporary curator of the estate — not the personal representative.
Savitt and her attorneys would not relent on their claims for fees. Mayes said he aimed to fight them in court, but settled after his wife got ill, liquidating his mother’s long-held Philip Morris stock to pay them.
Grady’s family estimates attorney fees and court costs from their own pockets of around $150,000. “Is this fair? Is this reasonable?” Mayes’ sister, Kathleen Osterbuhr wrote to the court in objecting to Hark’s fee. The attorney who represented Mayes and recommended Savitt collected more than $35,000.
“My mother Helen O’Grady did not benefit from having a court-appointed guardian. … My mother was a teacher who raised five children on a salary that was less than what Mr. Hark has already been paid.”
Mayes estimates that fees for Savitt and her attorneys — Hazeltine and Ellen Morris — amounted to more than $70,000.
“They just kept draining the estate,” Mayes said. “And the judges kept rubber-stamping all of this. They are not helping the elderly; they are helping themselves.
Savitt denied any wrongdoing. “Of course, I did not convert $30,000 and that would be a lie to report that I did.”
Lorraine Hilton: Son accused of abuse gets money from Savitt
New guardian: Lorraine Hilton and her grandson Max, who has taken over her care. Her son Robert, who Savitt paid, was accused of abusing her. (Contributed)
Her other son, James Hilton, learned in March 2013 that Savitt had taken control of his mother’s assets, though Lorraine Hilton had a living trust established in 2007. Lorraine Hilton in a declaration for a preneed guardian explicitly stated that she didn’t want her son Robert taking care of her.
James Hilton sought to intervene as an emergency guardian. He also wanted a restraining order against his brother, Robert. James Hilton cited incidents such as an “accident” in which Lorraine Hilton broke her hip and Robert left her at the hospital and left the state, court documents say.
“I am truly alarmed that a judicial process has been put in place there without me having been duly contacted,” wrote James Hilton, who died in February.
Robert Hilton declined to comment. Billing documents in the case indicate his many demands on Savitt, such as for $20,000 of his mother’s money to buy a warehouse.
Billings from Savitt and Hazeltine memorialize phone messages from Robert Hilton left for Savitt in which his mother can be heard weeping in the background. On another, she called when all of sudden Lorraine Hilton let out “a blood-curdling scream and cuts off.”
Savitt resigned after James Hilton came forward. James Hilton objected to Savitt’s final accounting, accusing her of funneling money to Robert Hilton.
The pleading alleges:
- Savitt failed to secure a bank account, off of which Robert Hilton wrote two checks totaling $49,685 for real estate. The deeds indicate he’s the sole owner. The pleading alleges that Lorraine Hilton appears to have signed the checks.
- Savitt paid Robert Hilton $2,500 without explanation or receipt. She also paid $5,300 for property taxes on two homes owned by Robert Hilton.
- Savitt took as much as a $2,000 retainer fee without prior court permission.
- A Wells Fargo bank statement shows Savitt accessed Hilton’s account to make two separate deposits and to write two checks — all four in the amount of $3,189.50 — without explanation.
“The system sometimes ends up harming the people it’s supposed to protect,” said Palm Beach Gardens attorney Thomas Dougherty, who filed the objection on behalf of James Hilton.
Judge French took no action on the objection against Savitt.
Judge Krista Marx. (Gary Coronado/Palm Beach Post)
For example, at an August hearing before Circuit Judge Krista Marx, Savitt acknowledged she took about $17,000 for her fees and a retainer from Robert Wein’s accounts without prior court permission. Judge Marx approved the payments, saying Savitt simply was “asking for forgiveness instead of permission.”
When asked about this, again Savitt pointed out that the judge approved her actions.
Anthony Palmieri — senior internal auditor of guardianship cases for the clerk — said a guardian taking a retainer or other money from a senior without prior court approval “would not be consistent” with any of the 800 other cases he’s reviewed.
“From an auditor’s perspective, it is a concern,” he said.
Is it legal?
Florida law says that “when fees for a guardian or an attorney are submitted to the court for determination,” several factors determine whether they are reasonable. It goes on to list the factors.
Ellen Morris, one of Savitt’s attorneys, cited sub-sections of the guardianship law in saying that her client is allowed to take money without court approval. “You will not find anything that says guardians need approval to pay their fee,” Morris told The Post in an email exchange. Morris serves as administrative chair on the executive committee of the Elder Law Section of The Florida Bar, which promotes professional standards for the lawyers who practice in the area.
Mini-estate sale at judge's house
But it’s not just bank accounts, but property and possessions of these elderly wards that are controlled by professional guardians. Savitt’s actions have been questioned in this regard, as well.In the Robert Wein guardianship, attorney Rosenwater expressed concern to Judge Marx in August that the judge’s wife may have sold some of Wein’s belongings at the December garage sale.
A listing on Craigslist in late December under “mini estate sale (Atlantis FL)” and listing the judge’s address, stated: “Cleared out a home and selling all I could find. I got new quality items.” For sale: jewelry, fine china, computer, printer, artwork and various household items.
When asked about the garage sale by The Post, Savitt rolled her eyes. When it was brought up in court during a hearing in the Wein case, she appeared irritated. Savitt denies any item of a ward was sold at the garage sale.
“The guardian is getting money, the guardian’s attorney is getting money, and interested parties come into the case. Everyone is getting paid and it’s all coming from the ward’s money,” Rosenwater said.
Robert Wein: Costly try at annulling marriage
Before Robert Wein died, Savitt tried to annul his marriage to Vita Wein, 82, whom he wed in 1958. Vita says Savitt is a ‘despicable woman,” but Robert’s brother Daniel says Savitt has always been ‘aboveboard.’
On one side is Daniel Wein, Robert’s brother.
The other side is Robert’s wife, Vita, and Jodi Rich, Daniel’s estranged daughter.
Rich said all Savitt has done as guardian is “bill, bill, bill” and criticized her lack of success in tracking down $700,000 in promissory notes owed to her late uncle, who died Dec. 1. Robert Wein was worth up to $3 million, according to court documents.
Though married in 1958, the couple renewed their vows in 2014 and obtained a Florida marriage license. Daniel Wein believed his brother divorced Vita, 82, and wasn’t competent enough to remarry. So for the last months of Robert Wein’s life, Savitt — as his guardian — focused on undoing the union of this elderly couple in a fight over what would be a lucrative estate.
Vita, as a spouse, can claim one-third of Wein’s estate. Daniel claims Vita Wein and Jodi Rich are interested only in that money.
“She has been guardian for 12 months and hasn’t done anything except try to dissolve the marriage of these two elderly people who had been married for 58 years,” said Rich before Wein’s death. “So there are two marriage licenses. Who cares? What’s the difference? They wanted to end their life together.”
Emails show Savitt discussing with Daniel Wein trying to get the authority to annul Robert’s marriage, contending he and Vita were divorced and that she tricked him into remarrying in 2014. Savitt also was trying before Robert’s death to amend the trust to give Daniel $150,000.
“Daniel and Savitt, they are in bed together,” Rich said. “We have a lot of evidence.”
Litigation on the marriage issue resulted in an expensive 2½ hour court hearing and depositions before the matter was dropped unceremoniously by Savitt at a hearing in August.
“Savitt is the culprit here. She is the one who caused all the problems,” Rich said. “She shouldn’t be a guardian.” Daniel Wein, though, praised Savitt for protecting his brother’s assets.
“I don’t know how she handles her other cases; I know with this, particularly with my brother, they have been aboveboard,” he said.
Vita Wein, though, has pressed Savitt to explain her actions.
In a June 10 deposition and in his motion for Savitt’s removal, Vita’s attorney at the time, Rosenwater, repeatedly tried to get the judge’s wife to say why she hadn’t filed one invoice in the case in eight months but took $17,000 without prior court approval.
When Savitt refused to answer a question about whether she had any objections to a critical report to the court on Wein, Rosenwater was exasperated. “She can’t answer. It’s amazing,” he said.
“The guardian has used her fiduciary relationship with the ward for her own financial gain, as well as her attorney,” Rosenwater wrote in another pleading. “It is clear the guardian has breached her duties.” Rosenwater no longer represents Vita Wein, and Robert Wein died before a motion to remove Savitt as guardian was ruled on. A motion for sanctions against her remains unresolved.
Vita Wein, in an interview at her nursing home before her husband died, said Savitt saw her as a threat to the amount of money she can siphon off her husband’s assets. She said her husband, who was struggling mightily with dementia, just wanted to be happy in his waning years.
“She is a despicable person. She is very two-faced,” Vita Wein said from Colony Club in Sunrise. Her husband, oblivious to the complex details driving her anger, sat down next to her on the love seat. He died less than two weeks later.
Savitt said annulling the Weins’ 2014 marriage was well within the propriety of the court, but she wouldn’t answer why the legal action was necessary for the ward at the end of his life when the 1958 union was still valid.
Albert Vassallo Sr.: From friend to enemy, Savitt cites 'bad blood'
James Vassallo holds a photo of his parents, Albert Vassallo Sr. and Geraldine Mickey Vassallo. (John Pacenti/The Palm Beach Post)
Like in the O’Grady case, Vassallo sought the advice of Hark when he learned last year that his brother and sister had transferred $180,000 from the accounts of his father. And like in O’Grady, Hark steered him to Savitt, saying she would protect the assets of Albert Vassallo Sr., who was suffering from early stages of dementia.
Vassallo, who moved from Brooklyn to live next door and care for his father at Century Village in Deerfield Beach, says Savitt instead aligned with his sister who had taken $140,000 and other assets, according to demand letters.
Albert Vassallo Sr. in November 2015. (John Pacenti/The Palm Beach Post)
“If I knew her husband was a judge, I never would have went with her because whatever I said to her meant nothing. She can do whatever she wants because she has the court’s backing and that is exactly what is happening now,” said Vassallo.
In a voicemail that Vassallo still has, Savitt had assured him attorneys were working to remove his brother and sister but there was no reason to remove him because “you didn’t do anything wrong.” She did, however, suggest paying Hark more money to defend him just in case.
Vassallo said Savitt made her move to remove him from his father’s trust after he repeatedly questioned her billing practices. He estimates that Savitt and her attorneys collected $40,000 to get him off the trust. His father’s savings have been depleted by more than $200,000 in about year, he said.
Savitt said, “To accomplish getting the relief favorable to the Ward, and because of bad blood and conflicts between all three children of the Ward, it was agreed by the lawyers that I should be the sole trustee, not because of anything wrong James did.”
Vassallo produced email and bank statements showing how Savitt doubled-billed his father’s accounts by about $7,300 and did not pay it back until he confronted her with the bank account statements. “She never would have given that back on her own,” Vassallo said. The $7,300 plus a $3,000 retainer fee came before a judge approved them and even before she submitted a petition to the court for that money.
To address the $180,000, a deal was struck in mediation, allowing James’ brother and sister to pay back half the money over 15 years and keep the rest.
Vassallo never signed the agreement and vehemently opposed it.
After The Post asked Savitt about $10,000 in U.S. savings bonds, James Vassallo said she told him the bonds had been located and provided her accounting of expenses.
Still missing is reimbursement for his dad’s Hyundai and assets from a savings account and a safety deposit box, Vassallo said. “My father said it was over $100,000 in there.”
Trust attorney John Pankauski, who has represented Savitt, was forced to defend himself in a divorce case that Judge Colin presided over from accusations that he was part of a strategy to get Colin recused. (Damon Higgins/The Palm Beach Post)
Albert Jr. says his father consented in court to remain with his sister, but James Vassallo says the judge never should have asked his incapacitated father if he wanted to live with Mast considering the money owed.
Mast cursed at a reporter when asked about the case and threatened legal action. Her brother, Albert Jr., said the money he got from his father was a gift to help him pay his medical bills.
Vassallo has also questioned Judge French in court about whether any money from the bank accounts of Savitt’s wards went to satisfy the foreclosure judgment on her Delray Beach home. He also objected at a hearing to attorney John Pankauski'sbill — which at the time was for $18,000 and heavily redacted.
“I asked the judge, ‘What are you going to do, rubber stamp everything?’ and French told me that Pankauski should have charged my dad $40,000,” Vassallo said.
Now Vassallo has hired attorney Dougherty, hoping he can work the same magic he did for James Hilton by detailing questionable actions by Savitt for the court. Vassallo hopes this would force her to resign or have a court remove her.
Albert Vassallo Sr. remains alert and talkative. Interviewed at a Deerfield Beach senior center, he said he doesn’t trust Savitt. “She doesn’t show me any reports. At least, show me where the money is going,” he said.
James Vassallo can’t sleep at night, poring over bills and other documents, thinking what he could have done differently. His apartment is piled high with stacks of court papers.
“I was the one who brought this woman into my father’s life,” he said. “And what is she doing? She is taking the money that these seniors worked so hard for, set aside for their children, for their grandchildren.”
Data editor Mike Stucka, researcher Melanie Mena and staff writer Holly Baltz contributed to this story. Web page production by Kristyn Wellesley and Gurman Bhatia.
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