Yosef Gavriel Tirat-Gefen v. Celia Batista Almeida

Settlement agreements are considered contracts. Contracts can be voided due to fraud, undue influence, duress, or withholding of facts or evidence. All citizens, including incapacitated adults, have a constitutional fundamental right to due process. Petitioner reported to the state courts: lack of discovery, fraud, duress and withholding of evidence. The state courts refused to conduct an evidentiary hearing. Should this settlement agreement over a guardianship of an incapacitated elderly parent be modified? State courts typically grant co-guardianship of minors to both parents, even when they are in conflict. But state courts prefer to appoint third party guardians of an incapacitated parent, when adult children disagree about care. The guardianad -litem recommended co-guardianship; petitioner accepted; but respondent rejected, forcing a third party guardian appointment. Should conflicting adult children have the same constitutional protection afforded to parents of minors: coguardianship to have priority over a third party guardian?