Inept Conservator?

California - My 93 year-old grandma passed away in March ‘06. Prior to her death, we discovered that her daughter had depleted grandma’s assets and charged $120K on her credit cards. Her daughter also had grandma sign a quit claim giving her grandma’s property. Her daughter also had grandma’s trust changed to make her the primary beneficiary.

Adult Protective Services was unable to mediate a solution, so they turned the case over to the courts. Eventually, her daughter quit claimed the property back to grandma and agreed to assume $50K of the debt. Grandma then signed a new trust that left her property to her four grandchildren, with life estates for her daughter and son. All of her other assets were to be divided equally between her two children. The courts also appointed grandma a conservator.

After my grandma’s death, the conservator allowed the daughter and her family to clean the house of perishables from the kitchen. It was later discovered that all the jewelry and many possessions were removed. The antiques were appraised at ~ $200K in 1990. The current appraisal for what’s left is $77K. I am also furious that many of the family photos, letters, and mementos were removed.

My aunt claims that my grandma gave her the jewelry before she passed away. She refuses to admit that she took the furniture. I feel like this conservator hasn’t done his job. Do I have any recourse with the conservator or my aunt?What is the name of your state?

After my grandma’s death, the conservator allowed the daughter and her family to clean the house of perishables from the kitchen.

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Perfectly legal.

It was later discovered that all the jewelry and many possessions were removed. The antiques were appraised at ~ $200K in 1990. The current appraisal for what’s left is $77K.

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You never mentioned what happened to the antiques. The conservator does have the right to sell them.

I am also furious that many of the family photos, letters, and mementos were removed.

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The conservator has the right to remove them.

My aunt claims that my grandma gave her the jewelry before she passed away. She refuses to admit that she took the furniture. I feel like this conservator hasn’t done his job. Do I have any recourse with the conservator or my aunt?

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Sorry, no one here in cyberspace can tell you whether or not the conservator did his job. The conservator reports to the court.

Thank you BlondiePB for your response. My aunt and her family removed the antiques, jewelry, family photos and other items from the house immediately after my grandma passed away.

Even though he knew that my aunt had embezzled many of my grandma's assets, he allowed her to change the locks so that only he and her family had access and my aunt's access continued after grandma had passed away.

Can I file a complaint with the courts? Do I need a lawyer to "encourage" the conservator to retrieve the family photos, etc.? I thought that it was illegal to remove items after a person dies until the trust is executed. Isn't it the conservator's responsibility to ensure that happens? Would it make sense for my dad to file a civil suit against my aunt for removing grandma's valuables? Have we already exceeded the statute of limitations?

It's almost been a year since my grandma passed away, and I don't see an end in sight. It's really frustrating because there are things like the photos that we could easily scan and make copies so that everyone in the family could share, but my aunt is evil.

You're Welcome

kristianne1, there's different things going on here - trust & conservatorship.

Who was appointed conservator, a relative (i.e. someone here you mentioned by relation) or a public conservator (no one that is related to grandma).

What happened about granny signing legal documents after she was diagnosed the Alz?

Do you know if the trust document is valid (signed prior to Alz)?

What property was in the trust (i.e. jewelry, antiques, etc.)? This makes a huge difference.

Sorry for the confusion.

A public conservator was appointed.

Grandma was never diagnosed with Alz, so the amendment to her trust hasn't been contested and I believe is being executed (although it is taking a long time).

The antiques were specifically detailed in the trust, and the jewelry was listed as one lot. The family photos, etc. were not specified in the trust.

kristianne1 said:

Sorry for the confusion.

A public conservator was appointed.

Grandma was never diagnosed with Alz, so the amendment to her trust hasn't been contested and I believe is being executed (although it is taking a long time).

The antiques were specifically detailed in the trust, and the jewelry was listed as one lot. The family photos, etc. were not specified in the trust.

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The conservator does not have control over property in trust unless via a court order. The property in trust is a trust issue requiring review of a trust attorney for any breach of the trustee's fidicuary duties, embezzelment, etc.

In one of your other threads, you stated your grandma was diagnosed with dementia (Alz).

11-14-2005, 06:50 AM
kristianne1
Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2005

grandma's house

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CA

my husband's grandparents put him and my father-in-law jtwros on title to their home over 20 years ago. their will supported this. grandpa died in 1992. in 1999 grandma was diagnosed with stage 3 alzheimer's. we moved out of grandma's house in 2000 and grandma went to live with my in-laws. the house has been empty since. in 2001 grandma signed a new will leaving everything to my father-in-law and designating him poa. in 2003 she signed a quit claim putting her 1/3 interest in the property into her living trust. we checked with a title company and they say that the house is still held jtwros, but i thought that the property automatically changes to tic with a trust?


Edit: https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?t=290410

My grandma's primary care physician administered the standard Alz. test and my grandma passed with flying colors, but her doctor did write a letter stating that my grandma was "confused" about many of the legal issues. My aunt told me that grandma had dementia, but her doctor never substantiated that claim.

The conservator was also appointed executor of the trust. Does it seem a little circuitous to hire a trust attorney to go after the conservator when it's my aunt that is the real criminal? I'm very angry with the conservator for not allowing me to see my grandma before she died because my aunt said that my grandma said that she did not want to see me. I'm also angry that irreplaceable pieces of my family's history have been greedily snatched by my aunt. Ultimately, the conservator failed when he trusted my aunt. A lot of people have made the same mistake.

(I'm sorry, I don't know how to use the quote function.)

The grandma that I refer to in that post is my husband's grandmother. Aside from these bits of drama, we are both lucky to have grandparents that lived to see 90+.

kristianne1 said:

My grandma's primary care physician administered the standard Alz. test and my grandma passed with flying colors, but her doctor did write a letter stating that my grandma was "confused" about many of the legal issues. My aunt told me that grandma had dementia, but her doctor never substantiated that claim.

The conservator was also appointed executor of the trust. Does it seem a little circuitous to hire a trust attorney to go after the conservator when it's my aunt that is the real criminal? I'm very angry with the conservator for not allowing me to see my grandma before she died because my aunt said that my grandma said that she did not want to see me. I'm also angry that irreplaceable pieces of my family's history have been greedily snatched by my aunt. Ultimately, the conservator failed when he trusted my aunt. A lot of people have made the same mistake.

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This does require review by a trust attorney. There are 2 differents "hats" here for the one person. Each "hat" is governed by different laws.

The conservator has a legal obligation to the ward and court. Once grandma told the conservator she didn't want to see you, the conservator was obligated to enforce this. He was doing his job.

kristianne1 said:

(I'm sorry, I don't know how to use the quote function.)

The grandma that I refer to in that post is my husband's grandmother. Aside from these bits of drama, we are both lucky to have grandparents that lived to see 90+.

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Thanks for clearing that up. Click on Quote at the bottom of the post you wish to reply (next to edit).

BlondiePB said:

The conservator has a legal obligation to the ward and court. Once grandma told the conservator she didn't want to see you, the conservator was obligated to enforce this. He was doing his job.

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My aunt told the conservator that she said that. Either my aunt lied or my grandma was still under the undue influence of my aunt. The conservator said that he would check with my grandma, but every time he visited her she was asleep, so he kept asking me to wait.

I appreciate your help BlondiePB. I'm still not sure if we have enough to proceed with a trust attorney, and even if I succeed at pointing a finger at the conservator, my aunt will still get away with everything.

kristianne1 said:

My aunt told the conservator that she said that. Either my aunt lied or my grandma was still under the undue influence of my aunt. The conservator said that he would check with my grandma, but every time he visited her she was asleep, so he kept asking me to wait.

I appreciate your help BlondiePB. I'm still not sure if we have enough to proceed with a trust attorney, and even if I succeed at pointing a finger at the conservator, my aunt will still get away with everything.

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Go down to the courthouse and look at grandma's conservatorship file and her trust file. Remember, you MUST differentiate between the "two hats".