1850-1853

PROBATE CODE
SECTION 1850-1853




1850.  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), each
conservatorship initiated pursuant to this part shall be reviewed by
the court as follows:
   (1) At the expiration of six months after the initial appointment
of the conservator, the court investigator shall visit the
conservatee, conduct an investigation in accordance with the
provisions of subdivision (a) of Section 1851, and report to the
court regarding the appropriateness of the conservatorship and
whether the conservator is acting in the best interests of the
conservatee regarding the conservatee's placement, quality of care,
including physical and mental treatment, and finances. The court may,
in response to the investigator's report, take appropriate action
including, but not limited to:
   (A) Ordering a review of the conservatorship pursuant to
subdivision (b).
   (B) Ordering the conservator to submit an accounting pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 2620.
   (2) One year after the appointment of the conservator and annually
thereafter. However, at the review that occurs one year after the
appointment of the conservator, and every subsequent review conducted
pursuant to this paragraph, the court may set the next review in two
years if the court determines that the conservator is acting in the
best interest interests of the conservatee. In these cases, the court
shall require the investigator to conduct an investigation pursuant
to subdivision (a) of Section 1851 one year before the next review
and file a status report in the conservatee's court file regarding
whether the conservatorship still appears to be warranted and whether
the conservator is acting in the best interests of the conservatee.
If the investigator determines pursuant to this investigation that
the conservatorship still appears to be warranted and that the
conservator is acting in the best interests of the conservatee
regarding the conservatee's placement, quality of care, including
physical and mental treatment, and finances, no hearing or court
action in response to the investigator's report is required.
   (b) The court may, on its own motion or upon request by any
interested person, take appropriate action including, but not limited
to, ordering a review of the conservatorship, including at a noticed
hearing, and ordering the conservator to present an accounting of
the assets of the estate pursuant to Section 2620.
   (c) Notice of a hearing pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be
provided to all persons listed in subdivision (b) of Section 1822.
   (d) This chapter does not apply to either of the following:
   (1) A conservatorship for an absentee as defined in Section 1403.
   (2) A conservatorship of the estate for a nonresident of this
state where the conservatee is not present in this state.
   (e) The amendments made to this section by the act adding this
subdivision shall become operative on July 1, 2007.



1850.5.  (a) Notwithstanding Section 1850, each limited
conservatorship for a developmentally disabled adult, as defined in
subdivision (d) of Section 1801, shall be reviewed by the court one
year after the appointment of the conservator and biennially
thereafter.
   (b) The court may, on its own motion or upon request by any
interested person, take appropriate action, including, but not
limited to, ordering a review of the limited conservatorship,
including at a noticed hearing, at any time.



1851.  (a) When court review is required pursuant to Section 1850,
the court investigator shall, without prior notice to the conservator
except as ordered by the court for necessity or to prevent harm to
the conservatee, visit the conservatee. The court investigator shall
inform the conservatee personally that the conservatee is under a
conservatorship and shall give the name of the conservator to the
conservatee. The court investigator shall determine whether the
conservatee wishes to petition the court for termination of the
conservatorship, whether the conservatee is still in need of the
conservatorship, whether the present conservator is acting in the
best interests of the conservatee, and whether the conservatee is
capable of completing an affidavit of voter registration. In
determining whether the conservator is acting in the best interests
of the conservatee, the court investigator's evaluation shall include
an examination of the conservatee's placement, the quality of care,
including physical and mental treatment, and the conservatee's
finances. To the extent practicable, the investigator shall review
the accounting with a conservatee who has sufficient capacity. To the
greatest extent possible, the court investigator shall interview
individuals set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 1826, in order to
determine if the conservator is acting in the best interests of the
conservatee. If the court has made an order under Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 1870), the court investigator shall
determine whether the present condition of the conservatee is such
that the terms of the order should be modified or the order revoked.
Upon request of the court investigator, the conservator shall make
available to the court investigator during the investigation for
inspection and copying all books and records, including receipts and
any expenditures, of the conservatorship.
   (b) (1) The findings of the court investigator, including the
facts upon which the findings are based, shall be certified in
writing to the court not less than 15 days prior to the date of
review. A copy of the report shall be mailed to the conservator and
to the attorneys of record for the conservator and conservatee at the
same time it is certified to the court. A copy of the report,
modified as set forth in paragraph (2), also shall be mailed to the
conservatee's spouse or registered domestic partner, the conservatee'
s relatives in the first degree, and if there are no such relatives,
to the next closest relative, unless the court determines that the
mailing will result in harm to the conservatee.
   (2) Confidential medical information and confidential information
from the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System shall
be in a separate attachment to the report and shall not be provided
in copies sent to the conservatee's spouse or registered domestic
partner, the conservatee's relatives in the first degree, and if
there are no such relatives, to the next closest relative.
   (c) In the case of a limited conservatee, the court investigator
shall make a recommendation regarding the continuation or termination
of the limited conservatorship.
   (d) The court investigator may personally visit the conservator
and other persons as may be necessary to determine whether the
present conservator is acting in the best interests of the
conservatee.
   (e) The report required by this section shall be confidential and
shall be made available only to parties, persons described in
subdivision (b), persons given notice of the petition who have
requested the report or who have appeared in the proceeding, their
attorneys, and the court. The court shall have discretion at any
other time to release the report if it would serve the interests of
the conservatee. The clerk of the court shall make provision for
limiting disclosure of the report exclusively to persons entitled
thereto under this section.
   (f) The amendments made to this section by the act adding this
subdivision shall become operative on July 1, 2007.



1851.2.  Each court shall coordinate investigations with the filing
of accountings, so that investigators may review accountings before
visiting conservatees, if feasible.



1851.5.  Each court shall assess each conservatee in the county for
any investigation or review conducted by a court investigator with
respect to that person. The court may order reimbursement to the
court for the amount of the assessment, unless the court finds that
all or any part of the assessment would impose a hardship on
conservatee or the conservatee's estate. There shall be a rebuttable
presumption that the assessment would impose a hardship if the
conservatee is receiving Medi-Cal benefits.



1852.  If the conservatee wishes to petition the court for
termination of the conservatorship or for removal of the existing
conservator or for the making, modification, or revocation of a court
order under Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 1870) or for
restoration of the right to register to vote, or if, based on
information contained in the court investigator's report or obtained
from any other source, the court determines that a trial or hearing
for termination of the conservatorship or removal of the existing
conservator is in the best interests of the conservatee, the court
shall notify the attorney of record for the conservatee, if any, or
shall appoint the public defender or private counsel under Section
1471, to file the petition and represent the conservatee at the trial
or hearing and, if such appointment is made, Section 1472 applies.



1853.  (a) If the court investigator is unable to locate the
conservatee, the court shall order the court investigator to serve
notice upon the conservator of the person, or upon the conservator of
the estate if there is no conservator of the person, in the manner
provided in Section 415.10 or 415.30 of the Code of Civil Procedure
or in such other manner as is ordered by the court, to make the
conservatee available for the purposes of Section 1851 to the court
investigator within 15 days of the receipt of such notice or to show
cause why the conservatorship should not be terminated.
   (b) If the conservatee is not made available within the time
prescribed, unless good cause is shown for not doing so, the court
shall make such a finding and shall enter judgment terminating the
conservatorship and, in case of a conservatorship of the estate,
shall order the conservator to file an account and to surrender the
estate to the person legally entitled thereto. At the hearing, or
thereafter on further notice and hearing, the conservator may be
discharged and the bond given by the conservator may be exonerated
upon the settlement and approval of the conservator's final account
by the court.
   (c) Termination of the conservatorship under this section does not
preclude institution of new proceedings for the appointment of a
conservator. Nothing in this section limits the power of a court to
appoint a temporary conservator under Chapter 3 (commencing with
Section 2250) of Part 4.