US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

2250.  (a) On or after the filing of a petition for appointment of a
guardian or conservator, any person entitled to petition for
appointment of the guardian or conservator may file a petition for
appointment of:
   (1) A temporary guardian of the person or estate or both.
   (2) A temporary conservator of the person or estate or both.
   (b) The petition shall state facts which establish good cause for
appointment of the temporary guardian or temporary conservator.  The
court, upon such petition or other showing as it may require, may
appoint a temporary guardian of the person or estate or both, or a
temporary conservator of the person or estate or both, to serve
pending the final determination of the court upon the petition for
the appointment of the guardian or conservator.
   (c) Unless the court for good cause otherwise orders, not less
than five days before the appointment of the temporary guardian or
temporary conservator, notice of the proposed appointment shall be
personally delivered to the proposed ward if 12 years of age or older
or to the proposed conservatee, to the parent or parents if the
proposed ward is a minor, and to any person having a valid visitation
order with the proposed ward that was effective at the time of the
filing of the petition.  In a proceeding for temporary guardianship
of the person, evidence that a custodial parent has died or become
incapacitated and that the petitioner is the nominee of the custodial
parent may constitute good cause for the court to order that this
notice not be delivered.
   (d) If a temporary guardianship is granted ex parte and the
hearing on the general guardianship petition is not to be held within
30 days of the granting of the temporary guardianship, the court
shall set a hearing within 30 days to reconsider the temporary
guardianship.  Notice of the hearing for reconsideration of the
temporary guardianship shall be provided pursuant to Section 1511,
except that the court may for good cause shorten time for notice of
the hearing.
   (e) Visitation orders with the proposed ward granted prior to the
filing of a petition for temporary guardianship shall remain in
effect, unless for good cause the court orders otherwise.
   (f) One petition may request the appointment of a guardian or
conservator and also the appointment of a temporary guardian or
conservator or these appointments may be requested in separate
petitions.
   (g) If the court suspends powers of the guardian or conservator
under Section 2334 or 2654 or under any other provision of this
division, the court may appoint a temporary guardian or conservator
to exercise those powers until the powers are restored to the
guardian or conservator or a new guardian or conservator is
appointed.
   (h) If for any reason a vacancy occurs in the office of guardian
or conservator, the court, on a petition filed under subdivision (a)
or on its own motion, may appoint a temporary guardian or conservator
to exercise the powers of the guardian or conservator until a new
guardian or conservator is appointed.



2251.  A temporary guardian or temporary conservator shall be issued
letters of temporary guardianship or conservatorship upon taking the
oath and filing the  bond as in the case of a guardian or
conservator.  The letters shall indicate the termination date of the
temporary appointment.



2252.  (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivisions (b) and (c),
a temporary guardian or temporary conservator has only those powers
and duties of a guardian or conservator that are necessary to provide
for the temporary care, maintenance, and support of the ward or
conservatee and that are necessary to conserve and protect the
property of the ward or conservatee from loss or injury.
   (b) Unless the court otherwise orders:
   (1) A temporary guardian of the person has the powers and duties
specified in Section 2353 (medical treatment).
   (2) A temporary conservator of the person has the powers and
duties specified in Section 2354 (medical treatment).
   (3) A temporary guardian of the estate or temporary conservator of
the estate may marshal assets and establish accounts at financial
institutions.
   (c) The temporary guardian or temporary conservator has the
additional powers and duties as may be ordered by the court (1) in
the order of appointment or (2) by subsequent order made with or
without notice as the court may require.  Notwithstanding subdivision
(e), those additional powers and duties may include relief granted
pursuant to Article 10 (commencing with Section 2580) of Chapter 6 if
this relief is not requested in a petition for the appointment of a
temporary conservator but is requested in a separate petition.
   (d) The terms of any order made under subdivision (b) or (c) shall
be included in the letters of temporary guardianship or
conservatorship.
   (e) A temporary conservator is not permitted to sell or
relinquish, on the conservatee's behalf, any lease or estate in real
or personal property used as or within the conservatee's place of
residence without the specific approval of the court.  This approval
may be granted only if the conservatee has been served with notice of
the hearing, the notice to be personally delivered to the temporary
conservatee unless the court for good cause otherwise orders, and
only if the court finds that the conservatee will be unable to return
to the residence and exercise dominion over it and that the action
is necessary to avert irreparable harm to the conservatee.  The
temporary conservator is not permitted to sell or relinquish on the
conservatee's behalf any estate or interest in other real or personal
property without specific approval of the court, which may be
granted only upon a finding that the action is necessary to avert
irreparable harm to the conservatee.  A finding of irreparable harm
as to real property may be based upon a reasonable showing that the
real property is vacant, that it cannot reasonably be rented, and
that it is impossible or impractical to obtain fire or liability
insurance on the property.



2253.  (a) If a temporary conservator of the person proposes to fix
the residence of the conservatee at a place other than that where the
conservatee resided prior to the commencement of the proceedings,
such power shall be requested of the court in writing, unless such
change of residence is required of the conservatee by a prior court
order.  The request shall be filed with the petition for temporary
conservatorship or, if a temporary conservatorship has already been
established, separately.  The request shall specify in particular the
place to which the temporary conservator proposes to move the
conservatee, and the precise reasons why it is believed that the
conservatee will suffer irreparable harm if such change of residence
is not permitted, and why no means less restrictive of the
conservatee's liberty will suffice to prevent such harm.
   (b) If the court so directs, the court investigator shall do all
of the following:
   (1) Interview the conservatee personally.
   (2) Inform the conservatee of the nature, purpose, and effect of
the request made under subdivision (a), and of the right of the
conservatee to oppose the request, attend the hearing, be represented
by legal counsel if the conservatee so chooses, and to have legal
counsel appointed by the court if unable to obtain legal counsel.
   (3) Determine whether the conservatee is unable to attend the
hearing because of medical inability and, if able to attend, whether
the conservatee is willing to attend the hearing.
   (4) Determine whether the conservatee wishes to oppose the
request.
   (5) Determine whether the conservatee wishes to be represented by
legal counsel at the hearing and, if so, whether the conservatee has
retained legal counsel and, if not, the name of an attorney the
proposed conservatee wishes to retain or whether the conservatee
desires the court to appoint legal counsel.
   (6) If the conservatee does not plan to retain legal counsel and
has not requested the appointment of legal counsel by the court,
determine whether the appointment of legal counsel would be helpful
to the resolution of the matter or is necessary to protect the
interests of the conservatee.
   (7) Determine whether the proposed change of place of residence is
required to prevent irreparable harm to the conservatee and whether
no means less restrictive of the conservatee's liberty will suffice
to prevent such harm.
   (8) Report to the court in writing, at least two days before the
hearing, concerning all of the foregoing, including the conservatee's
express communications concerning representation by legal counsel
and whether the conservatee is not willing to attend the hearing and
does not wish to oppose the request.
   (c) Within seven days of the date of filing of a temporary
conservator's request to remove the conservatee from his or her
previous place of residence, the court shall hold a hearing on the
request.
   (d) The conservatee shall be present at the hearing except in the
following cases:
   (1) Where the conservatee is unable to attend the hearing by
reason of medical inability.  Emotional or psychological instability
is not good cause for the absence of the conservatee from the hearing
unless, by reason of such instability, attendance at the hearing is
likely to cause serious and immediate physiological damage to the
conservatee.
   (2) Where the court investigator has reported to the court that
the conservatee has expressly communicated that the conservatee is
not willing to attend the hearing and does not wish to oppose the
request, and the court makes an order that the conservatee need not
attend the hearing.
   (e) If the conservatee is unable to attend the hearing because of
medical inability, such inability shall be established (1) by the
affidavit or certificate of a licensed medical practitioner or (2) if
the conservatee is an adherent of a  religion whose tenets and
practices call for reliance on prayer alone for healing and is under
treatment by an accredited practitioner of that religion, by the
affidavit of the practitioner.  The affidavit or certificate is
evidence only of the conservatee's inability to attend the hearing
and shall not be considered in determining the issue of need for the
establishment of a conservatorship.
   (f) At the hearing, the conservatee has the right to be
represented by counsel and the right to confront and cross-examine
any witness presented by or on behalf of the temporary conservator
and to present evidence on his or her own behalf.
   (g) The court may approve the request to remove the conservatee
from the previous place of residence only if the court finds (1) that
change of residence is required to prevent irreparable harm to the
conservatee and (2) that no means less restrictive of the conservatee'
s liberty will suffice to prevent such harm.  If an order is made
authorizing the temporary conservator to remove the conservatee from
the previous place of residence, the order shall specify the specific
place wherein the temporary conservator is authorized to place the
conservatee.  The temporary conservator may not be authorized to
remove the conservatee from this state unless it is additionally
shown that such removal is required to permit the performance of
specified nonpsychiatric medical treatment, consented to by the
conservatee, which is essential to the conservatee's physical
survival.  A temporary conservator who willfully removes a temporary
conservatee from this state without authorization of the court is
guilty of a felony.
   (h) Subject to subdivision (e) of Section 2252, the court shall
also order the temporary conservator to take all reasonable steps to
preserve the status quo concerning the conservatee's previous place
of residence.



2254.  (a) Notwithstanding Section 2253, a temporary conservator may
remove a temporary conservatee from the temporary conservatee's
place of residence without court authorization if an emergency
exists.  For the purposes of this section, an emergency exists if the
temporary conservatee's place of residence is unfit for habitation
or if the temporary conservator determines in good faith based upon
medical advice that the case is an emergency case in which removal
from the place of residence is required (1) to provide medical
treatment needed to alleviate severe pain or (2) to diagnose or treat
a medical condition which, if not immediately diagnosed and treated,
will lead to serious disability or death.
   (b) No later than one judicial day after the emergency removal of
the temporary conservatee, the temporary conservator shall file a
written request pursuant to Section 2253 for authorization to fix the
residence of the temporary conservatee at a place other than the
temporary conservatee's previous place of residence.
   (c) Nothing in this chapter prevents a temporary conservator from
removing a temporary conservatee from the place of residence to a
health facility for treatment without court authorization when the
temporary conservatee has given informed consent to the removal.
   (d) Nothing in this chapter prevents a temporary conservator from
removing a temporary conservatee without court authorization from one
health facility where the conservatee is receiving medical care to
another health facility where the conservatee will receive medical
care.


2255.  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), an inventory and
appraisal of the estate shall be filed by the temporary guardian or
temporary conservator of the estate as required by Article 2
(commencing with Section 2610) of Chapter  7.
   (b) A temporary guardian or temporary conservator of the estate
may inventory the estate in the final account, without the necessity
for an appraisal of the estate, if the final account is filed within
90 days after the appointment of the temporary guardian or temporary
conservator.


2256.  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the temporary
guardian or temporary conservator of the estate shall present his or
her account to the court for settlement and allowance within 90 days
after the appointment of a guardian or conservator of the estate or
within such other time as the court may fix.
   (b) If the temporary guardian or temporary conservator of the
estate is appointed guardian or conservator of the estate, the
guardian or conservator may account for the administration as
temporary guardian or temporary conservator in his or her first
regular account.
   (c) Accounts are subject to Sections 2621 to 2626, inclusive,
Sections 2630 to 2633, inclusive, and Sections 2640 to 2642,
inclusive.



2257.  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the powers of a
temporary guardian or temporary conservator terminate (except for the
rendering of the account) at the earliest of the following times:
   (1) The time the temporary guardian or conservator acquires notice
that a guardian or conservator is appointed and qualified.
   (2) Thirty days after the appointment of the temporary guardian or
temporary conservator or such earlier time as the court may specify
in the order of appointment.
   (b) With or without notice as the court may require, the court may
for good cause order that the time for the termination of the powers
of the temporary guardian or temporary conservator be extended
pending final determination by the court of the petition for
appointment of a guardian or conservator or pending the final
decision on appeal therefrom or for other cause.  The order which
extends the time for termination shall fix the time when the powers
of the temporary guardian or temporary conservator terminate except
for the rendering of the account.



2258.  A temporary guardian or temporary conservator is subject to
the provisions of this division governing the suspension, removal,
resignation, and discharge of a guardian or conservator.