BILL ANALYSIS
SB 308
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Date of Hearing: July 15, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
SB 308 (Harman) - As Amended: June 15, 2009
Policy Committee:
JudiciaryVote:10-0 (Consent)
Business and Professions 10-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill:
1)Clarifies who is a "professional fiduciary" for purposes of
state regulation under the Professional Fiduciaries Act (PFA).
2)Reinstates previously repealed provisions defining in statute
how to count degrees of kinship and consanguinity for purposes
of probate and related matters.
FISCAL EFFECT
Negligible fiscal impact.
COMMENTS
1)Background . In 2006, the Legislature enacted a package of
bills to reform the conservatorship system in California.
Major features of the reforms:
a) increased frequency of court review of
conservatorships;
b) broadened scope of court investigators'
reports;
c) specified procedures for the sale of a
conservatee's primary residence; and
d) established the regulation and licensing of
SB 308
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private professional fiduciaries. These measures
followed a series of articles in the media revealing
widespread abuse of vulnerable elders and dependent
adults by conservators and deficiencies in the courts'
oversight of conservatorships.
Among the reform measures, SB 1550 (Figueroa)\Chapter 491,
established the PFA for the purpose of licensing and
regulating individuals who act as conservators, guardians,
trustees, personal representatives, or agents under a durable
power of attorney for health care or for finances, for two or
more persons unrelated to the professional fiduciary or to
each other. Those employed by banks and trust companies and
public agency fiduciaries (public guardians and public
conservators), when acting in the course of their official
duties, are exempt from this regulatory scheme. The
Professional Fiduciaries Bureau, within the Department of
Consumer Affairs, administers and enforces the PFA.
2 Purpose . This bill, sponsored by the California Judges
Association, makes technical and clarifying amendments to the
PFA with regards to conservators, guardians, and trustees who
may qualify as professional fiduciaries under the PFA.
As recommended by the California Law Revisions Commission
(CLRC), this bill also provides guidance, for the entire
Probate Code, on how to determine kinship or consanguinity and
how to calculate degrees of kinship. In 1982, the CLRC
recommended repealing these same provisions, believing they
were unnecessary for purposes of the law governing wills and
intestate succession. Since then, many other pieces of
legislation have returned the concept of degree of kinship and
consanguinity to the Probate Code, and it is now relevant to
again provide such guidance. The definitions in this bill are
consistent with the repealed statutes.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081