County Agency Accused of Burial Delays

The county trustee system is failing to provide timely burials and cremations for some bodies entrusted to it, taking 53 days for funeral services in one case, according to an audit released last week.

The report also uncovered 11 incidents of possible fraud in its investigation of the office of Los Angeles public administrator-public guardian, the nation’s largest such agency. Stemming from the estates of four deceased people, information regarding the incidents has been referred to the Sheriff’s Department, the audit said.

Additionally, it reported uncovering a wide variety of weaknesses “exposing the department to increased risk of fraud and abuses.”

The agency handles the estates and funeral arrangements for nearly 1,300 people each year when an executor or heir cannot be located. It is also responsible for the personal and financial affairs of the elderly or infirm who have no family or friends to care for them. Auditors found that of a random sample of 32 bodies referred to the agency for burial, 11 were not buried or cremated for periods of time ranging from 11 to 53 days. Under department policy, funeral services are to be made within five working days.

Public Administrator-Public Guardian Gordon Treharne said his department fails to meet the five-day standard “about a fourth of the time. It’s a difficult standard and we don’t always make it.”

The department has “adopted many measures to safeguard estate assets, (but) the deficiencies noted in this review seriously impair, and can sometimes negate, existing controls,” the report concludes.