Until three years ago, I believed that people were good....with a few exceptions. Over the past three years, I have come to realize that people are bad...with a few exceptions.
What I am about to tell you is a true story. Shocking but true. To be honest with you, I thought I had experienced the absolute worst in people. Wrong again!
Conservator Abuse in San Francisco
History: A few weeks ago, a 74 year old woman died in San Francisco. She died alone. Her body was not discovered for 3 days. She existed in San Francisco's Probate Court Conservatorship system for nearly 25 years.
The Facts: The mother of the 74 year old woman who died had left a Trust that in 1993 was worth well over two million dollars. The Trust included provisions for the care of the daughter...the woman who recently died. A well known attorney was appointed Trustee and he oversaw the administration of the Trust from its inception.
Over the past several years, the daughter (the woman who died recently) needed a new dryer. The Trustee told her the Trust could not afford it. The woman resorted to drying her clothes on the heater grate. Also during this time, there were gas leaks, black mold, air in the plumbing pipes, decaying walls, spider infestations, broken windows and the stove, bathtub and shower did not work.
The woman who died had a heart condition and high blood pressure. She also had emotional problems which were the excuse for the conservatorship in the first place.
Two prominent, professional conservators have been involved in this woman's case since the beginning. They knew of her physical and emotional conditions which was why they were appointed by the San Francisco Probate Court to begin with.
These professional conservators billed the Trust well over $40,000 a year each for their services and the Trustee (the well known attorney) paid their fees upon demand, without question. The Trustee as well as the conservators attorneys also billed the Trust for their services. If I had to guess, the fees were well over $100,000 per year.
The upstairs tenant (a friend of the well known attorney) discovered the body of the woman after she had been dead for three days.
Her body laid next to a large area of black mold that looked like a mushroom patch. Paint was peeling off the walls, the kitchen faucet did not work, the kitchen stove did not work, there was no dryer, the bathroom shower and tub did not work, the window casings were destroyed by mold, windows were broken (the result of a domestic dispute between the upstairs tenants who were friends of the well known attorney who was appointed Trustee), clothes and personal belongings were destroyed by mold...the results of leaking plumbing, the galvanized pipes were rotted with rust, the ceilings were covered in spider webs...
The woman who died with the heart problem and high blood pressure had not been seen by a doctor in two years.
The conservator's excuse....
"SHE WOULDN'T ANSWER THE DOOR!"
The Trustee's excuse...
"IT WAS UP TO THE COURT INVESTIGATOR TO DETERMINE IF THE CONSERVATORS WERE DOING THEIR JOB."
According to the "Handbook for Conservators" endorsed and distributed by the Superior Court of California, the Conservator of the Person is responsible for the following:
"As a conservator of the person, you are responsible for making sure that the conservatee's physical health, food, clothing, shelter, safety, comfort, recreation and social needs are met. Your goal is to provide the best quality of life possible for the conservatee. You must treat the conservatee with respect, making choices that encourage this person's self-esteem and dignity."
Clearly, the conservator for the woman that died was not doing their job. The Trustee was not doing his job and no one wants to be held accountable for this travesty.
The negligence and total disregard for this woman's life at the hands of her court appointed conservators is despicable, unconscionable and disgusting. The condition of this woman's home was horrifying. There is no reason she had to die in that environment. There was more than enough money in the Trust to pay for her care....to buy her a dryer, to fix the plumbing, to remove the deadly mold. There was millions of dollars! Yet her court appointed conservator and well known trust attorney did not care.
Funeral plans were made and the Trustee would only approve one bouquet of flowers and then refused to pay for an obituary notice in the paper. She still does not have a grave marker.
This is just one example of conservator abuse in San Francisco. Can you imagine how many other stories go untold?
