Did you know that there are government-appointed "court guardians" who can deem senior Americans "incompetent," and on that basis, are authorized to manage their assets — including selling their homes and valuables — and to choose where they live, whom they associate with, and what medical treatment they receive?

As recounted by Rachel Aviv for The New Yorker, that's what happened to Rudy and Rennie North on September 1, 2013. Rudy, 68, a retired broadcasting consultant, lived with his 66-year-old wife Rennie in Sun City Aliante — an "active adult" community in Las Vegas, NV.

Rennie, recovering from lymphoma and suffering from a severe case of neuropathy, had a nurse visit five times a week to help her bathe and dress. Neither Rennie nor Rudy was diagnosed with senile dementia or had undergone any cognitive assessments.

On the morning of September 1, 2013, a stocky woman with shiny black hair knocked on the door of the Norths' home, introduced herself as April Parks, the owner of the company A Private Professional Guardian. She was accompanied by three colleagues, who didn't give their names. Parks told the Norths that she had an order from the Clark County Family Court to "remove" them from their home and take them to Lakeview Terrace, an assisted-living facility in Boulder City, nine miles from the Arizona border. If the Norths didn't comply, the police would be called and the Norths would be taken by ambulance to the facility.

Alleging that the Norths posed a "substantial risk for mismanagement of medications, financial loss and physical harm," Parks had filed an emergency ex-parte petition that provides an exception to the rule that both parties must be notified of any argument before a judge. To make her case for the Norths becoming wards of the court, Parks submitted:

A brief letter from a physician's assistant, whom Rennie North had seen only once, stating that "the patient's husband can no longer effectively take care of the patient at home as his dementia is progressing."

A letter from one of Rudy's doctors, who described him as "confused and agitated."