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Myths about Dementia, Wills and Trusts: Conservatorship Attorney Los Angeles

WHAT ARE THE TOP MYTHS ABOUT DEMENTIA, WILLS AND TRUSTS?  

1.  It is a myth that you cannot make a will once you have been diagnosed with dementia.

2.  It is a myth that your will or trust is invalid, if you have executed them after dementia was diagnosed.

3.  It is a myth that you cannot change your will or trust after a dementia diagnosis.

4.  It is even a myth that a person cannot create a new will or trust, after he or she is conserved by a court order.

In California, a person is presumed to have capacity to execute documents, until he or she is found to lack capacity, either by a court or by another method allowed in a particular instrument.

Once there has been a diagnosis of dementia, a person who wants to create a will, or trust, or changes to those documents may do so.   We often used experts to document the ability of the person to make testamentary and contractual decisions.   That just requires a doctor's declaration.

After a person has been conserved and has been found to lack capacity, we can prepare wills or trusts by applying to the Court for a Substituted Judgment Petition, which asks the Court for permission to have the Conservator step into the shoes of the Conservatee and create the will or trust or changes to the estate plan.

Mina Sirkin is a Board Certified Specialist Attorney in California.   Conservatorship Attorney Los Angeles, or call 818.340,4479 about Los Angeles Conservatorships.  We have helped many families who struggle with legal aspects of dementia.  We can help you too.

In Glendale, visit us at Glendale Conservatorships Attorneys.

 

 

Zha Zha Gabor's Husband Lost Control of the Conservatorship

Judge Clifford Klein of the Superior Court of California, Los Angeles, terminated Frederic Prinz von Anhalt’s temporary conservatorship over his 98-year-old wife, Zsa Zsa Gabor, due to the fact that it was no longer needed and that the woman’s future medical needs can be provided via an advanced health care directive.

A general conservatorship typically is created for a mentally or physically incapacitated adult, or those who are not capable of resisting fraud or undue influence in relationship to their finances.

Zha Zha was in an auto accident in 2002, and in ill health.   She had several falls, and mini-strokes.  

After both the Prinz and ZhaZha's daughter reached an interim solution in favor of appointing von Anhalt as Gabor’s temporary conservator. Gabor’s daughter died.   The Court therefore found that since she died, there is no petition pending the court.   

The cost of the conservatorship exceeded $120,000 per the Court papers.

In 2013, Judge Reva Goetz approved the sale of the couple’s home for $11 million in an agreement that allows the Prinz to remain there. The escrow on the sale of the house will close either 120 days after Gabor dies or in September 2018, whichever comes first.

Conservatorships can get complicated in Los Angeles.   

Should you need assistance with a contested conservatorship proceeding or filing of a conservatorship in Los Angeles, contact Mina Sirkin, California Certified Specialist Attorney in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law.  Los Angeles Conservatorship Attorney.

Glendale Conservatorship

 

How to Object to a Conservatorship in Los Angeles?

OBJECTIONS TO CONSERVATORSHIPS IN LOS ANGELES

If you have received a copy of a Petition for Appointment of a Probate Conservator and a Notice of Hearing in the mail, chances are that you are a child or a family member of the person who is named as a proposed conservatee.    If you agree with the Petition,  you may choose to do nothing.  If you disagree with the Petition, you should hire counsel to help you appear in court and to file the right paperwork for you on a timely basis, before the hearing.

WHO CAN OBJECT TO A CONSERVATORSHIP?

To decide whether to file a conservatorship objection, first you should see if you are a person who has standing to object.   In California, any interested person, a family member, or even a friend or a neighbor may file objections to appointment of a Conservator.   The court then appoints a PVP attorney in Los Angeles County to report to the court as to the Proposed Conservatee's wishes, and who will investigate the nature of the objections.

First, the Proposed Conservatee (usually the elder or disabled person), can object to the Conservatorship, and does not even have to file anything in court.   An oral objection may be made only by the Proposed Conservatee by his or her counsel who will report to the court as to why his/her client should not be conserved. 

Most often, Objections to Conservatorship are filed by one or more children of the Conservatee who do not agree with the appointment of the person who seeks the Conservatorship.

HOW DO YOU OBJECT TO A CONSERVATORSHIP PETITION?

Procedures for Objecting to Conservatorships:  If you are not the Proposed Conservatee, you must file a formal pleading in court and pay a filing fee to have it heard on the date of the hearing for the Petition for Conservatorship.   Your objection has to be verified under penalty of perjury, staying the reasons the Court should not grant the Petition.

WHY AND WHEN SHOULD YOU OBJECT TO A CONSERVATORSHIP?

If you believe any of the following, you should get legal advice from an experienced attorney regarding filing an objection, which should be done before the date of the hearing:

• You believe the Proposed Conservatee is competent and can take care of himself or herself; or
• You believe the person who has filed to become the Conservator is not suitable;
• You believe the person who has filed to become the Conservator has engaged in elder abuse or does not have the best interest of the Conservatee at heart;
• An alternative to the Conservatorship exists.

WHAT ARE THE COURT FILING FEES TO OBJECT TO A CONSERVATORSHIP?

 In Los Angeles Superior Court (Probate Court), the filing fee for an Objection to a Petition for Appointment of a Probate Conservatorship is $465.00 for 2015.

WHAT ELSE NEEDS TO BE DONE WHEN YOU OBJECT TO A CONSERVATORSHIP?

​When you file an object to a Conservatorship, you are not quite done.   If you believe that someone else is more suitable to be the Conservator, then you must file a competing Petition for Appointment of Probate Conservator.   That has a separate filing fee and if it involves the money of the conservator, then you also must also pay for a probate court investigator's fee when you file.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT AFTER YOU HAVE FILED?

After you have filed your objection, the court will hear the matter and ask whether any discovery time is needed.  Once discovery is completed, the court will set a hearing called a trial setting conference where a date is then selected for trial.

HOW TO TRY TO RESOLVE CONSERVATORSHIP CASES QUICKLY?

If the parties are agreeable, try mediation in conservatorship cases first.   Once you have mediated the case, options may become more evident as to why the best course of action would be as in the best interest of the Conservatee.    

Mina Sirkin is a Certified Specialist Attorney in Probate, Estate Planning and Trust Law in Los Angeles, California.   She is nationally known as an expert to the media regarding conservatorships, and has 23 years of experience in Conservatorships and cases involving objections to conservatorship in the Los Angeles Superior Court - Probate Court.   Read more about about our credentials here:   Los Angeles Conservatorship Attorney and read more about conservatorships here.  Visit our main site here: Sirkin Law Group, Conservatorship Attorneys.  More here.

Our law offices in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Glendale and Pasadena handle all matters relating to conservatorships and objections to conservatorships, as well as competing petitions.   We serve all of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley regarding Conservatorships. Call us when you need help with objections to conservatorship in Los Angeles County.  Call for a free consultation regarding conservatorships in Los Angeles.   Tel.:  818.340.4479

Conservatorship Guardianship Litigation Attorneys Los Angeles San Fernando Ca

Conservatorship & Guardianship Litigation Attorneys Los Angeles San Fernando

Often in Conservatorship and Guardianship litigation cases, parties to the litigation are children of the conservatee or relatives of the guardianship ward.   In many cases, siblings compete for the office of the conservator as it gives the proposed conservator more control over the parent's finances.   The process can be very expensive, and time-consuming.   PVP attorneys are appointed to report to the court regarding the situation.

Many times, the battle brings out old anger and jealousy where the competitors in the petition forget what is in the proposed conservatee's best interest.   These are come of the family dynamics than can be involved in conservatorship or guardianship litigation proceedings.

In contested guardianship litigation matters, the competition is usually between two sets of grandparents or other relatives who both believe they have the best interest of the minor in mind.   The courts then appoint minors' counsel in these types of matters to assist with the determination of best interst of the minor.

Conservatorship and Guardianship litigation matters often resolve in mediation.  However, there are many cases which end in trial.   Conservatorship and Guardianship attorneys at Sirkin & Sirkin can assist you in navigating the probate conservatorship and guardianship process in all Los Angeles County courts.  Our Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley , Woodland Hills, Ca attorneys are ready to assist you.  Call us at 818-340-4479.  Contact, Mina N. Sirkin, Los Angeles Guardianship Attorney. Email: [email protected]. Conservatorship Guardianship Litigation Attorneys Los Angeles San Fernando Ca.

Power of Attorney Los Angeles

Creating a power of attorney can be a fairly easy task if you keep a few items in mind:

1.  The Power of Attorney has to be created while you have the capacity to do so.  Do not wait until you are ill to create this document.

2.  The power may be specific or general.   You can limit what your agent can do.

3.  You must specify whether it needs to go into effect immediately, or (springing) upon your incapacity.

4.  You can require an accounting from your agent under the power of attorney. 

5.  You can make the power durable so that it remains in effect in the event of your incapacity.

6.  Never give power of attorney to someone you have known for a short period of time.

7.  Leave specific instructions and communicate with your agent to let them know how to handle things when you are unable to do so.

Power of attorney law in California is governed by the California Probate Code.  The person who receives a power and acts as an attorney-in-fact (agent) owes fiduciary duties to the creator of the power (principal).

Los Angeles Probate Attorney, Mina N. Sirkin handles probate, trust, conservatorship litigation and non-litigation maters in Los Angeles, California.  Ms. Sirkin is a Board Certified Specialist Attorney in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California.  [email protected].  http://www.SirkinLaw.com

Los Angeles Probate Lawyer