Retired chiropractor returns to being a free man

Retired chiropractor returns to being a free man


By Jameson Cook

jamie.cook@macombdaily.com; @jamesoncookPosted: 09/27/12 12:01 am

Updated: 09/27/12 07:17 am Share on twitterShare on facebookShare on stumbleuponShare on redditShare on pinterest_shareMore Sharing Services

James Chism of Clinton Township, a retired chiropractor, sits outside a courtroom Wednesday before a hearing at Macomb County Probate Court. Macomb Daily staff photo by David Dalton

A retired chiropractor who was under a guardian due to poor health and who became the center of an acrimonious legal battle between his wife and children is free to run his life, a judge ruled Wednesday.

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Story IdeasSend CorrectionsJames Chism, 75, of Clinton Township, who practiced for many years in Macomb County, smiled as he walked out of a courtroom at Macomb Probate Court in Mount Clemens moments after William Monaghan was removed as his guardian. Chism declined to comment. “He’s made remarkable progress,” said his attorney, Patricia Patterson-Courie. “He’s got his driver’s license. He’s passed all of the tests.”

Two neurologists attested in letters that Chism can function and take care of himself without a guardian, said Monaghan, who supported his removal.

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Tests show he has “mild cognitive impairment but that is normal for his age,” Patterson-Courie said. “It’s clear and convincing evidence that he should return to making his own decisions,” Judge Pamela Gilbert O’Sullivan said.

The development did not please his son, Steve Chism, who said he remains concerned about his father’s health. Attorney Richard Kent, representing the children, however, in the courtroom did not object to the removal, noting he had no legal basis.

“He is not free by any stretch,” Steve Chism said in an email Wednesday after the hearing. “I am very sad that the same court that gave my dad a death sentence by authorizing his commitment has now left him at the mercy of” his wife, Karen Chism.

Steven Chism and two of his four siblings, Susan Lucier and Laurie Chism, contend that Karen Chism, who is not their mother, abused their father. The trio, who all live outside of Michigan, last January campaigned publicly here against Karen Chism, picketing at a Mount Clemens mental facility where he was staying and creating a Facebook page. They claimed that his wife of 27 years had him diagnosed with dementia and committed to multiple facilities, and gained temporary guardianship in December around the time she sold his successful chiropractic business for a low price and moved assets into her and her children’s names. He also spent time in a hospital, where he suffered cardiac arrest and appeared to be in a coma. He recovered and was released in March.

Chism added Wednesday, “Isn’t it interesting that Karen placed him under her guardianship last year, saying he had ‘advanced severe dementia’ and now, he has apparently become the first person in recorded history to regain his competency after such a devastating diagnosis?”


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