CO: Bill Would Clarify Conservator Laws

The clash in the case of a man who came back from a coma could spill over into Colorado's legislative halls next year.

Probate lawyers are working on a bill that would help define how much and when they can be paid.

Chester "Skip" Morgan, Matthew Keenan's attorney, said they are trying to codify into Colorado law the decision a Boulder judge made in Keenan's case — that his former conservator, Colorado State Bank and Trust, and its lawyers deserved to be paid because the bank acted "in good faith" when it opposed Keenan's petition to drop it as his conservator.

The stakes in that case are growing. Keenan, who recovered from a coma and successfully petitioned to lose his guardian and change conservators, asked for a refund of about $65,000 that the bank had spent challenging him in court. In a 2009 trial, the bank successfully argued that it was acting reasonably — and won an additional $222,000 for its costs and legal fees in that case.

"You can fight him and say, 'I didn't think he was ready,' and that's good enough for good faith," Morgan said. "That shouldn't happen to anybody, ever, ever again."

Marc Darling, the lawyer spearheading proposed revisions to the payment rules for guardians, conservators, trustees, estate representatives and others involved in probate cases, calls it "a comprehensive rewrite of the compensation structure" intended to clarify and simplify court decisions.

He said the project was undertaken partly at the request of judges, who found the existing statutes scattered and confusing and wanted laws dealing with payments consolidated in one place. It also sets forth, for the first time, a procedure for resolving fee disputes, he said.

The draft proposal allows court-appointed fiduciaries to charge a percentage of an estate instead of an hourly rate for work, a change that some critics fear will lead to client-gouging.

The current draft also troubles the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, an advocacy group for people with disabilities.

"It still will allow someone to use your money to fight you," said Julie Reiskin, its executive director. "I'm not OK with that."

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Bill Would Clarify Conservator Laws