Excerpt from: Mercury News (click here for full article)
A state lawmaker and a prominent advocate for the elderly and disabled are calling for greater public input, as Santa Clara County court officials consider new ways to curb fees that estate managers charge incapacitated adults.
Assemblyman Jim Beall and Sarah Triano, executive director of the Silicon Valley Independent Living Center, will hold a public hearing Wednesday in San Jose on proposed rules now before the Superior Court. The hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Alquist State Building, 100 Paseo de San Antonio.
Beall, a San Jose Democrat, said the event would allow residents to help "protect dependent adults from exorbitant conservatorship fees" first reported by this newspaper in July.
As detailed in the newspaper's investigation "Loss of Trust," court-appointed conservators, trustees, and their attorneys have charged almost $300,000 for a single year's work managing the lives of dependent adults, at rates up to $330 an hour. Court officials acted quickly after the public exposure, convening a task force just weeks after the newspaper reports, and proposing new court rules after just 21/2 months.
Comments