Public Guardian of San Mateo

The Case of John Donovan - Nevada

I had been dad's Power of Attorney and executor for well over a decade. I was also successor trustee of his trust. Dad had been very meticulous and thought that he had everything sewn up. He had done what all of the lawyers suggested. His estate was in order....or so he thought.

The Public Guardian of San Mateo Co, Ca. became involved due to sibling disagreements, resulting in temp guardianship being granted to the Public Guardian. My brother had a change of heart, and told the judge there had been a misunderstanding, and he now supported me 100% as dad’s guardian. We thought the nightmare of the temporary conservatorship was now over and I would be appointed dad's guardian.

All of dad's family and friends agreed that I should be his guardian, and that the Public Guardian should relinquish their hold on dad. After all, they got involved because of a family squabble, and now it had been resolved amicably. The law states that family should be appointed first. If no family was able, then the Public Guardian could be appointed only as a LAST resort.

That wasn't the case however. They already had their claws into his estate and had seized all of his assets. They wanted their 3% bounty from his estate which they receive yearly.

Dad told the judge he wanted me as his guardian. The judge told dad he could travel back to NV as soon as the Public Guardian got a second opinion stating it was safe to travel. That was Jan. 2005. The second opinion should have taken no longer than two weeks. Dad stated the Public Guardian was stalling until they could permanently conserve him. They were charging him 15k per month just for care giving services. Dad could not stay in his home for long with those outrageous charges being taken from him monthly. I doubt many seniors would.

In April, my brother received notice from the doctor that dad was cleared for travel. He brought dad, and I accepted him into my home. Upon returning to dad’s home, my brother was arrested. I believe they were so angry because their plan to permanently conserve dad and sell his home at auction while keeping their portion of proceeds plus their yearly 3% of his estates worth was foiled.

Dad's permanent conservatorship hearing was scheduled for April of 2005 - the same month that my brother brought him back to me. It is highly unlikely he would have been allowed to travel so close to the date of his hearing, so it is quite apparent that their plan was to force dad to stay in California until after his hearing and then not allow him to leave the state.

After two years of fighting the Public Guardian, I am finally dad’s guardian in Nevada, but all of the money that the Public Guardian was entrusted to protect is now gone. The Public Guardian and their lawyer took ~ 60k from dad for "services" rendered for just one year, and we have just been informed that they plan to take the rest for the second accounting, so there will be nothing left to send to dad for his care.

In two years time, they haven’t spent one dime for his care, medicine, food, etc. My family has paid everything out of pocket with no reimbursement.

See also:

Conservatorships can be sadly messy