Licensing of Conservators Urged at Hearing

Elder law experts and senior care advocates offered a bleak review of the state’s conservatorship system Wednesday, urging lawmakers at a legislative hearing to license professional conservators, who look after adults unable to care for themselves.

Witnesses complained that underfunded, overwhelmed probate courts struggle to protect the people they place under conservatorship. Abuses by conservators go unpunished, they said, and the elderly are pulled into unnecessary conservatorships only to find it impossible or expensive to get out.

“How is it legal in this country for total strangers to take over your life and assets within a five-day period?” asked a sobbing Terri Alvillar, a Sonoma County woman who complained that it took thousands of dollars in legal fees to fend off an attempt by a professional conservator to gain control of her father’s affairs.

The hearing was the first of two scheduled to examine conservatorship abuses since The Times published a four-part series last month that described a system in which judges allow professional conservators to take control of senior citizens’ lives in speedy hearings, often without the person’s knowledge or consent.

Conservators are court-appointed guardians who control the lives, property and finances of adults, usually elderly, who probate judges determine can no longer manage their own affairs.

The Times series also described how some conservators neglected their wards, isolated them from relatives and ran up fees. Probate courts, charged with overseeing conservators, often overlooked incompetence, neglect and theft, the series found.

“We definitely leave people very vulnerable by not having effective oversight,” said Barbara J. Miller, the Alameda County courts’ presiding judge and a former probate judge.

Miller, a member of the Judicial Council of California, which sets policy for courts statewide, said the council would set up a special task force to determine what changes, if any, needed to be made in the wake of The Times’ stories.

On Monday, the state Assembly Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing in downtown Los Angeles to consider possible changes.

Wednesday’s hearing, held by a key committee that would review any licensing proposal, began with a strong call for change by its chairwoman, Sen. Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont), who vowed to spearhead efforts to “fix California’s broken conservatorship system.”

“I am thoroughly disgusted with our unregulated and black system that allows gross financial abuses,” she said. “It is supposed to ensure dignity and care for our seniors’ lives. Instead they have become victims of huge abuse.”

Though other states have moved to license them, professional conservators in California are subject to less regulation than hairdressers and guide-dog trainers. Several lawmakers, including Figueroa, have said they intend to introduce licensing measures when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

Shirley Trissler, former president of the industry trade group that represents professional conservators, told lawmakers that her association would support a licensing bill.

But Margaret G. Lodise, a prominent probate lawyer in Los Angeles, cautioned that any proposal should avoid making it too difficult for good conservators to remain in business.

“Family members are often the worst offenders ... and having the professionals out there to be a neutral party is absolutely necessary,” she said.

Some senior rights advocates said they supported licensing but warned lawmakers that they should look at more far-reaching issues The Times identified.

They called for more funding for court investigators and other employees who oversee conservatorship cases. They asked for tighter rules to make it more difficult for conservators to swiftly take control of elders’ lives.

“In any just society, it should be extremely difficult for a complete stranger to come in and take over your life and your finances,” said Pat McGinnis, executive director of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform.

Carole Herman, president of the Foundation Aiding the Elderly, said she had received numerous complaints about the work of professional conservators and of public guardian offices, county agencies that act as conservators of last resort. She said some do not even visit their clients but rely on others to check on their welfare.

“Please don’t tell me that there are cases where conservators have not seen the conservatee,” interrupted Figueroa.

“I’ll give you these cases,” Herman replied.

“Ugh!” Figueroa said.

“If they’re not seeing their conservatees, they’re not overseeing their care,” Herman said.

Witnesses told lawmakers that public guardian’s offices across the state suffer from chronic staffing and money shortages.

“My office has been struggling for 15 years with no county funding,” said Christopher Fierro, deputy director of Los Angeles County’s Public Guardian Office.

Since 1988, three proposals to license professional conservators have failed.

But Figueroa, whose mother is 83, said she was optimistic that lawmakers would look more favorably on a proposal next year in the run-up to district and statewide elections. The issue, she said, will strike a chord with many lawmakers who have elderly parents.

“We have a large aging community ... knocking on our doors,” she said. “They want us to do something.”