Having a parent, grandparent, or close friend that is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia can seem overwhelming. However, if you begin planning for their future early, many of the difficulties associated with the disease can be avoided. In addition, the sooner planning begins, the more the person affected can participate. The Importance of Legal Planning Early legal and financial planning for your loved one helps to keep costs (and stress) at a minimum going forward. It also allows the person with dementia to express their own wishes for future care, as well as be involved in choosing decis ..read more

When I was a senior in high school in 1998 and “Baby One More Time” came out, I could have never imagined the effect that Britney Spears would have on my future professional life! Now that her story is burning up social media, conservatorships have been a hot topic in the news cycle. The circumstances of Spears's own conservatorship represent a once-in-a-lifetime, extreme situation that is miles away from anything that I have seen in over fifteen years of conservatorship practice in California. Nonetheless, her case is creating tangible changes in conservatorship law. For instance, Californi ..read more

Tom Girardi is a famous LA attorney, who, before late last year was perhaps best known for his role in the real life “Erin Brockovich” story. He is also known to many as the husband of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Erika Girardi. More recently, however, Mr. Girardi has become known for the massive fraud he perpetrated against his clients - namely the misappropriation of $2 million in settlement funds meant for the families of plane crash victims. Prior to last week I was unaware of the huge Hollywood scandal surrounding Mr. Girardi. But when his brother, Robert Girardi, petitioned ..read more

Tiger King!  Netflix’s hottest new show right now that everybody is streaming!  On March 20, 2020, Netflix put out a new show that discusses large cat zoos in America.  In episode 3, they discuss Carole Baskin, who runs Big Cat Rescue in Florida, in depth.   The whole storyline in episode 3 is that Carole Baskin murdered her husband and fed him to the tigers.  Crazy, right? Since everything in this story is insane, it doesn’t really stand out. However, the filmmakers do spend an entire episode discussing it.  The basic story is that in 1997, Baskin’s husband ..read more

By Glenn Francis - Britney Spears, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26447539 Is Britney ready to take on her life without a conservatorship?  The biggest pop star of the millennium is back in the headlines after canceling her return to Las Vegas for her new show Britney: Domination and announcing an indefinite work hiatus. She checked into a mental health facility for a few weeks and rumors over her unhappiness at the continued control of her father have reignited the #FreeBritney campaign.   In 2008 Jamie Spears, Britney’s father, petitioned the court f ..read more

The Conservatorship of celebrity Amanda Bynes has been in and out of the California probate courts since 2013. Recently, Bynes’ Conservatorship of the Person was extended, while the Conservatorship of the Estate was terminated. Here’s a brief synopsis of how her Conservatorship has played out, and what we can learn from her experience. Amanda Bynes was a promising child star who dominated her peer teen demographic until her breakdown played out in front of millions on her Twitter feed. A starring role in the feature film Big Fat Liar, her WB show, What I Like About You, The Amanda Show, a spi ..read more

Vanity Fair recently published a new article, “It is Not a Coincidence: With 75 million on the line, the Redstone Family declares Sumner incompetent.” If you’re unfamiliar, Sumner Redstone is the Hollywood Mogul billionaire at the helm of a media empire that includes CBS and Viacom. For the past several years, Sumner has been at the center of multiple court cases in Southern California. Primarily at issue is his mental competence. Now 95 year old, questions around Sumner’s ability to make his own decisions – and those for his business - have thrown the family - and the company into an ongoing ..read more

http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/ABSTRACTS/GPN-2001-000013.html The children of Buzz Aldrin, former astronaut, are trying to obtain guardianship over him in a Florida court - and he's fighting back. According to the Wall Street Journal, Andrew and Janice Aldrin say their father is in "cognitive decline" and a guardianship is necessary. Aldrin and his attorneys responded with a lawsuit accusing son Andrew and business manager Christina Korp of elder exploitation, and daughter Janice of "conspiracy and breach of fiduciary duty."  In a recent interview, Aldrin stated: “Nobody is going to come close ..read more

Conservatorship (called Guardianship for minors) becomes necessary in a variety of circumstances, most commonly due to a lack of mental capacity. When a Conservatorship is needed, someone must step in to fulfill the role of Conservator. A Conservator is charged with the (often difficult) task of caring for the well being of another. Acting as Conservator for another can be a daunting and time consuming responsibility. This is why some family members choose to have a Professional Conservator.  What is a Conservatorship under California Law? For older adults, a Conservatorship is a legal p ..read more

On a recent trip to visit family friends, I had the opportunity to hear the story of a dear friend's older sister who had recently passed away. My friend was kind enough to allow me to share that story here. As I do not share the personal stories of my clients, I felt this was a good opportunity to illustrate one way that Conservatorships can be used to protect individuals who can no longer care for themselves. Let's call my friend Sally and her sister Anne. Sally's sister Anne had long been suffering from severe mental health issues. Over time, Anne also developed early onset dementia. Event ..read more