Public Administrator The Public Administrator (PA) is a legally mandated office of Alameda County government. The PA serves in a fiduciary capacity to marshal and distribute the assets of estates of county residents who have passed away and no personal representative is appointed as administrator. The Public Administrator only gets involved when there is no one else with higher authority to act. The PA investigates and may administer estates when there is a decedent of Alameda County with:
• no next of kin; • no will or named executor; • when there is not a qualified person willing to assume the responsibility; or
• when appointed by the court because of a
contested will or other extraordinary situation.
The services include: • thorough searches for next of kin; • making appropriate arrangements for disposition of the body; • identifying and protecting assets; • notifying creditors and paying debts if the estate is solvent; • paying the expenses of administration; and • distributing the balance of the estate to the decedent’s heirs or beneficiaries. Referrals to the Public Administrator may be made by governmental agencies, the Probate Court, mortuaries, skilled nursing facilities, hospitals, creditors of the estate, family members, or others who are not able to act in this capacity.
IMPORTANT NUMBERS PUBLIC GUARDIAN-CONSERVATOR Probate Conservatorship Referrals (510) 577-3585 Mental Health (LPS) Conservatorship (510) 577-7045 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR (510) 577-3539
Department of Adult & Aging Services Division of Aging & Adult Protection
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR PUBLIC GUARDIAN-CONSERVATOR
COURT INVESTIGATOR’S OFFICE (If a conservatorship currently exists in Alameda County) (510) 636-8820 TO REPORT SUSPECTED ABUSE OR NEGLECT Adult Protective Services (510) 577-3500 or (866) 225-5277 FOR LEGAL ASSISTANCE & INFORMATION Legal Assistance for Seniors (510) 832-3040 California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR) (800) 474-1116 Bay Area Legal Aid (800) 551-5554
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR (510) 577-3539 PROBATE CONSERVATORSHIP (510) 577-3585
Senior Information & Assistance (800) 510-2020 or (510) 577-3530
LPS CONSERVATORSHIP (510) 577-7045
District Attorney Victim-Witness Division (510) 272-6180
www.alamedasocialservices.org
Probate Conservatorships
What is a conservatorship?
Mental Health (LPS)* Conservatorship
A probate conservatorship is administered in accordance with the California Government Code, California Probate Code and Local Rules of Court. Probate conservatorships are established for persons who cannot handle their own finances and/or care for themselves. The conservatorship may be of the person, the estate, or the person and estate. Additional powers may be sought for medical decision-making and dementia authority.
The Public Guardian-Conservator (PG-C) manages Probate and LPS (mental health) conservatorships for Alameda County residents who have been adjudicated by the Superior Court to either lack capacity to manage finances and/or health care, or to be gravely disabled due to mental illness or substance abuse. A conservatorship is a legal arrangement in which an adult oversees the personal care or financial matters of another adult considered incapable of managing alone.
Referrals for an LPS conservatorship are made by a mental health professional from an approved locked acute psychiatric facility. Individuals are referred to the PG-C for the purpose of continuing hospitalization and consenting to psychiatric treatment. Referrals for Murphy conservatorships may only be made by the Criminal Court Division of the Superior Court. LPS Conservatorships are appropriate when a gravely disabled individual needs mental health treatment in a locked psychiatric facility but will not voluntarily consent to treatment. LPS conservatorships may include estate authority.
Referrals for Probate Conservatorships Anyone can initiate a referral to the Public GuardianConservator’s Office for a probate conservatorship investigation. Adults with developmental disabilities or cognitive impairment can be conserved under a probate conservatorship. Referrals to this Office are appropriate when individuals are unable to manage money or health care decisions and have no legal arrangement in place and/or no one in the family to take over. The Public Guardian may also be appointed if a private conservator is removed by the court.
How Does the Public GuardianConservator Manage Conservatorships? The office of the Public Guardian-Conservator is staffed with Deputy Public Guardian-ConservatorInvestigators who conduct initial conservatorship investigations and where appropriate, make referrals to the Superior Court for requesting appointment of conservatorship. They also manage the caseloads of established conservatorships and trusts. Duties include identifying and marshaling the conservatee’s income and assets, creating a budget for expenditures, paying the bills from estate funds, and monitoring the quality of care received by conservatees residing in their own home or in supervised settings such as residential care facilities, nursing homes, psychiatric settings and hospitals. Status Reports and accountings are prepared and submitted to the Superior Court as required by statute.
*Named for the California legislators Lanterman, Petris and Short, who authored the legislation.
Murphy Conservatorships The incapacitated person is the “conservatee.” The person who takes over is the “conservator.” A California conservatorship must be formally established by the Superior Court and can only be ended by the Superior Court. Conservatorships are only appropriate when an individual has no suitable person and/or no legal arrangement (such as a Power of Attorney or Trustee) in place to act for the individual when they become incapacitated or require involuntary mental health treatment. Conservatorship is an extreme remedy and the alternative of last resort. All activities in the management of a conservatorship are subject to review by the Superior Court. Co-located with the Adult Protective Services (APS), the PG-C works in partnership with APS to protect individuals who are victims of financial abuse or exploitation and who are unable to protect themselves. Deputy County Counsels (attorneys) assigned to the PG-C can sometimes use civil remedies to recover misappropriated funds. The PG-C also collaborates with the District Attorney’s office in the prosecution of felony elder abuse offenders and on the establishment of LPS-Murphy conservatorships.
Murphy conservatorships, a type of LPS conservatorship, are appropriate when criminal defendants, as a result of mental illness, are deemed incompetent to participate in felony proceedings against them but require ongoing mental health treatment due to grave disability, dangerousness and for public safety.
Community Conservatorships The Community Conservatorship Program is an innovative program built upon a collaboration between of the Alameda County Public GuardianConservator (LPS Unit), the Public Defender, the Superior Court, Alameda County Behavioral Health, County Counsel and the acute and subacute care facilities of Alameda County to serve clients. The program provides a supportive community based system for LPS conservatees to access services designed to guide and direct them towards stabilization while living in the least restrictive setting. The target population for the program are adult residents of Alameda County who, through clinical assessment, both meet LPS criteria for grave disability and could safely stabilize within the community with intensive wraparound services in place.