Darryl and Brittany Adcock have been ordered to pay back $437,000.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK: Darryl Adock

A BC man was diagnosed with dementia, legally stripped of his autonomy then lost his 60-year marriage and more than $800,000 to his granddaughter who held power of attorney.

Then, remarkably, he got much better.

He had to fight to prove his capacity and that the symptoms leading to his diagnosis were from a medication, but once he did, he filed suit against his granddaughter — and won.

The case is laid out in a Jan. 10 BC Supreme Court decision and involves 86-year-old Courtenay resident Claude Albert Pelletier who had been married to his wife Dora Mildred Karen Pelletier for 60 years when in 2018 he was diagnosed with dementia.

The decision depicts what was once a close-knit, loving extended family unit that fell apart leaving a marriage in tatters, the wife penniless, and a granddaughter and her family greatly enriched by the circumstances.

Following the diagnosis, Claude's power of attorney was given to Dora, and in turn his granddaughter Brittany Danielle Adcock.

"I acknowledge the challenges inherent in caring for family members who are suffering from debilitating health issues. That said, caregivers who accept the role of managing another person’s affairs while they are incapable must do so with the utmost of care towards the person’s best interests, and not with a mind to their own profit, frustration or convenience. I regret to say that Claude’s family failed in this regard," Justice Jennifer Whately said in the decision.

The Justice said that while Dora and Brittany acted on Claude’s behalf, they made financial decisions that were to their benefit, and not in his interest.

"They did so without record-keeping or accounting to justify or explain the decisions made, or to track the use of Claude’s funds," the Justice said.

When questioned about this in court, Brittany denied obvious facts, gave incomplete or false answers to questions, and gave testimony that was "clearly untrue."

Dora was only 16 years old when she married Claude in 1960. He was 22 and the couple lived in Northern Ontario and had three children. In 1973, they moved to Courtenay and bought 48 acres which they cleared for farming and built a house.

In 2018, and now retired from the mining industry, Claude continued to farm, but Dora wanted to move from their farmhouse to live on a nearby property with Brittany and her great-grandchildren. The couple had owned the large property nearby on Graham Road, and they sold for $374,000 to Brittany and her husband, Darryl James Adcock, at half the market value years earlier. 

However, Claude wanted to stay put and he'd spent almost $100,000 that year on improvements to the farm.

"Dora was particularly stressed about Claude’s spending on the farm and the state of their joint finances. She worried about paying the bills and taxes. Claude was not concerned," the Justice said in the decision. "Claude and Dora disagreed about the wisdom of purchasing expensive farm equipment, particularly given Claude’s age. Dora no longer wanted to be tied to the farm, which she considered to be a ‘hobby’ farm that did not bring in much money. She wanted a different life. The farm was clearly far more important to Claude, and formed a significant part of his identity."

After six decades together their marriage started to fall apart.

"I will not comment on whether this was a long, mostly happy marriage that collapsed suddenly due to difficult circumstances, or a borderline abusive marriage that was miserable from beginning to end. As with most things, the truth likely lies somewhere in the middle," Justice Whately said.

During this time Claude had many medical issues and was prescribed drugs that he didn't react well to.

Several incidents happened and his family became concerned.

"Claude’s behaviour was changing and becoming more aggressive, irrational, and chaotic," the Justice said. "Brittany felt Claude was manic and also unusually for him, highly disorganized and erratic."

Brittany told a doctor that he was talking about going to China to buy more farm equipment, had hay bails fall off the tractor on the highway and wasn't even allowed to drive anymore. He was falling for internet scams and buying unnecessary farming equipment.

Claude was later diagnosed with dementia and prescribed antipsychotic medication.

In coming to the diagnosis of dementia, the doctor relied in part on information given by Brittany.

However, relying on Brittany's version of things wasn't good for Claude. She exaggerated or lied about many of the details.

Brittany said Claude had been having an affair for 37 years, had spent $400,000 on farm equipment that he did not need, and blown all of his savings. She also said he was having hallucinations, had been physically aggressive with his wife, as she had seen hand-shaped bruises on Dora’s arms.

However, Justice Whately said the evidence clearly showed that some of these "facts" were either "untrue, partially untrue, exaggerated or taken out of context."

"He had not been having an affair for 37 years. There was no evidence that Claude had been physically abusive to Dora. Claude had one brief hallucination following a new prescription, which was addressed immediately with his physician and never occurred again," the Justice said.

As Claude's care was transferred from doctor to doctor, Brittany changed her story telling them different figures of how much he was spending on the farm. The amounts ranged from $300,000 to $500,000.

"Neither of these collateral facts were true," the Justice said. "The amounts Claude was apparently spending were hugely inflated by Brittany."

The Justice said many of Brittany's statements about Claude's spending were "exaggerated, lacking context, or completely false.”

“I may ask whether Brittany’s narrative ought to have been more carefully scrutinized by medical professionals, or whether Claude’s doctors ought to have considered whether he was experiencing an adverse reaction to medication, given its known side effects,” the Justice said.

Regardless of whether more oversight could have helped, Claude was deemed unable to manage his affairs and lost access to his bank accounts. His wife opened a line of credit in her and Claude's name against the farm.

The house on Graham Road is currently on the market for $2.5 million.

Image Credit: https://www.houseful.ca/

With money from the line of credit, Dora began building her own home on the Graham Road property next to her granddaughter's house. Dora’s home was completed in 2019.

Brittany said the total cost was $320,000, but $473,500 was withdrawn from Claude and Dora's line of credit.

That year, the farm was put on the market, although Claude didn't want to sell.

In July 2020 it sold for $1 million.

The line of credit was paid off and $401,611 was transferred to Claude and Brittany's joint account.

"On the same day, that same amount was transferred out of Claude and Brittany’s joint account, into Brittany and (her husband) Darryl’s joint account," the Justice said.

Brittany told the court the money represented $200,000 to compensate her and Darryl for a "guest suite" on their property and $200,000 for their children's education fund.

The court document shows tens of thousands of dollars transferred from Claude's account by Brittany into her personal account. Much of this money was said to be “extras” for the guest suite.

"Claude has no legal interest in the Graham Road property, Dora’s house or the guest suite. The decisions made regarding the construction, and the payments made for the construction and materials, took place while Claude was considered incapable of managing his own finances and was subject to the power of attorney," the Justice said. "The so-called 'informality' of close-knit family agreements take on a different flavour under these circumstances."

A year later, and three years after his diagnosis of dementia, it was found that Claude's cognitive difficulties were likely the side effects of other medication.

Claude had been living in the guest suite, but demanded to know where his money had gone and eventually was no longer welcome there. He went to live with his son.

Separately, and without his knowledge, a separation agreement had been drawn up by Dora and Brittany which gifted $200,000 for the guest suite and $200,000 for an education fund to her and Darryl. The granddaughter signed it on Claude's behalf as his power of attorney. It left him with $73,000.

He received it in the mail weeks later, which was the first time he found out he was legally separated from his wife and that most of his money was going to his granddaughter.

With the dementia diagnosis changed, Claude had the power of attorney revoked and took legal action against his wife and granddaughter.

A two-week trial commenced.

"I accept that Dora had a very difficult time with Claude in the latter years of their marriage. I do not believe she set out to harm him emotionally or financially. I do not believe that she intends to lie or prevaricate in these legal proceedings. I find that her capacity to be a credible and reliable witness is much compromised by her own recent health issues, and possibly, by her devotion to Brittany and her family," Justice Whately said.

Her words about Brittany weren't so kind.

"I found her to be evasive and flippant... she provided incomplete or false answers... (and) denied facts that were obvious on their face, and could not, or would not explain or take responsibility for financial transactions that she had clearly made," the Justice said.

The Justice said Brittany made multiple statements that were "clearly untrue" and "not believable" and she would "wax and wane" depending on whether it was convenient or inconvenient to have control of Claude's money.

She blatantly denied making financial transactions with Claude's money, which the Justice found to be completely untrue.

"Brittany made the transfers, with the funds clearly going into her joint account with Darryl," the Justice said.

The decision says Claude lost more than $800,000 when he was denied control of his finances.

Ultimately, Justice Whately ordered Brittany and Darryl to pay Claude $437,535, allowing the couple to keep 50% of the financial gifts for the guest suite and the education fund.

The Justice noted that this amount didn't put Claude back where he was financially prior to Brittany taking over. The Justice also made a more poignant note.

"This result does not account for the fact that Claude and Dora cherished Brittany and her family, and in the ordinary course, likely would have continued to show her the generosity they had shown her throughout her life," the Justice said.

The end result has clearly decimated what had once been a close-knit extended family, who helped each other out.

The decision says Dora didn't benefit financially from the circumstances and now lives in assisted living. She's penniless and doesn't have enough money to pay her lawyers and now the court fees.

Finally, Justice Whately also ordered that Claude and Dora be divorced.

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