{"id":346251,"date":"2021-09-30T05:27:04","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T02:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/guardianship-forces-peter-max-to-live-as-shut-in-devine\/"},"modified":"2021-09-30T05:27:04","modified_gmt":"2021-09-30T02:27:04","slug":"guardianship-forces-peter-max-to-live-as-shut-in-devine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/guardianship-forces-peter-max-to-live-as-shut-in-devine\/","title":{"rendered":"#Guardianship forces Peter Max to live as shut-in: Devine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#Guardianship forces Peter Max to live as shut-in: Devine<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--columnist inline-module--author\">\n<div class=\"inline-module--author__img\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"76\" height=\"69\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/miranda-devine222.png?w=76&amp;h=69&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-nyp_columnist size-nyp_columnist\" alt=\"Miranda Devine\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/miranda-devine222.png?w=152 152w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/miranda-devine222.png?w=114 114w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/miranda-devine222.png?w=76 76w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/miranda-devine222.png?w=38 38w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/miranda-devine222.png 706w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 76px) 100vw, 76px\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>It\u2019s not just Britney Spears who is <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2021\/09\/29\/britney-freed-judge-ousts-jamie-spears-from-conservatorship\/?_ga=2.136049714.269941667.1632685758-1460110259.1616625059\">trapped in a guardianship<\/a>, isolated from friends and family, with all personal, financial, and legal decisions controlled by others.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In New York, legendary pop artist Peter Max also is being held against his will in a legal guardianship, in which every aspect of his life is controlled by court-<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ointed strangers, says his daughter Libra Max, 54.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She complains that she is not allowed to visit her 83-year-old father at the Upper West Side apartment that was her childhood home. She is permitted to see him only on a public bench in Riverside Park, and only for an hour at a time after requesting the appointment 48 hours in advance.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The visits are limited to three per week and can be canceled without explanation, as happened this week after she spoke to The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is being treated like a prisoner,\u201d she says. \u201cEvery single time I see him, which has to be approved and scheduled, he says, \u2018Sweetie, please come up to the apartment.\u2019 How many times can someone ask for companionship? He must feel tremendously abandoned.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI see his disbelief when I tell him that I cannot accept his invitation to come up. . . . Instead, he is left with a cast of strange nurses [who] change constantly and he does not know their names.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy father [is a] Holocaust survivor. His deepest fear was having friends and family taken away from him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/peter-max-guardianship.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Peter Max guardianship\" class=\"wp-image-19639393\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/peter-max-guardianship.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/peter-max-guardianship.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/peter-max-guardianship.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/peter-max-guardianship.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Peter Max\u2019s longtime friend Edward Tricomi and daughter Libra Max say the artist is being taken advantage of by his legal guardian. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Max, a counterculture icon of the 1960s and 1970s, whose works hang in the Museum of Modern Art\u200b, has an estimated fortune of at least $65 million. An intimate of the Rolling Stones, the German immigrant became rich plastering his psychedelic designs on postage stamps, cereal boxes, album covers, even a Continental Airlines Boeing 777. Nancy Reagan asked him to paint portraits of the Statute of Liberty at the White House, after which he helped raise money to restore the monument.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Now he suffers from Alzheimer\u2019s disease and was placed under guardianship in December 2016, after the court ruled that he needed protection from alleged physical, mental, and emotional abuse by his then-second wife, Mary.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mary Max committed suicide at age 52, in June 2019, just before attorney Barbara Lissner took over the guardianship, when the previous court-appointed guardian resigned.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Libra applied to the court two months later to end the guardianship \u2014 but failed. Even though the reason for protecting Max had ended with Mary\u2019s death, the burden of proof on those who want to end the guardianship is onerous.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA guardianship is forever,\u201d says lawyer Alan Dershowitz, a friend of Max\u2019s since the 1990s, who was denied permission this week to visit him. \u201cThey never stop.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/britney.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Britney Spears\" class=\"wp-image-19639281\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/britney.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/britney.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/britney.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>A judge removed Jamie Spears from Britney Spears\u2019 conservatorship on Sept. 29, 2021.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Axelle\/Bauer-Griffin\/FilmMagic<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Since Lissner\u2019s appointment, says Libra, her father\u2019s freedom has been savagely curtailed. His beloved cats were removed, and his friends are required to sign nondisclosure agreements before they can even talk to him on the phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>More than $1 million per year has been drained from Max\u2019s bank accounts to pay for his care, which Libra claims is excessive.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Max\u2019s previous two guardians, who served from January 2018 to June 2019, charged $53,127 in fees over 18 months, while Lissner billed $598,654 over 13 months through July 2020, according to itemized accounting prepared for the court by Libra\u2019s attorney, Linda Redlinsky.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>At the time Lissner became Max\u2019s guardian, he was receiving care from home health care aides for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at a cost of $528,039 in 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>Lissner hired additional registered nurses from Alliance Nursing Homecare for an extra $397,731.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Libra alleges that her father is the victim of the growing scourge of guardianship abuse and has enlisted the help of a dozen of his old friends and relatives, including hairdresser Edward Tricomi, Woodstock producer Michael Lang and Max\u2019s former long-term lover, model Rosie Vela, to petition the court to set him free.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis system of appointing guardians has become an ATM machine for some lawyers and guardians,\u201d says Dershowitz. \u201cI\u2019m sure many are well intentioned but \u2018family first, courts last\u2019 has to be the rule.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just feel terrible for him. He\u2019s my age and it could happen to me as easily as it happened to him. The only thing people like Peter need is loving contact with their children. . . . It is so inhumane [to] put him in the hands of strangers who bill by the hour. Really, what harm could there be in having old friends and relatives sit with him and schmooze with him?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Lissner, Max\u2019s \u201cpersonal needs\u201d guardian, declined to comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She and her husband, Michael, are partners in the Columbus Circle law firm Lissner &amp; Lissner, founded by Michael\u2019s late father Jerry to serve Holocaust refugees who had fled Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The couple was criticized by the Supreme Court in Bronx County in 2014 over a case in which they sought to be appointed financial guardians of an unnamed 94-year-old woman at the Hebrew Home for the Aged in Riverdale.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would be an understatement to declare that this court is outraged by the behavior exhibited by the interested parties,\u201d read the decision, \u201cparties who were supposed to protect the person, but who have all unabashedly demonstrated through their actions . . . that they are only interested in getting paid.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/peter-max-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Peter Max and Mary Max\" class=\"wp-image-19639294\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/peter-max-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/peter-max-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/peter-max-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Peter Max\u2019s wife Mary Max committed suicide at age 52 in June 2019.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">John Lamparski\/WireImage<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>However, Lissner does have the support of Libra\u2019s brother Adam Max.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Adam, who is in a separate legal dispute with his sister, disputes Libra\u2019s allegations about her father\u2019s treatment and has opposed her attempts to end the guardianship.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeter is doing extremely well and receives visits from family and friends regularly including Adam multiple times every week,\u201d said one of Adam\u2019s attorneys Matthew Seidner.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLibra has feigned difficulties with the guardianship for a long time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But Adam also is restricted in his visits with his father, which must be scheduled in advance through the guardian, and Seidner could not explain why Libra was not allowed into her father\u2019s apartment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Max\u2019s friend of 40 years, celebrity hairdresser Tricomi, confirms that he was cut off from seeing his old pal the day Mary Max died. More than 40 phone calls went unanswered, and he says the doorman at Max\u2019s building told him the new guardian would not allow friends up to the apartment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-nypost-medium-post\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"322\" height=\"483\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1065674248.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=322\" alt=\"Peter Max attends The Humane Society Of The United States 9th Annual To The Rescue! Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on November 09, 2018\" class=\"wp-image-19639298\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1065674248.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=644 644w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1065674248.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=483 483w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1065674248.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=322 322w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1065674248.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=161 161w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1065674248.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 322px) 100vw, 322px\"\/><figcaption>Libra Max complains that she is not allowed to visit her 83-year-old father Peter Max.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Mike Pont\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Recently, Tricomi has been allowed to talk to Max on FaceTime, but says whenever they talk, his friend begs: \u201cplease visit me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A gregarious, hospitable man, Max always hated to be alone, Tricomi said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe would even call me up to come and watch him paint. He would say, \u2018I have a cappucino and a brownie for you,\u2019 and I would play music and stay till two or three in the morning.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Max\u2019s West 64th Street studio was always full of people. \u201cYou\u2019d go there and find Keith Richards or Ronnie Wood hanging out, or President Clinton. There was always some celebrity at his studio.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But after Mary died, Max was forced to become a recluse. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason on earth he should have a guardian. This is a legal kidnapping.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Max\u2019s former live-in partner, Vela, said they remained \u201cbest friends [and] for the last 30 years, we have talked on the phone daily.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNearly a year ago, Ms. Lissner blocked me from all contact with my closest friend. I was not allowed to see or speak with Peter for 11 months. This year has been very difficult for all of us who love him, but surely it has been devastating to Peter.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Vela said when she finally was able to FaceTime Max this year, he begged her to visit him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The removal of Max\u2019s cats was especially \u201ccruel,\u201d she said in an affidavit. \u201cPeter\u2019s animals have always been such a big part of his life. He loves them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>Max\u2019s cousin Susyn Gliedman, who grew up with the artist in Brooklyn, also complains that Lissner has \u201cblocked us all from his life. He doesn\u2019t deserve to be punished like this . . . Libra has always been the apple of Peter\u2019s eye . . . She looks like his mother Sala. To deprive him of having Libra care for him at his age is abuse, pure and simple.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe needed a guardian to protect him from Mary when Mary was alive, but he no longer needs that protection.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The US system of court-appointed guardians originally was intended to protect the vulnerable elderly and incapacitated, but in some cases, it has become a money-making scheme for a network of unscrupulous lawyers, judges and care providers, who sell the assets of their charges and control their lives without their consent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2021\/09\/29\/britney-spears-burst-into-tears-hearing-judges-decision-to-suspend-jamie\/?_ga=2.159471550.269941667.1632685758-1460110259.1616625059\">Britney Spears case<\/a> grabbed the headlines when the 39-year-old pop princess rang 911 to report herself as a victim of guardianship abuse, and went to court to remove her father as guardian. But cases of abuse have been bubbling through the courts for years. In 2019, former Nevada guardian April Parks was accused of stealing from hundreds of vulnerable people in her care and sentenced to 16-40 years in prison.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There are 1.5 million people in America in guardianships. If someone as wealthy and famous as Peter Max, with lots of high-profile friends, can be trapped, so can anyone.\u00a0\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/09\/29\/guardianship-forces-peter-max-to-live-as-shut-in-devine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Guardianship forces Peter Max to live as shut-in: Devine&#8221; It\u2019s not just Britney Spears who is trapped in a guardianship, isolated from friends and family, with all personal, financial, and legal decisions controlled by others.\u00a0 In New York, legendary pop artist Peter Max also is being held against his will in a legal guardianship, in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":346252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/petermax.png?w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[116732,73213,74427,79132],"class_list":["post-346251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-9-29-21","tag-britney-spears","tag-jamie-spears","tag-peter-max"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}