2005 California Probate Code Sections 2850-2855 CHAPTER 13. STATEWIDE REGISTRY

2850.  (a) (1) The Department of Justice shall maintain a Statewide
Registry and shall make all information in the registry available to
the court for any purpose, but shall otherwise  keep this information
confidential, except as provided in this section.
   (2) (A) On request, the registry  shall disclose to the public
the following:
   (i) Whether an individual is or is not registered with the
Statewide Registry.
   (ii) Whether the Statewide Registry contains any information filed
pursuant to subdivision (d) for a specific individual regarding his
or her duties as a conservator, guardian, or trustee.
   (iii) The educational background and professional experience of an
individual registered with the Statewide Registry.
   (B) Upon written request by a member of the public, the registry
shall provide access to any information filed with the registry
pursuant to subdivision (d) regarding a conservator, guardian, or
trustee.
   (3) Except as otherwise provided in Section 2854, all persons who
wish to serve as a conservator, guardian, or trustee or who are
currently serving as a conservator, guardian, or trustee shall
register with the Statewide Registry and shall reregister every three
years thereafter.  "Registration" means the filing of a declaration
pursuant to subdivision (b).
   (b) All conservators, guardians, and trustees required to file
information with the clerk of the court pursuant to Section 2340 or
required to register pursuant to this chapter shall file a signed
declaration with the Statewide Registry.  A person who signs a
declaration pursuant to this subdivision asserting the truth of any
material matter which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to one year in a county
jail, or a fine of not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000), or
both that fine and imprisonment.  The declaration shall contain the
following information:
   (1) Full name.
   (2) Professional name, if different from paragraph (1).
   (3) Business address.
   (4) Business telephone number or numbers.
   (5) His or her educational background and professional experience,
including verification of any college or graduate degree claimed.
   (6) The names of the conservator's current conservatees, the
guardian's current wards, or the current trusts administered by the
trustee.
   (7) The aggregate dollar value of all assets currently under the
conservator's, guardian's, or trustee's supervision.
   (8) Whether he or she has ever been removed for cause or resigned
as conservator, guardian, or trustee in a specific case, the
circumstances of that removal or resignation, and the case names,
court locations, and case numbers.
   (9) In the case of a private professional conservator or a private
professional guardian, compliance with the educational requirements
established by the Judicial Council for private professional
conservators and private professional guardians.
   (c) The Department of Justice may charge a reasonable fee to
persons registering and reregistering with the Statewide Registry for
the cost of that registration.  The Department of Justice shall
issue a certificate of registration to each registrant.
   (d) If a court makes a finding that a conservator, guardian, or
trustee has not properly performed the duties of a conservator,
guardian, or trustee, and that finding results in an order for a
surcharge for other than nominal damages or for removal of the
conservator, guardian, or trustee, the court clerk shall forward a
copy of  the court's findings and order to the Statewide Registry,
which shall include this information in the file of that conservator,
guardian, or trustee.
2851.  (a) A court may not appoint a person as a conservator,
guardian, or trustee unless that person, if required to register
under Section 2850, is registered with the Statewide Registry.
   (b) Any person serving as a conservator or guardian prior to
January 1, 2000, who does not register with the Statewide Registry by
either January 1, 2001, or by the date of the next required review
pursuant to Section 1850, whichever is sooner, shall be removed as a
conservator or guardian by the court.  A trustee required to register
under Section 2850 who has not registered with the Statewide
Registry on or before January 1, 2005, shall be removed as a trustee
by the court, unless the court finds reasonable grounds not to do so.
  If the court finds reasonable grounds exist for not removing the
trustee for failing to register on or before January 1, 2005, the
court shall order the trustee to register with the Statewide Registry
within 90 days of the court's order and shall remove the trustee if
the trustee has failed to register at the end of the 90-day period.
   (c) In appointing, continuing the appointment, or removing a
person as conservator, guardian, or trustee, the court shall examine
and consider the information contained in the Statewide Registry for
that person.  The information contained in the Statewide Registry
shall be made available to the court for this purpose, but shall
otherwise be kept confidential, except as provided by law.
2852.  (a) Any person required to register under Section 2850 who
serves as a conservator, guardian, or trustee without being
registered with the Statewide Registry, who commits fraud in
registering, who falsely asserts that he or she is registered, or who
makes false claims or representations as to the nature of his or her
file contained in the registry, shall be subject to a civil penalty
in the amount of two hundred dollars ($200) for the first violation
and a civil penalty in the amount of five hundred dollars ($500) for
each subsequent violation, to be assessed and collected in a civil
action brought by the Department of Justice.  All civil penalties
collected shall be deposited in the General Fund.  A person who
lawfully delays registration pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
2851 shall not be subject to a civil penalty for serving as a
conservator, guardian, or trustee without being registered until the
time that subdivision (b) of Section 2851 authorizes his or her
removal for failure to register.
   (b) Any court that removes a conservator, guardian, or trustee for
cause, and any court that has accepted the resignation of a
conservator, guardian, or trustee, shall notify the Statewide
Registry of that removal or resignation and the reason therefor.  The
courts shall consider that information prior to the appointment of a
person or entity pursuant to a subsequent petition for appointment
as conservator, guardian, or trustee.
2853.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, in cases
of urgency, where circumstances and justice warrant the appointment
of a conservator, guardian, or trustee and time is limited, a court
may appoint a person as conservator, guardian, or trustee without
consulting the Statewide Registry or requiring registration prior to
appointment.
2854.  (a) This chapter does not apply to any public conservator or
public guardian with regard to his or her official acts in that
capacity.
   (b) This chapter does not apply to any conservator, guardian, or
trustee when the person is related to the conservatee, ward, or
trustor by blood, marriage, adoption, registered domestic
partnership, or a relationship that satisfies the requirements of
subdivision (a) and paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, and paragraph
(6) of subdivision (b) of Section 297 of the Family Code.
   (c) This chapter does not apply to any trustee who is serving for
the benefit of not more than three people or not more than three
families, or a combination of people or families that does not total
more than three. The number of trust beneficiaries does not count for
the purposes of calculating if a trustee falls within this
exclusion. A trust excluded under subdivision (a) or (b) does not
count for the purpose of calculating if a trustee falls within this
exclusion. For the purposes of this subdivision, family means people
who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, registered domestic
partnership, or a relationship that satisfies the requirements of
subdivision (a) and paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, and paragraph
(6) of subdivision (b) of Section 297 of the Family Code.
   (d) This chapter does not apply to any conservator or guardian who
is not required to file information with the clerk of the court
pursuant to Section 2340, to any person or entity subject to the
oversight of a local government, including an employee of a city,
county, or city and county, or to any person or entity subject to the
oversight of the state or federal government, including an attorney
licensed to practice law in the State of California who acts as
trustee of only attorney client trust accounts, as defined in Section
6211 of the Business and Professions Code.
   (e) This chapter does not apply to any conservator who resided in
the same home with the conservatee immediately prior to the condition
or event that gave rise to the necessity of a conservatorship. This
subdivision does not create any order or preference of appointment,
but simply exempts a conservator described by this subdivision from
registration.
   (f) This chapter does not apply to a trustee who is any of the
following:
   (1) Trust companies, as defined in Section 83.
   (2) FDIC-insured institutions, their holding companies,
subsidiaries, or affiliates. For the purposes of this paragraph,
"affiliate" means any entity that shares an ownership interest with
or that is under the common control of, the FDIC-insured institution.
   (3) Employees of any entity listed in paragraph (1) or (2) while
serving as trustees in the scope of their duties.
2855.  It is the intent of the Legislature that both:
   (a) Counties that provide for registration of conservators,
guardians, or trustees continue to do so, and that the Statewide
Registry not replace county registration.
   (b) Courts maintain oversight over the complaint process in order
to safeguard the reputations of conservators, guardians, and trustees
against unfounded complaints.
   (c) A conservator, guardian, or trustee who is reregistering with
the Statewide Registry, after having met all the requirements stated
in Section 2850, not be required to reverify previously claimed
college or graduate degrees.