I was recently appearing in El Dorado County for a regular biannual review of a conservatorship of the person. I represent the conservator and the judge informed all of us attorneys and conservators appearing that day that starting January 1, 2025, a care plan will have to be filed with the court before the next biannual review. The care plan must also be filed within 120 days of the conservator’s appointment as conservator. Some courts, such as Placer County, set a review hearing to make sure that the care plan is filed along with other required filings (i.e., bond and inventory and appraisal).
The care plan must include a lot of information including the following:
- A description of the conservatee’s living arrangements and any planned modifications;
- A description of the conservatee’s current level of care and any planned modifications; and
- A description of the conservatee’s current health status, medicines, and treatments.
All the requirements for the care plan are detailed in Probate Code Section 2351.2(b). The care plan must be served on the conservator of the estate, if that is not the conservator of the person, and their attorney, the conservatee and the conservatee’s attorney, the conservatee’s spouse or registered domestic partner, and all relatives to the second degree, unless the court orders that delivery to any of those individuals will result in harm to the conservatee. Any confidential medical information shall be redacted before service of the care plan to the spouse and relatives to the second degree.
The Judicial Council is to create a mandatory form by January 1, 2025. As of June 19, 2024, I was unable to find that form on the Judicial Council website. Several counties have their own local form such as Los Angeles, Tulare, San Bernardino, Shasta, and Ventura. If there is a delay in the Judicial Council creating that form and you have a hearing coming up in January 2025, you can use those local forms to create your own form to file if you are not in one of those counties.
If the care plan is not filed by the deadline, the court has the authority to impose a civil penalty up to $500 to be paid to the conservator of the estate. If the conservator of the person is a professional fiduciary, then the court can also report the fiduciary to the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau for investigation. The failure to file a plan can also result in the court removing the conservator of the person.
If the conservator is a limited conservator and is a first degree relative to the limited conservatee (i.e., a parent), then the limited conservator does not have to file a care plan.