Sirkin Law Trust Estate Probate Litigation Attorney

What kind of lawyer do you need for someone with dementia? Sirkin Law Group

What kind of lawyer do you need for someone with dementia? Sirkin Law Group | 818.340.4479

A person with dementia may need several kinds of attorneys at the same time, depending on the circumstances:

1.  Sometimes, the person who is taking care of the person with dementia looks for an estate lawyer.   In the early stages of dementia, a good estate planning attorney can create documents which can avoid a conservatorship.

2.  Other times, a Conservatorship attorney should be hired by the person taking care of the alzheimer/ dementia patient to evaluate the need for a conservatorship.

3.  An elder abuse attorney is sometimes needed to assert the claims of the elderly whose assets have been wrongfully taken by another person.

4.  A Medi-Cal planning or elder law attorney is also someone who may be consulted to determine if the elder may be qualified for longterm care Medi-Cal and asset protection.

At Sirkin Law Group, our attorneys are well-versed in all of the above areas.   We strive to provide all legal services needed by elderly and families affected by dementia or Alzheimers.   Call our Certified Specialist Attorney, Mina Sirkin, at 818.340.4479 to assist you with the exact services needed.  Our Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley offices can help you.  Woodland Hills, Glendale, Pasadena, Los Angeles CA. Los Angeles Probate Lawyer

Probate Attorney Los Angeles

Glendale Ca Conservatorship

Living Trust Attorney Los Angeles 

Conservatorship Glendale 

 

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.

 

 

Dementia Legal Care: It is about preparation | Los Angeles Ca Attorneys

Dementia Legal Care: It is about preparation | Los Angeles Ca Attorneys | Sirkin Law Group | 818.340.4479

When we think of dementia, it is hard to think of preparing in advance.  Attorneys at Sirkin Law Group have a philosophy in legal care for families dealing with dementia.    We do not just manage dementia, we legally prepare for it.

How do you prepare for dementia?

1.  Ask whether any of your parents or other family members have had dementia, Alzheimers or Parkinson's disease ?   

2.   If any member of your family has had dementia, Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, then you must put in place a series of legal documents to protect yourself and your family.

3.   The legal documents we recommend to our clients with a family history of dementia is as follows:

A.   A Living Trust

B.   A Will

C.   Durable Power of Attorney for Asset Management.

D.   Advanced Health care Directive OR a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care.

E.   A complete inventory of assets updated yearly.

F.   A legal transfer document allowing transfers of appropriate assets to the trust.

If you have a family member who has already been diagnosed with dementia, it is not too late to put together protective documents, if a physician can certify the capacity of the person with dementia.

Even when a person loses mental capacity, it is still not too late, even if no legal documents are in already in place, because we can still prepare for dementia, with a Conservatorship proceeding, with a substituted judgment petition and a court order.  Yes, we can even prepare wills and trusts after capacity is lost, with a court order.

Mina Sirkin is a dementia lawyer, Certified Specialist Attorney in Probate, Estate Planning, and Trust Law in California.   With over 22 years of experience, we can advise you on how to legally prepare for dementia.   Los Angeles Conservatorship Attorney and to Dementia & Elder Law Attorneys Los Angeles.  Call us at 818.340.4479 0r 800.300.9977 in Los Angeles and Glendale.  

 

Glendale Conservatorships

 

 

 

 

 

 

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