BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 940
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   July 2, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                    SB 940 (Jackson) - As Amended:  June 11, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                             JudiciaryVote:9-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill enacts the California Conservatorship Jurisdiction Act  
          (CCJA), which, effective January 1, 2016, enacts provisions for  
          the interstate jurisdiction, transfer, and recognition of  
          conservatorships, including:

          1)Providing conditions under which a California court has  
            jurisdiction to appoint a conservator for a proposed  
            conservatee.

          2)Providing that a California court with jurisdiction to appoint  
            a conservator may decline to exercise its jurisdiction if it  
            determines at any time that a court of another state is a more  
            appropriate forum.

          3)Requiring a court investigator, upon issuance of an order  
            provisionally granting a petition to transfer a conservatee  
            from another state, to promptly commence an investigation, as  
            specified, and prepare a report.  

          4)Establishing provisions for the transfer of a California  
            conservatorship to another state.  

          5)Requiring the court to hold a hearing on a transfer petition  
            and issue an order provisionally granting the petition unless  
            the court makes specific determinations.

          6)Authorizing courts to charge $30 for the registration of a  
            conservatorship established pursuant to the CCJA.

          7)Requiring the Judicial Council, on or before January 1, 2016,  
            to develop court rules and forms necessary for the  








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            implementation of the CCJA.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)The bill should result in neither an increase or decrease in  
            the number of conservatorship proceedings in California, but  
            should better facilitate the process when conservatorships are  
            transferred to California jurisdiction, thus resulting in a  
            net reduction in court costs.

          2)Costs for the Judicial Council to develop or modify rules of  
            courts will be minor and absorbable.

           
          COMMENTS  

           1)Background  . Conservatorships are becoming more common across  
            the United States as the number of elderly with diminished  
            capacity increases. Additionally, given our mobile society,  
            people often move from one state to another, own property or  
            conduct transactions in more than one state, or spend time in  
            different locations throughout the year. As a result,  
            conservatorship jurisdictional disputes between states are  
            increasing and raise issues relating to the transfer of a  
            conservatorship from one state to another and requests for  
            recognition in one state of a conservatorship established in  
            another state.

            To address these issues, the Uniform Law Commission in 2007  
            proposed the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective  
            Proceedings Jurisdiction Act (UAGPPJA) for enactment in all  
            states.  (In most other states, conservatorships are called  
            guardianships.)  To resolve jurisdictional issues between  
            guardianship courts of multiple states and to facilitate  
            cooperation between these courts, the UAGPPJA has now been  
            enacted in some form in 38 states, as well as Puerto Rico and  
            the District of Columbia.

            In 2011, pursuant to authorization from ACR 49 (Evans) of  
            2009, the California Law Revision Commission (CLRC) began  
            studying the UAGPPJA for potential adoption in California. The  
            CLRC modified the UAGPPJA provisions to fit California law. 

           2)Purpose  . SB 940, effective January 1, 2016, implements the  
            final version of the UAGPPJA recommended by the CLRC and  








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            establishes the California Conservatorship Jurisdiction Act.  
            The author believes that SB 940 provides clear guidance for  
            conservatorship jurisdictional and transfer issues and  
            streamlines the multi-state conservatorship process for  
            conservators, conservatees, and the courts.  Additionally, by  
            allowing state courts to communicate with each other to  
            identify pending conservatorship petitions, this bill further  
            protects elders and disabled adults from multi-state elder  
            abuse. The author contends that the UAGPPJA, and the CCJA here  
            in California, should result in reduced conservatorship  
            litigation in multiple states, reduced costs for parties  
            involved in the litigation, less financial burden on the  
            conservatorship estate, and less court procedural and  
            financial burdens.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081