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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

 

Conservatorship of Amanda Bynes: Mina Sirkin quoted on EOnline

Conservatorship of Amanda Bynes: EOnline 

Los Angeles, Califoria Conservatorship of Amanda Bynes

So what's the deal?

"Bynes, 28, remains under a temporary conservatorship that was reinstated on Monday, giving her mom Lynn Bynes control once again over her finances and medical decisions pending a hearing set for Feb. 24, 2015. And since a judge ruled also ruled at the time that it was the right thing to keep her hospitalized, why the quick about-face?

Mina Sirkin, an estate, probate and trust attorney in Los Angeles who's an expert regarding conservatorships, tells E! News that, after a hold is extended for 30 days (Bynes wasinitially admitted Oct. 10 on a 72-hour hold that was subsequently extended for 14 days), the patient "has a right to say why she should not be in an involuntary hold."

READ: The recent turbulent history of Amanda Bynes

"She has the right to have her own expert psychiatrist testify as to why she should not be held against her wishes," Sirkin, who is not involved with Bynes' case, continued. "Mary Shea [Bynes' court-appointed attorney] is a very capable public defender. "She will hire the top psychiatrist to show that Amanda is not so impaired to need to be in a secured facility. She will display her as merely eccentric."

So, even though the hold was technically extended, Bynes had the right to argue her case and was released right not long after her two-week hold was supposed to expire.

 

"Under mental health rules, a person cannot be involuntarily held without a court order beyond the days the statute allows," Sirkin explained. "First, 72 hours, then 14 days, and then 30 days. At the 30th day, a hearing has to be set to keep her longer under the LPS [Conservatorship] rules." 

"At the hearing, a psychiatrist has to testify as to why she remains gravely disabled, meaning that she is of either danger to herself or to others," Sirkin continued. "The conservatorship does not necessarily require hospitalization. Her mental state is what is in question [regarding] whether or not she needs to be in a secured facility against her wishes.  What a Conservatorship over a person means: what a person can and cannot be forced to do. It appears they can't be forced to stay in an institution. 

"Conservatorship of the person allows for the conservator to make medical decisions for her, but a locked-facility or secure-facility order require special circumstances of grave disability."

So between now and February...

"She will be out, unless she has another episode which requires her to go in under another 72-hour hold, called a 5150 hold," Sirkin said. "The spending issues are related only to the conservator of the estate and cannot affect the decision to release her."

Meanwhile, Bynes did not show up in court this afternoon, though her parents, Rick and Lynn, did with their attorney, as did a lawyer whom the judge ultimately refused to accept as Amanda's counsel, saying the actress turned fashion student lacked the capacity to form a contract (common conservatorship-related language). 

..."

Mina N. Sirkin is a Los Angeles Conservatorship Attorney, and Board Certified Specialist Attorney in Probate, Estate Planning and Trust Law in Los Angeles, California.  She can be reached at 818.340.4479 or by email at [email protected].

 Glendale Conservatorship

 

 

 

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.

Los Angeles Guardianship

Los Angeles Guardianship: The affairs of Minors and their assets are managed in guardianships. Guardianship matters usually involve one of several situations: When a parent is deceased and a minor is in need of an alternate person who can make decisions on his or her behalf; When there is no parent who can make decisions for a minor. When minors are disabled and receive litigation proceeds or inherit, guardianships are created to assist in managing the assets of the minor. California Probate Code requires that assets of the minor be placed in blocked accounts, or a bond be issued for the guardian.

 

Mina N. Sirkin is a Los Angeles Guardianship Attorney. Ms. Sirkin is a Board Certified Specialist in Estate planning, Probate and Trust Law by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California.  Ms. Sirkin practices in Los Angeles County, California.  Email: [email protected]. http://www.SirkinLaw.com.  Copyright 2008 Mina Sirkin.