Your duties as a Conservator vary depending on whether you are acting as a Conservator of Person or Conservator of Estate, or both. There are California Conservatorship laws and local Los Angeles County Conservatorship laws that you must keep in mind when you act as a Conservator and review your conservatorship tasks.
First, you must visit the Conservatee to determine what the Conservatee needs. Failing to visit is one of the largest mistakes made by Conservators. Of course, if you are not in the area, you must visit by phone, Facetime, Zoom or other video device, or have someone on the premises who will report to you and enable you to see the Conservatee. Visual inspections allow you to see the color of the face, detect tremors, and even odors which may alert you to problems.
Making medical appointments: Regular medical appointments need to be set up in various areas, such as cardiology, neurology and endocrinology, dental care, along with a primary care physician who will monitor the general vitals and annual tests. As a Conservator of the Person, you should have an emergency plan in the event the Conservatee needs to be transported to the hospital or an emergency room.
Managing someone else’s money is more important than your own money. You should balance the checkbook each month to detect any anomalies. You must retain a financial advisor who is familiar with the Prudent Investor Rule and be able to conserve the assets of the Conservatee. You have the duty to account unless the Court specifically waiver your duty of accounting. Keep all bank and financial statements in paper, as well as copies of cancelled checks. There is no excuse for losing those online due to data corruption.
Social Security and other benefits: You may collect the Social Security of the Conservatee as a Representative Payee, which is outside of the Conservatorship but you must report that spending to the Social Security, according to their rules of accounting.
Pensions: Pensions must be deposited in the Conservatorship account, and accounted for in your conservatorship accounting.
Do not commingle the income and assets of the Conservatee with your assets or income. Do not use the assets of the Conservatee for your personal use. Do not use the personal credit cards of the Conservatee for your personal purchases. Keeping in line with the above will keep you out of the realm of financial elder abuse or Conservatorship abuse.
Getting advice about your Conservator duties should be done regularly. The Conservatorship handbook is a good conservatorship guide in Los Angeles California which can help you with compliance.
Mina Sirkin is a Conservatorship attorney who advises professional and non-professional conservators. Call 818.340.4479 or Email Info@SirkinLaw.com for more conservatorship information in Los Angeles County, California.