For nearly two years, Eye on Jacksonville has been reporting on guardianship and probate abuse in Florida.

We now have 24 articles documenting the families, court battles, financial devastation and heartbreaking stories connected to a system that was created to protect vulnerable people—but too often fails them. Readers can find the entire collection by searching “guardianship” or “probate” in the Eye on Jacksonville search bar.

That is why this article comes with a great deal of excitement.

Eye on Jacksonville is heading to Washington, D.C., on July 27 to participate in the Whistleblower Summit and support the local family that first brought this issue to our attention: Rey Contreras and his mother, Doris Beaty.

Rey will serve as a panelist and share his family’s experience with Florida’s guardianship and probate system—a story so disturbing it may curl your toes and leave you wondering how something like this could happen in America.

Their story opened our eyes to a much larger problem.

Since then, we have met other families, followed investigations, reviewed court records, watched films and listened to people who say the system took away their loved ones, their property, their peace and, in some cases, their entire family legacy.

Now, those voices are going to Capitol Hill.

Registration Is Officially Open

The 14th Annual Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival will bring whistleblowers, investigative journalists, filmmakers, attorneys, advocates and concerned citizens together in Washington, D.C., for several days of discussions focused on truth, accountability and reform.

On Monday, July 27, at 1:00 p.m., the summit will present a special screening of the Lifetime movie The Bad Guardian at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill.

Elizabeth Stephen Turned Real-Life Horror Stories into The Bad Guardian

The summit will also feature Elizabeth Stephen, the creator and executive producer of The Bad Guardian.

Stephen spent years researching guardianship abuse, studying news reports and speaking with individuals and organizations fighting to protect vulnerable seniors. Rather than base the film on one particular family, she and the filmmakers created a composite story drawn from many real-life accounts. Every major turn depicted in the movie reflects something that families have reported experiencing within the guardianship system.

Stephen helped transform an issue often buried in complicated court documents into a story ordinary Americans could see, understand and feel. The result was a powerful Lifetime movie starring Melissa Joan Hart and La La Anthony that introduced millions of viewers to the frightening reality of what can happen when a court-appointed guardian gains control over a person’s medical care, finances, property and family relationships.

Her participation in the Whistleblower Summit is a natural continuation of that work. After helping bring these stories to television, she is now bringing the film—and the real experiences that inspired it—to Capitol Hill. Stephen will help lead the conversation about why the movie was made, what she learned from victims and advocates, and why public awareness must now be turned into prevention, accountability and meaningful reform.

Following the screening, experts, advocates, journalists, filmmakers and family members will continue the conversation during a panel titled:

“Guardianship Abuse: What It Looks Like from the Inside”

The panel discussion will explore guardianship abuse, accountability, prevention and reform. It will also examine how abuse occurs, why oversight can fail and what meaningful protections should look like.

Rey Contreras Will Share His Family’s Story

Rey Contreras will bring the family’s perspective to the panel.

Rey has spent years fighting for his father, fighting to protect his family’s legacy and attempting to expose what he believes happened inside Florida’s guardianship and probate system.

His story is not based on a movie script or a hypothetical legal discussion.

It happened to his family.

Despite the legal planning his father had completed, the family found itself trapped in a system that appeared nearly impossible to challenge. Decisions involving health care, property, finances and family access were placed into the hands of others.

Rey’s experience demonstrates an important truth: guardianship and probate abuse is not limited to families that failed to prepare.

Even people who have their legal documents in order, have accumulated wealth responsibly and believe they have protected their families can become victims of a system with enormous power and little meaningful accountability.

Rey’s story was the beginning of Eye on Jacksonville’s investigation into this issue.

It was also a warning to every family in America.

Adam Walser Brings the Investigative Perspective

Award-winning investigative reporter Adam Walser will also participate as one of the panelists.

Walser joined the Tampa Bay 28 I-Team in June 2013 after serving as chief investigative reporter at WHAS-TV in Louisville, Kentucky. He has more than 32 years of television news experience and began his career shortly after graduating with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Throughout his career, Walser has received some of journalism’s highest honors, including the national Alfred I. duPont Award, the national Sigma Delta Chi Award, the American Legion Fourth Estate Award, the Scripps Give Light Award and the James Batten Award for Public Service—the highest honor presented by the Florida Society of Professional Journalists.

He has also received 14 Emmy Awards, four regional Edward R. Murrow Awards and dozens of other state and local journalism awards.

Many of those honors were earned for his reporting on guardianship issues.

Out of the thousands of stories he has covered, Walser considers his investigations into guardianship abuse among the most important work of his career.

His reporting began in 2013 when his investigative unit received a call about 99-year-old Willi Berchau, who had been wrongly placed in a dementia unit under the control of a predatory guardian.

Walser started asking questions.

Within months of his first report, Willi was freed. Her case also helped inspire a new Florida law creating greater safeguards in guardianship proceedings.

That is the power of investigative journalism.

Walser is now in the middle of another major breaking investigation involving troubling allegations connected to judges and Florida’s guardianship system.

His participation will provide an essential investigative perspective on how guardianship abuse can occur, why warning signs are ignored and why families so often find themselves fighting institutions with far more authority, money and legal protection than they possess.

A System Intended to Protect Can Become a Weapon

Guardianship was created to protect individuals who are unable to care for themselves or manage their own affairs.

But when the system is abused, a person can lose control over nearly every aspect of life.

A guardian may gain authority over where someone lives, who may visit, what medical treatment the person receives and how the person’s money and property are managed.

Families may be excluded from important decisions—or even prevented from seeing a parent or loved one.

Estates can be depleted through professional fees, legal expenses and court-approved payments while relatives spend years attempting to regain control.

The very system created to protect vulnerable people can become a weapon against them.

Guardianship and probate abuse can destroy families, consume generational wealth and strip people of the freedoms Americans assume they will always possess.

The right to choose where you live.

The right to see your family.

The right to make medical decisions.

The right to control the property and wealth you spent a lifetime building.

When those rights can be removed through a court process with inadequate oversight, every American should pay attention.

The Truth Has Been Building for Years

For years, victims, family members, advocates, investigative journalists and filmmakers have tried to sound the alarm.

Investigative reports have been published.

Films and documentaries have been produced.

Families have testified before state legislatures.

Victims have spent their savings fighting in court.

And countless family members have cried behind closed doors as parents, grandparents and loved ones were isolated from them.

We are praying that all the investigations, truths, films, testimony and tears will finally bring this issue fully into the light.

Guardianship and probate abuse represent one of the most despicable stains on American freedom because they attack our most fundamental rights: the right to control our lives, remain connected to our families and protect the property and wealth we worked a lifetime to build.

It is time to fix this system.

It is time to protect vulnerable Americans.

And it is time to hold accountable anyone who has used a courtroom, government position or professional title to mistreat people, separate families or wrongfully take control of another person’s wealth.

Why the Whistleblower Summit Matters

The guardianship discussion is part of a larger summit devoted to individuals who refuse to remain silent when they witness misconduct, corruption or injustice.

The Whistleblower Summit provides a national platform for people who have risked their careers, reputations and personal security to speak the truth.

The whistleblower may be an employee who discovers fraud.

It may be a journalist who refuses to abandon a difficult investigation.

It may be a filmmaker who brings hidden stories to a larger audience.

It may be a family member who challenges a powerful court system.

Or it may simply be an ordinary citizen who sees something wrong and decides that remaining silent is no longer acceptable.

As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, this summit offers an important reminder: freedom survives only when citizens are willing to defend it.

Attend in Washington or Watch Online

The public is invited to attend the screening and panel discussion in Washington or participate online.

The Bad Guardian Screening and Panel Discussion

Date: Monday, July 27, 2026
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Location: Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.
Admission: Free, but registration is required
Online viewing: Available for those who cannot attend in person

Registration is officially open.

Reserve your spot here:

https://www.whistleblowersummit.com/tickets

Join Eye on Jacksonville, local North Florida resident and whistleblower, Rey Contreras, journalist Adam Walser and the many courageous advocates who are working to expose guardianship and probate abuse.

Whether you attend on Capitol Hill or watch from home, this is a conversation every American should hear.

The truth has been hidden long enough.