Duties Of Conservator And Acknowledgment Of Receipt Of Handbook For Conservators {GC-348}

GC-348 ATTORNEY OR PARTY WITHOUT ATTORNEY (Name, State Bar number, and address): FOR COURT USE ONLY TELEPHONE NO.: E-MAIL ADDRESS (Optional): ATTORNEY FOR (Name): FAX NO. (Optional): SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF STREET ADDRESS: MAILING ADDRESS: CITY AND ZIP CODE: BRANCH NAME: CONSERVATORSHIP OF THE (Name): PERSON ESTATE OF CONSERVATEE DUTIES OF CONSERVATOR and Acknowledgment of Receipt of Handbook for Conservators CASE NUMBER: DUTIES OF CONSERVATOR When you are appointed by the court as a conservator, you become responsible to the court and assume certain duties and obligations. All of your actions as conservator are subject to review by the court. You should clearly understand the information on this form. You will find additional information in the Judicial Council's Handbook for Conservators, receipt of which, in addition to a copy of this form, you are required by law to acknowledge. I. THE CONSERVATEE'S RIGHTS Conservatees do not lose all rights or all voice in important decisions affecting their lives. All conservatees have the right to be treated with understanding and respect, the right to have their wishes considered, and the right to be well cared for by their conservators. Conservatees generally keep the right to (1) control their own wages or salary from employment, (2) make or change a will, (3) marry, (4) receive personal mail, (5) be represented by a lawyer, (6) ask a judge to change conservators, (7) ask a judge to end the conservatorship, (8) vote, unless a judge decides they are not capable of exercising this right, (9) control personal spending money if a judge has authorized an allowance, and (10) make their own medical decisions, unless a judge has taken away that right and given it exclusively to their conservators. II. CONSULT WITH YOUR ATTORNEY Your attorney will advise you on your duties, the limits of your authority, the conservatee's rights, your dealings with the court, all other topics discussed in this form, and many other matters. He or she will tell you when you must ask for prior court approval to take an action, when you may do so (and why it might be a good idea), and when prior court approval is not required. All legal questions should be discussed with your attorney, not the court staff, which is not permitted to give legal advice. Your attorney will also help prepare your inventories, accountings, petitions, and all other documents to be filed with the court; and will see that the persons entitled to be notified of your actions are given proper notice. He or she will also advise you about legal limits on estate investments, leases and sales of estate assets, loans, lawsuits against others involving the conservatee or his or her property, and many other matters, and can prepare or review documents needed in these matters. You should communicate frequently and cooperate fully with your attorney at all times. When in doubt, contact your attorney. Other questions may be answered by calling on local community resources. (To find these resources, see the Handbook for Conservators and the local supplement distributed by the court.) III. CONSERVATOR OF THE PERSON If the court appoints you as conservator of the person, you are responsible for the conservatee's care and protection. You must decide, within certain limits, where the conservatee will live; and you must arrange for the conservatee's health care, meals, clothing, personal care, housekeeping, transportation, and recreation. A. DETERMINE THE APPROPRIATE LEVEL OF CARE FOR THE CONSERVATEE You must determine the conservatee's appropriate level of care. Your determination must be in writing, signed under penalty of perjury, must be filed with the court within 60 days of the date of the court's order appointing you as conservator, and must include: Page 1 of 7 Form Adopted for Mandatory Use Judicial Council of California GC-348 [Rev. January 1, 2011] DUTIES OF CONSERVATOR and Acknowledgment of Receipt of Handbook for Conservators (Probate--Guardianships and Conservatorships) Probate Code, § 1834 www.courts.ca.gov American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com GC-348 CONSERVATORSHIP OF (Name): CONSERVATEE CASE NUMBER: III. A. 1. An evaluation of the level of care existing when the petition for your appointment as a conservator was filed and the measures that would be necessary to keep the conservatee in his or her personal residence. (Note: The conservatee's personal residence is the residence the conservatee understood or believed to be his or her permanent residence on (1) the date the petition for appointment of a conservator was filed in this matter, or (2) on the last earlier date the conservatee could form or communicate an understanding or belief about a permanent residence, whether or not he or she was living there when the appointment petition was filed. See Cal. Rules of Court, rule 7.1063(b).) 2. A plan to return the conservatee to his or her personal residence or an explanation of the limitations or restrictions on a return of the conservatee to that residence in the foreseeable future if the conservatee was not living there when the petition for appointment of a conservator was filed. 3. A reevaluation after a material (important) change in circumstances affecting the conservatee's needs for placement and care after your initial determination. 4. If the conservatee is a limited conservatee who is developmentally disabled, special rules may apply to the determination of his or her level of care and residential placement. See item VI below. B. DECIDE WHERE THE CONSERVATEE WILL LIVE 1. You must decide where the conservatee will live. You may choose a residence in California without prior approval of the court, but you must choose the least restrictive appropriate residence that is available and necessary to meet the conservatee's needs and that is in his or her best interests. 2. You must file a written notice of any change of the conservatee's residence with the court within 30 days of the move, and you must mail copies of the notice to the conservatee's attorney, the conservatee's spouse or registered domestic partner, and the conservatee's relatives who were mailed copies of the petition for your appointment as conservator, unless the court excuses you from the mailing to prevent harm to the conservatee. (There is a court form you must use for this notice and another form you may use to prove that you have mailed it. The forms are the Post-Move Notice of Change of Residenc