CALIFORNIA CONSERVATORSHIP LEGISLATION
On September 27, 2006, Governor Schwarzenegger signed the “Omnibus Conservatorship and Guardianship Reform Act of 2006.” The act is a package of four sets of legislation created to provide enhanced protections for conservatees; create a regulatory system for professional conservators and guardians; and mandate creation of standards for background and education for the court staff personnel, court investigators and attorneys who are appointed to represent conservatees, along with the judges themselves who are in charge of the conservatorship system in California’s 58 superior courts.
Fast forward to 2011, nearly 5 years after the legislation was signed by the Governor…
Based on my first hand experience, I know that the San Francisco Superior Court does not enforce these 5 year old laws. Below you will find my real life examples.
Elizabeth Adler filed her first accounting on January 14, 2011, and the 2006 legislation requires that she follow the requirements mandated by the legislation:
1. If the conservator is a professional or licensed conservator, the conservator shall file all ORIGINAL account statements showing the balance of all periods covered by the accounting.
2. If the conservatee is in a residential care facility or a long term care facility, the filing shall include the original bill statements for the facility.
3. If the accounting is the first accounting of the conservatorship, the conservator shall provide to the court all account statements showing the account balance immediately preceding the date the conservator was appointed and all account statements showing the account through the closing date of the first accounting.
4. With each accounting, the conservator shall file supporting documents.
$9600. $600 per month for 16 months that was supposedly given to my Grandmother who has severe Alzheimer’s dementia and sadly does not know the difference between $6 and $600. No receipts. No justification. No proof that this money was used for my Grandmother’s benefit. My guess is that it was used for the caretaker’s benefit!
$85,000. Nine months of caretaker services paid to Senior Pro Services. State law REQUIRES details. None were provided. The names of the caretakers were not provided and there was no accountability for hours. Several times I requested information regarding the caretakers’ credentials, work status, insurance, etc. I was flat out refused access to this information. My guess is that they were not credentialed, did not have the right to work in the US, did not have valid drivers’ licenses, etc. $85,000 represented by a couple of line items on a sheet of paper. NO documentation in support of these charges.
$5250. Over a 10 month period miscellaneous charges paid to the caregivers. Mileage, lunches, haircuts and manicures. NO receipts and no proof that these miscellaneous charges benefited my Grandmother in any way.
$750. $150 per month for five months for household petty cash. No receipts. NOTHING!
$3000. To the other conservator, Herb Thomas, for miscellaneous expenses. NO RECEIPTS!
As stated previously, the 2006 legislation requires the conservator to file ORIGINAL bank and other financial related statements.
BANK OF AMERICA, CHARLES SCHWAB & COMPANY, US BANK, WELLS FARGO, WASHINGTON MUTUAL, CITIBANK…
Not one original statement was included in the accounting.
The accounting also included a list of other expenses supposedly paid by Ms. Adler yet NO SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION was included:
Groceries, supplies, prescriptions, medical co-pays, hauling services, dental and medical fees, appraisals, replaced carpeting, etc. NO documentation.
I filed my accounting with the court in January. It contained OVER 1500 pages of supporting documentation, and I’m not even a “professional” like Ms. Adler!
