BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2493
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:  April 6, 2010

                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
                                  Mike Feuer, Chair
                 AB 2493 (Fuller) - As Introduced: February 19, 2010

                              As Proposed to Be Amended

           SUBJECT  :  CONSERVATORSHIP:  PHOTOGRAPH OF CONSERVATEE

           KEY ISSUE  :  SHOULD A CONSERVATOR BE REQUIRED TO KEEP A RECENT  
          PHOTOGRAPH OF THEIR CONSERVATEES TO HELP FIND THEM IN THE EVENT  
          THEY BECOME LOST? 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal.

                                      SYNOPSIS
          
          This bill, sponsored by the County of San Bernardino, is the  
          result of an unfortunate incident in which a conservatee went  
          missing and, although located in a neighboring county, went  
          unidentified for several months because the conservator did not  
          have an identifying photograph of the conservatee.  This bill  
          requires all conservators to have recent photographs of their  
          conservatees.  In the event that a conservatee becomes missing,  
          the photograph will be available to help identify and locate the  
          lost conservatee as quickly as possible, which will hopefully  
          speed the conservatee's safe return home.  The bill has no  
          opposition.

          SUMMARY:  Requires a conservator to keep a photograph of each  
          conservatee.  Specifically,  this bill  requires a  conservator  of  
          a person, u  pon establishment of a conservatorship and annually  
          thereafter,  to  ensure that a clear photograph of the conservatee  
          is taken and preserved for the purposes of identifying the  
          conservatee if he or she  becomes  missing  .

           EXISTING LAW  : 

          1)Allows the court to appoint a conservator to act on behalf of  
            a person who is unable to adequately provide for his or her  
            personal needs (a conservator of the person) or incapable of  
            managing his or her property or other financial assets (a  
            conservator of the estate).  (Probate Code Section 1800 et  
            seq.  Unless otherwise noted, all further references are to  








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            the Probate Code.)

          2)Provides that a conservator of the person has the care,  
            custody, and control of a conservatee, except as provided.   
            (Section 2351.)

          3)Allows the Public Guardian to be appointed for any person who  
            requires a conservator and there is no one else who is  
            qualified and willing to act.  Requires the public guardian to  
            apply for appointment as conservator in specified cases.   
            (Section 2900 et seq.) 

           COMMENTS  :  This bill, sponsored by the County of San Bernardino,  
          is the result of an unfortunate incident in which a conservatee  
          went missing and, although located in a neighboring county, went  
          unidentified for several months because the conservator did not  
          have an identifying photograph of the conservatee.  This bill  
          requires all conservators to have recent photographs of their  
          conservatees and use those photographs to identify the  
          conservatee should he or she become missing.

          According to the author, this bill is necessary because:

               Statistics show that at some point in their lives, 60  
               percent of individuals suffering from Alzheimer's  
               disease, a serious mental disorder or dementia wander  
               from their homes or long-term care facilities, often  
               without knowing their own name or address and  
               sometimes missing life-sustaining medications.  This  
               can be a problem for conservatees of the public  
               guardian-conservator.  Conservatees may wander from  
               their care facilities and disappear into the adjacent  
               community or even into other counties.  

           History of Conservatorships and Guardianships in California  .   
          California adopted its first conservatorship statute in 1957.   
          Prior to that time, the court appointed a "guardian" for any  
          person, child or adult, who was deemed "incompetent" to manage  
          his or her daily affairs.  After 1957, the law distinguished  
          between a "guardianship," created for a minor, and a  
          "conservatorship," created for an adult.  There are also  
          specific types of conservatorships for persons who are  
          considered "gravely disabled" by reason of mental illness or  
          chronic alcoholism and subject to confinement in a locked  
          psychiatric facility under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act  








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          (Welfare & Institutions Code sections 5330 et seq.) and for  
          "developmentally disabled adults" (Sections 1801(d), 1828.5, and  
          1830).   

          In 2006, in response to shocking reports of abuse of  
          California's frail and elderly, the Legislature passed the  
          Omnibus Conservatorship and Guardianship Reform Act of 2006, a  
          landmark package of bills to overhaul California's troubled  
          conservatorship system.  That legislation was designed to remedy  
          alarming deficiencies in California's conservatorship system and  
          help protect the financial, physical and emotional well-being of  
          vulnerable and dependent adults.  That reform legislation also  
          expanded the role of the Public Guardian to not only permit  
          appointment of the Public Guardian for any person "who requires  
          a guardian or conservator and there is no one else who is  
          qualified and willing to act," but also to require appointment  
          if no one else is willing to act and there is imminent threat to  
          the health or safety of the proposed ward or conservatee.   
          (Section 2920.)

           Recent, Unfortunate Case from San Bernardino County Provides  
          Need for This Bill  :  This bill is the result of a recent case in  
          San Bernardino County where police in San Bernardino County  
          picked up an elderly man with obvious medical issues, but who  
          did not have identification, could not identify himself and  
          could not be identified with fingerprints.  Only after this  
          unfortunate individual had spent several months in the county's  
          public hospital, was he finally identified as a conservatee who  
          had been reported missing in another county.  The conservator  
          had filed a missing person's report, but had no photograph to go  
          with the report.  The sponsor believes that if the conservator  
          had provided a photograph with the report, the conservatee would  
          have been identified in several days and returned to his  
          residence.

           This Bill, as Proposed to be Amended, Will Ensure that a Recent  
          Photograph of a Conservatee is Available Should the Conservatee  
          Become Missing  :  This bill requires all conservators to maintain  
          recent photographs of their conservatees.  In the event that a  
          conservatee becomes missing, the photograph will be available to  
          help identify and locate the lost conservatee as quickly as  
          possible, which will hopefully speed the conservatee's safe  
          return home.

           Proposed Amendments  :  The author proposes to delete the contents  








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          of the bill and insert:

          Section 2360 is added to the Probate Code, to read:
           
          Upon the establishment of a conservatorship by the court and  
          annually thereafter, the conservator shall ensure that a clear  
          photograph of the conservatee is taken and preserved for the  
          purpose of identifying the conservatee if he or she is missing.   

            
          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          County of San Bernardino (sponsor)

           Opposition
           
          None on file
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :  Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916) 319-2334