Just one day after a group Santa Clara County justice officials, California state lawmakers, and estate managers met to discuss how to deal with excessive probate fees comes a step in the right direction with tightened court rules by probate judge Thomas Cain.
Judge Cain has begun to implement these new rules that will now require court-appointed fiduciaries to begin filing statements of fees and activities on a monthly basis. This will allow for better accounting of what they are charging and how they are handling the financial affairs of their clients. Previously, court-appointed fiduciaries had one year to present their initial fees for approval and then an additional two years after that. Hopefully these new reporting rules will help to prevent elderly and disabled people from being taken advantage of and having their entire life savings depleted.
These changes will be closely monitored in order to determine whether or not to implement new changes at a state wide level. Changes that could include capping hourly rates and disallowing certain legal service fees.
For more information on creating estate documents where you can appoint someone you trust as a fiduciary instead of someone being appointed by a court, please contact a professional estate litigation Attorney.
*This blog entry was not written by an Attorney and should not be constituted as professional legal advice.