Tag: Conservatorships

Many clients ask us about the differences between the Developmentally Disabled Adult Conservatorships called a Limited Conservatorship and what is appropriate for a person who is a non-developmentally disabled adult.  You should know that the main difference between the two types of conservatorships are that the Developmentally Disabled Adult Conservatorship requires that before the age of 18, the conservatee has manifested a delay or a disability.  Non-Developmental Conservatorships are Adult Conservatorships.  The most common situations are persons who have turned 18 or about to turn 18, and who need greater help as a adults.

The goals of the Limited Conservatorship v. the General Conservatorship are different.  While both conservatorships are protective, the Limited Conservatorship allows more freedom to the conservatee.  For example, the Limited Conservatee can in most cases be able to participate in certain areas of his or her life.  The Limited Conservatee may be able to work, and help with paying bills.  While in most cases, the right to contract may be restricted to the Limited Conservatee, the ability to help oneself is not taken away.  The goal for the Limited Conservatorship is to preserve as many of the rights of the conservatee as are possible to allow him or her to flourish.  In most cases, the assets of the conservatee can be protected in a Special Needs Trust for Limited Conservatees.

General Conservatorships, on the other hand, can be more restrictive.  Many powers are given to the conservator which do not exist in the Limited Conservatorship.  With an older adult, over 65 years of age, the Conservator may has for dementia medication and secured perimeter housing, which powers do not exist in the limited conservatorship in California.  Unfortunately, in California, for persons younger than 65, the ability of the conservator to give psychotropic medications and secured perimeter placement does not exist, unless the person is under an LPS Conservatorship or Mental Health Conservatorship.  LPS Conservatorship filings are reserved only for the Public Guardian and Psychiatrists while is a mental health facility.

What to do if you need to medicate a person with a disability?  Medication rights are preserved to the person, however, under the Limited Conservatorship, the Conservator can ask for the right to make medical decisions.   Once a person is conservated in a probate conservatorship, a request can be made for an evaluation by the Department of Mental Health in Los Angeles, to determine, if the person is eligible for an LPS or mental health conservatorship.   LPS Conservatorships are sometimes referred to as psychiatric conservatorships. That is the back way to the LPS court, but the road is a difficult one.

To discuss our retention as your attorneys for Limited Conservatorships, Conservatorships for Developmentally Disabled Adults of Non-Developmentally Disabled Conservatorships, contact Mina Sirkin, Conservatorship Attorney in Los Angeles County at 818.340.4479.

 

 

 

 

Notice in conservatorship in California is of great importance. The Probate Court requires that the person who files to get a conservatorship, must give notice of the hearing in writing, via a special form which can be found on the Los Angeles Superior Court’s website at the following link. Notice of Hearing Conservatorship.

Why is giving Notice of Hearing in a Conservatorship important?  It is because there are levels of priority of persons who can get conservatorship.   Also, it allows relatives or family members to object to the conservatorship and the appointment of the conservator, based on facts known to them.

If you are stuck in a conservatorship case in Los Angeles, call us.  We can give the right kind of notice in the Conservatorship case to get you through the court’s procedural requirements.

Contact or call Mina Sirkin, Conservatorship Lawyer in Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley (Woodland Hills)  at 818.304.4479.  Licensed since 1992.  We practice Conservatorship, Trust, Probate and Estates.  Our office offers a free conservatorship consultation to enable you to ask us questions about the conservatorship process and timeline.

 

Conservatorships for Disabled with Alcohol or Drug Use, or Developmental Disabilities in California

Sirkin Law provides professional conservatorship services for families with incapacitated members or those suffering from alcoholism or drug use.

When a parent did not set up a trust or designate a conservator or a disabled child, the child’s medical care and financial decisions are left for others to decide.   This is often not consistent with the wishes of the parent who was the primary caregiver for the disabled child.

The selection or nomination of the  conservator of a disabled child can be made in a will, or in a separate document.  Picking a conservator requires the parent to think of many things, such as:

1. Who will make the decision regarding where the disabled child will live.   Residence issues can get complicated when a disabled person is a consumer of the Regional Center, as different Regional Centers offer varying services.
2. Who will make decisions for the health care and medical needs of the proposed conservatee is the conservator of the person.
3. Who will make financial decisions for the proposed conservatee is the conservator of the estate.
4. The conservator of the person does not have to be the same person as the conservator of the estate for the special needs person.
5. In most cases, the SSI, Regional Center respite and IHSS benefits do not require a conservatorship of the estate, unless there is a dispute regarding the suitability of the representative payee.
6. Social Security has forms for designation of the representative payee of SSI, which falls outside of conservatorships.
7. A parent can set up forms to leave authority to another person make financial and medical decisions for not only himself or herself, but for a disabled child with developmental or other disability.
8. Mina Sirkin is a conservatorship attorney with over 25 years of experience filing conservatorships petitions and nominations in the Los Angeles court.
9. As a PVP attorney, Mina Sirkin is often appointed by the court to represent the proposed conservatee in his or her interest.
10. When it comes to advice to the conservator, we counsel conservators about the duties of the conservator in California. Conservatorship estate management requires books and records to be set up from the start of the case to prepare the conservator for court required accountings.   The appointed conservator must account at the first year anniversary of the conservatorship, and every two years thereafter, unless the court requires a more frequent schedule.  This close review is the conservatorship process by which the court determines whether or not the conservator should continue to act.
11. As one of the duties of the conservator, he or she must find, locate and marshal the asset of the conservatee. This is solely for the benefit of the conservatee and the conservator must not obtain any personal benefit from those assets. Where there are questions about assets, the conservator must file a petition for instructions to obtain the court’s approval of his or her actions.
12. Conservatorships for alcoholic and drug disabled individuals can often result in clean up and rehabilitation of those with specific disabilities.
13. Care management is a large part of the conservatorship disputes. When a conservator is both a conservator and a caregiver, the court should set an amount for caregiving as opposed to conservatorship tasks, so that there are no overlaps in what the conservator does, and the caregiving fees. Caregiving fees when ordered can be paid before the conservatorship fees are ordered, and are often the source of conflict in families.
14. Conservatorship services and caregiver services are in fact two different things and there should be distinction between the types of services in the conservatorship order.

When initiating a conservatorship in Los Angeles, if you are someone other than the parent of the proposed conservatee, you must obtain a nomination from the parent, as the parent has priority in appointments in conservatorships.

Consult with Los Angeles attorney Mina Sirkin regarding the importance of conservatorship care management orders for protection of both the conservator and the conservatee, and to avoid unnecessary conservatorship litigation.   We have access to hundreds of professionals who serve the conservatorship area and will readily share that information with our clients.  Call 818.340.4479 or Email.

Call our conservatorship paralegal to set an appointment for you to discuss your conservatorship solutions with our specialist lawyer.    We serve all of Sourthern California, but specifically: Los Angeles, West Los Angeles, Glendale, San Fernando Valley and Conejo Valleys, as well as Orange and Ventura County.