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
AB 2493
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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