A Probate is the court process used to administer a decedent’s estate when they pass away. The process transfers a decedent’s assets to the beneficiary or heir of the decedent. However, in California, a summary estate administration can be used with smaller estates...
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What Medical Evidence is Needed When Petitioning to be Appointed Conservator?
When a court is making a determination of whether an individual needs a conservator appointed either for their person or their estate, the court has to decide if the proposed conservatee lacks capacity to provide for their personal needs, or to manage their financial...
When Does a Conservatorship End?
How and when a conservatorship ends depends on the type of conservatorship. A conservatorship of the person automatically terminates by operation of law when the conservatee dies. The conservator must file the Judicial Council Form Notice of Death of Conservatee with...
Sandwich Generation: Planning for your Parents, Children & Yourself
Family is complex and various stages in life overlap, which can be stressful. A term we’ve been hearing a lot about lately is the “Sandwich Generation.” The term was first coined in 1981, by Dorothy Miller[1]. The term illuminates the time when the middle...
What Do I Do Now? My (insert family member here) Has Lost Capacity and We Need to Pay their Bills!
I get a lot of calls from clients asking this question and wanting to know about options. In fact, just this week I spoke with a client who’s uncle lost capacity and she needs to finalize his tax returns. Her first thought was that she needed to file a petition for...
Holographic Wills: The “Cocktail Napkin”
I received a call today from a woman who was concerned about what seemed to be a will. The will in question, she assured me, was written on the tiniest scrap of paper ever. Could this be an actual will she asked? Would this be a valid will? I immediately flashed...
What are a Conservatee’s Personal Rights and What Authority Does a Conservator Have Over these Personal Rights?
The issue of what powers does a conservator of the person have over a conserved person’s right to receive their mail and right to see people that they want to see comes up quite often in my conservatorship matters. While a conservator of the person has broad powers...
Inheritance: Now What?
I often get calls related to notices of probate proceedings or a notice from a Trustee about being a beneficiary in a Trust. Of course, the sadness and emotional experience of processing a loved one’s death is difficult, but at the same time, a feeling of...
What Authority does a Conservator of the Estate have over a Conservatee’s Retirement Account?
As I mentioned in my last post, a common asset in a conservatorship of the estate is a retirement account that a conservator of the estate must marshal and manage. The conservator of the estate has the authority to continue the retirement, profit-sharing, and employee...
What Authority does a Conservator of the Estate have over a Conservatee’s Real Property?
Once a conservator of the estate is appointed and Letters of Conservatorship have been issued, the conservator must marshal the conservatee’s assets. This means that the conservator of the estate needs to determine what assets the conservatee owns, they need to make...