Any conservatorships gone wrong experiences?

I don't have an answer to your question, but it really caught my attention. If you don't mind my asking, I'd be interested in how your mother came to have a conservatorship instead of a family member overseeing things. I have a 96 year old mother who is in good health, but she has her attorney and CPA as POA and financial POA, respectively. This is because my sister and I (we are the only children) are not on good terms (sister has wacko husband who is money hungry). I am plenty worried about what will happen to my mother's estate if and when she becomes incapacitated, and am worried the attorney and CPA will do what the conservator is doing with your mother. I have medical proxy for my mother, but that is the only "authority" I have.

It's a long story but it is of public interest as to what happened as it is becoming protocol in California courts and spreading to Texas and Michigan. Mom and I were terribly abused by her husband, my father. It was getting worse as mom's Alzheimer progression made her more and more vulnerable to taking abuse. The day came that I had to separate them so she would be protected. I went into an attorney's office by chance. I walked in with a 2.5 million dollar trust of which I was named sole beneficiary and successor Trustee. I am also named Attorney-In-Fact in both parent's General and Health POA's and named executor of their Wills. Although I had all the legal documents to achieve my endeavor, the attorney waived away my retainer for $1500 and told me the only way to protect mom is to file conservatorship however, I had to find a co-conservator because I live in Hawaii and mom lived in California, which makes me the attorney said "geographically undesirable." Hence, the beginning of the end. The public accountant who did my parents tax returns because I had worked for him for 5 years, is who I chose as co-conservator of estate and person because mom and I were very private as individuals who are abused always are. The attorney I hired directed both of us to do things wrong. Unfortunately, the attorney and co-conservator used me as a scapegoat saying that I had stolen estate assets and paid bills from trust accounts rather than the conservatorship accounts, yet no conservatorship account was ever set up and the attorney had directed me to pay for dad's funeral with trust money as successor trustee. My own attorney had me removed as successor trustee and co-conservator and made the co-conservator full conservator and trustee of the trust to bring it under court jurisdiction so he could then bill the trust which held deeper pockets than I did or any non-existent conservatorship account certainly could. I proved that the assets they said I stole were written off as charitable donations in the tax return that the co-conservator now conservator/trustee prepared and he was forced to resign and so was the attorney. My court credibility as petitioner and me as daughter was destroyed by them and the court ordered a professional fiduciary in as conservator/trustee who has mad my life a living nightmare and I am surcharged $50,000 that I am indebted for to the estate which I cannot ever pay nor do I owe. New conservator lies saying I abuse him and demand things and make false accusations against him in motions to further discredit me and uses it against me to keep me from knowing anything about my mother who has lost the use of her legs due to the new conservator's negligence. I have over 32 denials for representation and am forced to file motions in court pro se, which courts hate. You should be worried about your mother's estate and don't count on receiving any inheritance because the CPA and his counsel will get it all legally and that is just the way it goes in California. You need to talk with mom and obtain Health and General Durable POA's and a trust naming you as successor trustee to herself, plus name you as executor of the estate. These legal documents will at least prove intent of your mom's that you handle everything. And in the trust add a clause stating that if mom is conserved they can obtain no monetary funds for caring for her and believe me that will stop a professional fiduciary dead in his tracks and incite him to move onward. The truth is that your mother will run out of funds and become a ward of the state if you do not, as your inheritance is gone, gone, gone. Look up a series done by the LA Times on conservatorships and read the Mercury News article about what just occurred in Santa Clara courts over fiduciary and counsel fees. Get ready for a shock, start saving for psychiatric hospitalizations for yourself and surcharges, as you adopt the motto "I can't believe the courts are allowing this to happen in America." I hope you don't have to go through what I am but I am using the pain for good and at age 49 I went back to college to become an attorney and enter law school next fall at Lewis and Clark in Portland Oregon. I am going to do the best damn estate planning documents and not one of my clients or family members will ever go through the pain that a professional fiduciary and his attorney has caused my family ever again. I will be glad to answer any other questions but I am only a woman who has been through a terrible ordeal and I am not yet an attorney and can only share with you my experience, strength, and hope for a better future. Aloha nui loa

Wow....that is some story hfox. I am sorry you had to go through all that. My mother's CPA she has known for a long time, but I am a little worried about the attorney, who has POA. I never hear anything from him. My father died over years ago, and his estate is still not settled. I think if I tried to convince my mother to make me POA, my sister would raise a stink and say I coerced her into it, or else that she was not "of sound mind" when she made the decision. She is of sound mind.....well, as much as a 96 year old can be, but. Sister never visits, although she lives 45 minutes away, and I am 2 hours away. Rarely calls either. Still, my mother makes excuses for her, and will not face reality that she has a dirtbag daughter and a money hungry son-in-law. I know my mother still has her will leaving an equal 50/50 split between my sister and me, but there is little I can do about it. I'm thinking about getting an elder care law attorney myself to see what my options are.

Don't forget that I trusted the public accountant and attorney that lied under oath to a court to save their own skin. The accountant knew my parents for over 20 years and I worked for him for 5 and he even attempted dating me so I know he liked me but when push comes to shove and reputation as a professional is on the line it is a bigger motivator often than is greed. CPA's charge huge and attorneys are known to abuse conservatorships and POA's by over petitioning, billing, and many of them do not do it right so their licensing and reputation as well as money is at stake for them. It is a huge responsibility and liability as the fiduciary of a person or estate and one can be ruined for life such as I. Being removed as a fiduciary now puts many years of pre-law education at risk because I can never hold a fiduciary position ever again and that includes my chosen profession of lawyer and I have a huge struggle in front of me with that. I would highly suggest a elder law attorney. I have reviewed over a hundred current cases and it is crucial to be pro-active and gain leverage early on. That will put everyone involved on the defensive knowing they are under a watchful eye. You are right, I see it all the time where elder capacity is questioned as it pertains to changing or initiating legal documents. You can have mom sign in front of her physician at a doctor visit and obtain an affidavit from him saying she is of sound mind upon signing and you did not force her. That will work for you in court. I would obtain a statement from the physician now about her mind and reason now if I were you, knowing what I now know and after seeing many other cases like mine. Use intuition rather than emotion and if your intuition says your sister, CPA, or attorney will take advantage and harm your mother and hurt her in any way you have to protect her because she is vulnerable and alone and elders lose their civil rights too easily and are treated miserably and bounced around by way of manipulation and dehumanization, while screaming for help to no avail. Keep your family heirlooms, historical photos and papers, and assets safe or they are subject to going to the dump and you will be able to only stand by with your mouth agape muttering "how can this happen." Document like crazy and obtain all communication with the sister, CPA, and attorney in writing such as emails and don't throw anything from or by them away. And keep the lines of communications open. Your mother will become a pawn in a chess game if she becomes incapacitated. Anyone can conserve her by saying she is vulnerable at any time and they do not have to alert anyone of doing so. The court always gives them temporary conservatorship without even checking soundness if you do not stand up for her. Hopefully, the court will inform you if this is done behind your back, which it always is. But please, research for yourself and do not trust anyone over something so important as your mom. My own attorney screwed me so be careful before taking anyone's advice by doing your own research and reviewing your state's on-line cases, probate codes, and information in attorney blogs by placing conservatorship into your web search engine. You won't be able to disinherit your sister so that has to go into the acceptance pile but proactively you can go a long way toward protecting mom if she becomes incapacitated. Keep your fingers crossed that all your worry is for not but be proactive like you expect it will happen. Make mom proud of you and you proud of yourself but keep your head and don't let emotion run your campaign of protecting mom.

Thank you for all that advice. I think I will look into getting an elder law attorney in the city my mother is in. I don't have a clue how to find out who is good vs. a charlatan. Hopefully, there is an elder law attorney association or something like that so I don't have to just spin my finger and pick one. At my mother's advanced age, anything could happen at any moment, so I have a ticking time bomb on my hands here.

My mom raised my niece Rachael until she was 18 yrs old and moved out. Now Rachael is 30 yrs old and moved back into my Mom's house with her husband and 2 children whom are 7 & 9 yrs old. At first Rachael had access to Mom's bank account and was spending her money but a stop was put to that and we tried to make Mom see what Rachael was doing but Mom wanted to "help" and made excuses for her. An agreement was made with Rachael and her husband to at least pay rent but that's a joke. Mom is not infirm nor of unsound mind except that she is an enabler and won't kick Rachael out "for the sake of the kids". Rachael uses her children to keep themselves in my Mom's home. Everyone can see what is happening but my Mom. Now it's getting to the point that we are getting alienated from my Mom. My sister no longer is welcome in the house she grew up in, not because my Mom doesn't want her there but because of the tension Rachael creates when my sister visits (it was my sister that put an end to Rachael's access to Moms bank account and initiated the rent agreement). Now Rachael is zeroing in on me and I am no longer comfortable visiting my childhood home. My Mom, my sister and myself have a loving relationship but it's strained because of Rachael. It's like my Mom is being brain-washed. Mom won't talk on the phone because Rachael might hear. Mom often leaves the house because Rachaels temper scares her. She has to hide any cash she has. Mom is 80 yrs old and walks with a cane but often parks on the street so Rachael can have the convenience of using the driveway to park her own car (that my Mom bought for her because Rachael kept borrowing hers). Anything we say against Rachael is met with excuses. Mom says she "would kick her out in a minute if it weren't for the kids". Of course Rachael knows this. There doesn' seem to be anything legal we can do to get Rachael away from my Mom so I'm trying to find information to present to my Mom to show her what kind of person Rachael is (I think she's a psychopath) and how part of her strategy is to alienate us from my Mom so she can take over completely, they've already taken over the family home (Mom stays in her bedroom). The home is being wrecked and Mom cries a lot but nothing will sway her from her stance of "helping" Rachael. I came to this site by way of google hoping I can find some help for this problem.

to hfok784: This is a crime against morality what is going on in the courts they give these guardians to much power not enough accountablity. We are going thru this with my mother's guardian she falsely accuses, she isolates, my mother has not seen a dentist in 2 years her teeth are now rotted out. She has had no prescription eyeglasses 2 years. She wants to live with me I want to care for her but ofcourse the guardian wants her to stay in ALF. My mother doesn't eat well she wants to stay in her room she is depressed, I told the court monitor the courts don't care they are after their own agenda. We turned the guardian in for being unethical now we have more restrictions. We were seeking justice for our mother instead we have received excuses, deception, and corruption. From reading the guardian handbook they are suppose to do as the person they are over wishes or had they wanted before being declared incompetent. My mother cries to leave that place, she just wants to be with me. The court monitor Sue Landress saw how my mother wanted to leave and heard her say it. These people are not compassionate or caring at all. My mother has also had 3 bad falls there 2 went to the hospital, hit her head, broke her hip. My thoughts and prayers are with you, everyone needs to speak up against this attack on the vulnerable , the courts that are suppose to protect them are not they are abusing them. My mother's guardian Suzanne Sarris is unethical, unprofessional, the court monitor Sue Landress just makes excuses, there are no excuses for my mother's abuse by them. Everyone should write their representative to have this guardianship law change so they have less power and more accountability.

My grandmother suffers from Alzheimers and she didnt have her trust in order when my Grandfather died. She did a reverse mortgage on the house because she spent all her $$$ paying for my Grandfather to stay in a home. Now the state made us file for conservatorship and Everything is included in that. She mentioned to me that she wanted to leave the house to me and my aunt. That broke my heart to know that the State will help f**k you,.

Yes, California seems to have an unfair Superior Court system especially when it comes to creating Conservatorships. Right now our elderly loved one is being forced to take medication against her will even though a top local Physician MD declared that she was very healthy, had no chronic conditions, needed no medications and recommended no medications. The mom said in court that she needed no medications and wanted to live at home and not in any facility. But the transcript did not have that statement included and there were either no transcripts or problems with the expensive transcripts that we bought. Now the court is trying to evict her disabled son from his and the mom's home he has managed for many years and brought all the money, thousands of dollars a month, renting the home out for his mom, into her account for her. Although required by law, there was no service or summons for the conservatorship or the unlawful detainer and without any apparent motions, the judge says the cases are now consolidated. There are so many inconsistencies, contradictions, perjurious statements from the other family members, court appointed lawyer and investigator, and opposing attorneys it is shocking to all professionals we consult. The opposition all insisted the mom be forced into a facility. They even resorted to lying about their co-conservator being violent in the courtroom against me, the mom's caregiver, and his intimidation against her personal lawyer even though there are many witnesses. It is extremely difficult to even list all the illegalities and exploitations perpetrated against the mom and her son who is the only child she ever lived with. Fighting in court is expensive and the other parties and the court have access to all the mom's estate monies to fight against her son and her. But we'll keep trying to gain freedom and liberation for the mom from the unwanted, unneeded medications being forced on her against her will and get her back home where her family members can care for her and see her. Many doctors, nurses, government agencies and organizations, etc. reported and assured that the mom was safe and well at home and that it is best for her to be at home, but the court continues to ignore evidence, make it difficult to submit, and illegally continues to try to do away with Patricia's home and disenfranchise and make her son impoverished because of his high attorney bills to free his mom from her false imprisonment and chemical restraints. Where is the Justice and why is our justice system able to sidestep its own sacrosanct laws and rules, and why does the court insist on consuming all the money set aside for the elder when it claims it is acting in "her best interest"?