FAQ: What should I bring to an appointment regarding a decedent’s estate?

Please bring the following information about the deceased:

1. Name, including all aliases (alternate names or spellings that may have been used at any time during the decedent’s life);
2. Citizenship;
3. Social Security number;
4. Date of death;
5. Place (city and state) of death; and
6. Residence address at time of death.

 

Resources: Family Caregiver Alliance (FCA)

“Founded in 1977, Family Caregiver Alliance was the first community-based nonprofit organization in the country to address the needs of families and friends providing long-term care at home. FCA  now offers programs at national, state and local levels to support and sustain caregivers.”

Phone: (415) 434-3388
Link: Family Caregiver Alliance (FCA)
Updated: 28 Oct 2008

 

FAQ: What should I bring to an appointment regarding a conservatorship?

Information about the people involved:

• Proposed Conservatee’s personal information:
  • Name: full legal name and any aliases;
  • Date of birth;
  • Social Security number;
  • Residence: mailing address and phone number;
  • Current whereabouts (if not currently living at residence): mailing address, facility name (if any) and phone number;
  • Doctor: name, mailing address and phone number of the proposed Conservatee’s treating doctor and Patient Number of the proposed Conservatee;
  • Dementia medications.

 

Resources: Conservatorship Handbook

This is a link to the Handbook for Conservators, a 302 page book (in its printed version) that describes in detail the responsibilities and duties of a Conservator. It is hosted on the California Superior Court’s web site. This tome will give you a good idea of the complexity of the task a Conservator is undertaking when embarking on a Conservatorship.

Link: California Courts Self-Help Center
Updated: 15 Oct 2008

 

Resources: Santa Clara County Probate Court Help

They describe their site as “Probate Help for Adults and Elders”, it also contains information about LPS Conservatorships (LPS is an acronym for Lanterman, Petris, and Short, who wrote the legislation) which are for mentally ill adults.

Link: Santa Clara County Probate Court Help for Adults/Elders
Phone: (408) 882-2700
Updated: 10 Oct 2008

 

FAQ: What does the phrase “relatives in the first and second degree” mean?

“Relatives in the first and second degree” refers to the group of relatives of the subject of the proceeding (conservatee or decedent for example) that the court often requires be mailed a notice of hearing (usually 15 days in advance).

The members of this group are: spouse or domestic partner; parents; children; siblings (brothers and sisters); grandparents; and grandchildren.

The following is required for each person on the list: a current mailing address, their relationship to the subject, and their age (if they are 18 or older this can be simply “adult”).

If there are no living relatives in the first or second degree, then the relatives in the third degree must receive notice. They are: great grandparents; uncles and aunts; nephews and nieces; and great-grand children.

 

Conservatorship Risk Factors: Durable Power of Attorney for Finances

he risk factor we will examine here concerns your need to have a financial power of attorney, even if you already have a trust.

Most of our clients are aware that they may have one or more periods of incapacity before reaching the end of life, and have read enough horror stories to know about the need to complete an Advance Health Care Directive. But people often say to us, “I have a trust and all my assets have been properly transferred into it, so I don’t need a financial power of attorney, right?” Wrong.

A trust is a container, like a bucket. The Trustee in office at any given time controls the assets that are in it, such as real property, investment accounts, and tangible personal property that has been assigned to it. But many financial affairs and transactions are about other things. For example, most people have income from one source or another, and sometimes it is necessary to communicate with Social Security or an annuity company about that. Medicare is famous for sending notices that may require a reply. And what if an asset has been left outside the trust, or a home was taken out for re-financing and never put back in? While the trustee can manage the trust, someone else must address these things, because they are not in the trust.

Just as completing an Advance Health Care Directive is important, having a financial power of attorney is also part of a complete estate “plan”. As the word implies, the plan is about having someone in place to manage whatever you cannot, if you become incapacitated.

There is nothing more frustrating to us than having to launch a Conservatorship solely because there is no financial power of attorney, with or without a trust. No one document does everything. But a good set of documents should avoid the need for Conservatorship, and prevent a lot of turmoil for your family.

Click Conservatorship Risk Factors to see all of the posts in this series.

 

Conservatorship Risk Factors: Family Dynamics

he risk factor we will examine here concerns your family’s dynamics combined with your not having an Advance Health Care Directive or Power of Attorney for Health Care.

As a practical matter, doctors and hospitals will look to the closest relative for medical decisions should you not be able to make them yourself. However, what happens if your family is one where there is a strong difference of opinions? Could this difference of opinions result in fighting? Take a close look at your family:

• Are you in a blended family with stepchildren?
• How strong are the personalities in the family?
• How combative?
• Are there strong different religious beliefs in your family?
• Are there any family members with a mental illness that could make a family consensus difficult?

If there are any difficulties with your family in making decisions about your medical care, at some point the hospital will ask that a Conservator be appointed so that the hospital has one person legally responsible for your medical care.

Assuring Your Wishes Will be Followed

You can best take control of this situation now while you have capacity. By preparing and signing an Advance Health Care Directive or Power of Attorney for Health Care, you reduce your risk of Conservatorship of the Person. If you state your wishes, pick your agent and successor agent, you control what will happen if you become incapacitated. It also makes it easier for your family by eliminating future conflicts during what will be a stressful time for your family.

Click Conservatorship Risk Factors to see all of the posts in this series.

 

Conservatorship Risk Factors: Introduction

ou are at risk of having a Conservatorship imposed upon you if you become incapacitated. As you know, incapacity can happen not only as a result of dementia in older age, but at any time. For example, you could become incapacitated as a result of a car accident, a stroke or heart attack. A Conservatorship should not be filed unless there is no other alternative, as the process is costly, procedurally complex, time consuming, and extremely stressful for a non-professional Conservator. Do you have some of the risk factors that may indicate that you might be someone who could have a Conservatorship filed against you?

Click Conservatorship Risk Factors to see all of the posts in this series.

 

Conservator Timekeeping Requirements

ffective immediately, the Alameda County Local Rules require Conservators to submit a record showing how much time they spent doing what, each day. Further, time spent as Conservator of the Person (concerning food, clothing, shelter and physical health) and that spent as Conservator of the Estate must be recorded separately. Both time records shall be submitted to the court with the next account and report.

We have prepared a timesheet form that you may use to accomplish this task. Clicking on the link below will open a new window displaying the timesheet. From there you may print directly to your printer, or if you want to save it to your computer for future use, choose ‘Save as…’ from the ‘File’ menu; then choose a location to save to:

• Conservator’s timesheet

Compensation Rate

The Court has historically awarded a range of hourly rates to Conservators. The Court will review all the circumstances surrounding the request, such as the size of the estate, the rate of expense for the Conservatee’s care, the difficulty of the tasks performed by the Conservator, etc. The Court has discretion to set the hourly rate in each case. The local rules previously provided for $25 per hour, and we hope to raise the request to $40-$50 per hour.

Background

The Alameda County Local Rules long provided a commission‚ for Conservators, payable upon approval of each account and report. The commission was 1% per year of the assets being managed in the Conservatorship, regardless of the amount of time the Conservator spent on all the tasks involved. There had also been the option of submitting time records and requesting a larger amount, but the commission was useful for its simplicity, as it did not require any recording of time.

The Court was concerned however, that this 1% automatic commission was not a reasonable way to determine what the conservator should receive. It sometimes resulted in very large amounts being paid, in cases with substantial assets, to the Conservator. In cases where the estate was almost entirely real property, there was very little cash with which to pay these large amounts. In other such cases, the payment to the Conservator was seriously out of proportion to the work actually done.