Checklist for Conservators of the Estate

Checklist for Conservators of the Estate

The following checklist has been compiled from Ha ndbook for Conservators and other sources. See also Judicial Council Form GC-348.

1 Use Letters of Conservatorship to notify the conservatee’s

1.1 banks, savings and loans, credit unions, and other financial institutions
1.2 creditors and debtors of the conservatee
1.3 Anyone else who sends the conservatee money: for example, the tenants of any rental property owned by the conservatee
1.4 stockbrokers and companies in which the conservatee owns stock or bonds
1.5 employer
1.6 Insurance companies and agents
1.7 All companies and banks where the conservatee has charge accounts, credit cards, or an ATM card
1.8 Government agencies, such as the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, from which the conservatee receives payments
1.9 Retirement plans
1.10 The conservatee’s accountant or tax return preparer
1.11 Trustees, if the conservatee has trusts or is a beneficiary of someone else’s trust
1.12 Anyone involved in a lawsuit by or against the conservatee, especially any lawyer who is representing the conservatee in a lawsuit
1.13 The post office, if you want the conservatee’s mail to be forwarded to your address

2 Asking financial institutions for information Send a letter, along with a certified copy of your Letters, to all banks, savings and loans, and other financial institutions where you think the conservatee had accounts on the date you were appointed. Ask what accounts, if any, the conservatee has there and how the conservatee’s name appears on them. Also ask the bank to give you the current balance of each account and the balance on the date you were appointed. If you don’t have the conservatee’s original statement for each account for the period that includes the date of your appointment, ask for a copy of that statement. The bank will have to send information on a required Judicial Council form directly to the court concerning these accounts when you change any of them to show the conservatorship, or when you close any of them and replace them with new accounts in the name of the conservatorship. Although the bank is not required to send you a copy of this form, it is a good idea to ask it to do so.

3 Evaluate the conservatee’s needs and draw up a conservatorship plan. (Some courts require this, others do not mandate it, but it’s a good idea in any event.)

4 Make a budget for the conservatee

5 Prepare an Inventory and Appraisal within 90 days of appointment

6 Take control of the conservatee’s assets and make sure they are adequately insured and protected from loss. ASSETS TO LOOK FOR:

6.1 Cash
6.2 Uncashed checks and refunds
6.3 Bank accounts (checking, savings, certificates of deposit)
6.4 Stocks
6.5 Bonds
6.6 Promissory notes and other legal claims on others, whether or not reduced to court judgments
6.7 Partnerships
6.8 Other business interests
6.9 Pensions, Keogh plans, 401k plans, Individual Retirement Accounts, and other retirement plans
6.10 Life insurance policies
6.11 Real estate
6.12 Furniture
6.13 Antiques
6.14 Artwork
6.15 Jewelry
6.16 Valuable dogs or other pets
6.17 Valuable collections
6.18 Vehicles

7 Collect income due to the conservatee and apply for government benefits (e.g., Medi-Cal, Medicare, Social Security, and veteran’s benefits). INCOME TO LOOK FOR:

7.1 Government benefits such as social security, SSI, veterans’, disability, or welfare
7.2 Insurance benefits
7.3 Wages; severance pay; or disability, vacation, or sick leave owed to the conservatee
7.4 Pensions
7.5 Retirement plan payments or withdrawals
7.6 Settlements from divorce, injury, or other lawsuits
7.7 Payment of debts owed to the conservatee
7.8 Money from trusts
7.9 Rental income
7.10 Annuities
7.11 Reparations from foreign countries

8 Pay the conservatee’s bills with the conservatee’s money.

9 Keep good records of the conservatee’s income and expenditures and of your services and time expended.

10 Accounting due one year after appointment, then every two years thereafter

11 Record a certified copy of the Letters of Conservatorship (Probate Code §1875)

12 If the conservatee changes his or her primary residence, file Judicial Council form GC-080 (Change of Residence Notice)

13 Oversee any third parties who have control over assets beneficially owned by the conservatee (e.g., trustees, joint tenants, partners, etc.)

14 Invest the conservatee’s assets in a prudent manner

15 Revoke powers of attorney for financial management; notify the agents and all third parties with whom the agents worked.

16 Don’t revoke the conservatee’s estate plan without court approval. Joint tenancies, trusts, payable on death accounts - beware.

17 You should change the ownership of bank accounts and time deposits into the conservatorship. The format to be used is, “Conservatorship of [conservatee’s name], [your name], Conservator of the Estate.”

18 Some conservatees are capable of paying for everyday expenses such as utilities, food, rent, clothing, or other incidental expenses. If so, the judge may have approved an allowance for the conservatee.

19 A safe deposit box is useful for keeping small but valuable objects, such as precious jewelry, stamp collections, and coin collections. PAPERS TO KEEP IN A SAFE DEPOSIT BOX

19.1 The conservatee’s will or other estate planning documents
19.2 Stock certificates
19.3 Bonds
19.4 Real estate deeds
19.5 Vehicle or vessel registration documents
19.6 Promissory notes
19.7 Insurance policies
19.8 Birth, marriage, and death certificates
19.9 The conservatee’s passport
19.10 Photographs of the conservatee’s valuable personal belongings
19.11 Any other papers that would be hard or impossible to replace

20 Stocks and Bonds. Although the conservatee’s stocks and bonds usually will be in a safe deposit box or with a broker, it is not uncommon to find certificates in the conservatee’s home, so you should carefully look for them. You may also learn of stocks and bonds from brokers’ statements, income tax returns, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 1099 forms, and dividend checks

20.1 Lost certificates If you find dividends reported on an income tax return, but you can’t find a stock or bond certificate, write to the company and ask for a replacement certificate. Be sure to tell the company to send future dividends to you.
20.2 If any of the conservatee’s stocks or bonds are held in a brokerage account by a stockbroker, you can change the record ownership of the brokerage account in the same way that you change ownership of bank accounts. The broker must complete and file Judicial Council form GC-050, Notice of Taking Possession or Control of an Asset of Minor or Conservatee, when you have changed the title to any brokerage account to show the conservatorship, or when you open a new account showing the conservatorship. A blank copy of this form is included in Appendix F at the back of this handbook. As with the similar form used by banks, it is a good idea to ask the broker to provide you with a copy of the completed form when the original is sent to the court.
20.3 If the conservatee owns a number of stocks or bonds that are publicly traded, you will find them easier to deal with by opening a brokerage account in your name as conservator and placing the conservatee’s shares into the account.

21 Real estate, including the conservatee’s home, vacation homes, rental property, undeveloped land, and deeds of trust, should be left in the conservatee’s name. Record a certified copy of your Letters with the county recorder in each California county where you think the conservatee owns real estate.

21.1 If the conservatee’s property has a building on it, make sure the insurance is current.
21.2 You should consider removing unsafe structures that may be a source of legal liability.

22 Cars and Other Vehicles. Get the ownership certificates (“pink slips”) of all the conservatee’s cars and other vehicles such as boats, motorcycles, campers, and planes.Keep vehicles safely stored and control their use. No one should use the conservatee’s car or other vehicle except for the conservatee’s benefit, and only if it is adequately insured and the insurance covers all drivers. Even if vehicles are stored and not used, remember to keep them insured. Renew the registration for any vehicle that is driven. Vehicles, especially cars, lose value over time, so consider selling any vehicle that will not be used in the foreseeable future.

23 Try to collect debts owed to the conservatee and try to get back assets that were taken from the conservatee wrongfully.

24 Try to eliminate ways the conservatee could get into debt. For this reason, it is generally not advisable for any conservatee to have a credit card or an ATM card.

24.1 In rare situations, you may want to leave a charge account open for the conservatee’s use. If so, put dollar limits on the use of the account and exercise careful control over it.
24.2 Cancel credit cards and ATM machine cards that are open in the conservatee’s name. Collect and destroy all of these cards except those, if any, that you decide the conservatee can keep and use.

25 Store valuable furs, antiques, artwork, and excess furniture in an insured warehouse if the conservatee has no immediate need for them. For insurance purposes, take photographs of the conservatee’s valuable personal belongings and household items and keep the photographs in the conservatorship safe deposit box. The conservatorship estate may pay the costs of storage and insurance.

25.1 Remove valuables such as silver, art, jewelry, and furs from the house unless the conservatee wants to keep them at home.
25.2 If the conservatee wants to wear jewelry, substitute less expensive jewelry. For example, if the conservatee wants to wear expensive pearls on a regular basis, substitute costume jewelry.
25.3 If the conservatee insists on wearing valuable jewelry, alert the conserva-tee’s relatives, friends, and lawyer that you are allowing the conservatee to wear his or her jewelry.
25.4 Take an inventory of all valuables that remain in the home and photograph them. Keep this information in the conservatorship safe deposit box. Let everyone who comes into the house know that an inventory has been taken.
25.5 Go through the house annually to check the inventory.
25.6 Put locks on valuables when you can—for example, on china closets or closets in which valuables such as silver or jewelry are stored.
25.7 Insure valuables; these can be added to homeowners’ or tenants’ policies. List and describe these items individually. Consider taking this step no matter who is in possession of these items.
25.8 Engrave identification numbers on the television and on stereo equipment. You might use the conservatee’s social security number. Be sure to let everyone know that these items are marked.
25.9 If you hire an aide directly or through an agency, be sure to check references.
25.10 If you hire an aide through an agency, make sure the agency screens, bonds, and insures its employees.

26 Prepare a Budget

27 Courts do not approve cash expenditures by conservators that do not show how the money was spent. For generic items such as groceries, write a check rather than spend cash. When you must use cash, keep a detailed receipt of each cash expenditure in case a judge or someone interested in the estate questions you about it later.

28 As conservator, you are responsible for knowing what your conservatee is doing or wants to do about financial or property matters, and whether anyone is trying to influence or pressure him or her. If you think that the conservatee is doing things that might damage him or her financially, or that you might have to fix later, check with your lawyer right away. You are the person who is ultimately responsible for the conservatee’s finances.

29 Secure Adequate Health, Life, and Property Insurance

30 Pay taxes and file tax returns

30.1 You may request copies of federal income tax returns by completing and delivering IRS Form 4506, Request for Copy or Transcript of Tax Form.
30.2 You must also notify the IRS that you are the person now responsible for tax filing and payment on behalf of the conservatee. You may use IRS Form 56 for this purpose.

31 Keep these records for at least four years:

31.1 Your employer identification number
31.2 The amounts and dates of all wage payments
31.3 The value of noncash compensation such as meals or lodging
31.4 The aide’s name, address, social security number, and a forwarding address
31.5 Copies of all W-4 forms
31.6 The amounts and dates of tax deposits you have made
31.7 Copies of all employment tax returns you have filed
31.8 The dates of employment for each aide
31.9 The reason for an aide’s termination (If you fire an aide, be sure to record the reasons.)
31.10 Detailed records of the aide’s job-related illnesses or injuries

32 Keep these records for at least four years:

32.1 Your employer identification number
32.2 The amounts and dates of all wage payments
32.3 The value of noncash compensation such as meals or lodging
32.4 The aide’s name, address, social security number, and a forwarding address
32.5 Copies of all W-4 forms
32.6 The amounts and dates of tax deposits you have made
32.7 Copies of all employment tax returns you have filed
32.8 The dates of employment for each aide
32.9 The reason for an aide’s termination (If you fire an aide, be sure to record the reasons.
32.10 Detailed records of the aide’s job-related illnesses or injuries

33 Responsibilities relating to rental real property are

33.1 Making sure that you have proper leases or rental agreements with all new tenants
33.2 Reviewing existing leases or rental agreements, or obtaining new written agreements if the conservatee did not do so
33.3 Making sure that the conservatee has set aside all legally required tenant deposits in a separate account
33.4 Making sure that the property is safe and in compliance with all fire, building, and safety codes (see also following discussion on disposal of toxic waste.)
33.5 Making sure that there is proper and sufficient fire and liability insurance covering the property as rental property (especially when converting the conservatee’s home to rental property for the first time)
33.6 Collecting all rents due to the conservatee, and taking necessary actions against all nonpaying tenants
33.7 Paying all expenses of the property, such as insurance, property tax, mortgage, gardening, repairs, and utilities if the tenant does not pay them
33.8 Keeping clear records of all rental property income and expenses, for use when the conservatee’s tax returns and your accounting are prepared
33.9 Respecting tenants’ legal rights
33.10 Learning about and complying with all local rent control ordinances or regulations

34 If you find the original or a copy of the conservatee’s will, store it in the safest possible place, such as in the conservatorship safe deposit box or with your lawyer, particularly if he or she has an office safe. Keep all wills you find—not just the latest one, the one you think is the “fairest,” or the one you think the conservatee really wants.

35 It is your responsibility to protect all trusts that concern the conservatee. Trust papers should be kept in a safe deposit box. Trusts should be kept confidential—discuss them only with your lawyer, and, if your lawyer recommends, with the trustee.

36 When you look for assets and important papers, try to find out what arrangements, if any, have been made for funeral services, burial, or cremation. Documents describing these arrangements are often found in the conservatee’s home or in a safe deposit box. These arrangements may be mentioned in the conservatee’s will or in a document known as a power of attorney for health care. You also may find a funeral or burial prepayment receipt or insurance policy.

36.1 If the conservatee had a spouse or other close family member who recently died, ask the funeral home or cemetery that handled those arrangements whether the conservatee has made funeral arrangements. The death certificates of deceased family members usually note the name of the funeral home and cemetery.
36.2 Ask the funeral home if the conservatee has signed all the necessary papers, such as a cremation authorization. Some documents may be signed only by the conservatee or his or her next of kin.

37 You must report to the court on your activities as conservator of the estate no later than one year after your appointment, at least once every two years after that, and when your duties as conservator end.

37.1 The report must be typewritten or prepared on a computer and contained in a document called a petition or a petition and report. The petition and report must describe what you have done during the time period covered by it and should petition, or ask, the judge to approve your actions. It should also describe the general physical condition, type of residence, level of care, and other circumstances of the conservatee.
37.2 The petition and report must be accompanied by a detailed accounting of all transactions in the conservatee’s property that occurred in the period covered by the report. The accounting is similar to a business’s financial statements, explaining the estate in dollar figures and giving details of estate receipts and expenditures.
37.3 The petition and report should explain any entries in the accounting that cannot be readily understood and should describe any sales or other changes in the assets of the conservatorship estate and any other unusual financial transactions. If you or your lawyer want the court to authorize payment of compensation from the conservatee’s estate for your services during the period of the report, your request would also be included in the petition and report.
37.4 WHAT MUST BE INCLUDED IN AN ACCOUNTING

37.4.1 The value of assets on hand at the start of the reporting period
37.4.2 The amount of any supplemental appraisals during the reporting period
37.4.3 All income received by the conservatorship estate during the reporting period
37.4.4 Gains and losses from sales of assets during the reporting period
37.4.5 All expenditures of conservatorship funds during the reporting period
37.4.6 The value of assets on hand at the end of the reporting period

37.5 Format of the accounting The accounting must be prepared in a special format required for probate accountings. The petition and report are narrative statements. If you have a lawyer, he or she will generally prepare the petition and report, although you will provide the lawyer with most of the information needed to complete that task. You and your lawyer should work out who will prepare the accounting. The rest of this section of the handbook will help you do that.

38 You, the conservator of the person, the lawyers for each of you, and the conservatee’s lawyer, will be entitled to receive reasonable fees—compensation for your services—from the conservatorship estate if they are requested and if a judge first approves them. Never pay these fees without prior court authorization. If you do, you may have to reimburse the conservatorship estate or the surety company on your bond from your own pocket, plus interest, and you could be removed as conservator.

39 You may not give gifts of estate money or assets to yourself or anyone else without a judge’s prior approval. You need court approval, even if the conservatee asks you to give the gift, and even if he or she has given similar gifts in the past.

40 AVOID THESE SERIOUS MISTAKES

40.1 Never mix your own investments and money with the conservatee’s.
40.2 Even though it may seem convenient at the time to deposit a check made out to the conservatee into your own bank account, it could get you into trouble. The conservatee’s assets should be kept in accounts in your name as conservator of the estate, using the conservatee’s social security number.
40.3 Do not manage the conservatorship estate so that you or your family or friends profit from it. For example, if you were to sell the conservatee’s car to your son for less than what it was worth without getting a judge’s approval, you would be violating your duty as conservator of the estate. Similarly, you may not give your friends the conservatee’s furniture or other possessions, nor may you move into the conservatee’s home without paying fair rent.
40.4 Never borrow money from the estate. You must not use estate funds or the estate’s credit to get loans or credit for yourself, even if you will inherit the estate when the conservatee dies.
40.5 Do not give yourself or anyone else a gift from estate funds without getting a judge’s approval first.
40.6 Do not pay yourself or the conservator of the person fees from the estate without a judge’s approval first.
40.7 Do not pay fees with estate funds to your lawyer, to the lawyer for the conservator of the person, or to the lawyer for the conservatee, without getting a judge’s approval first.