SECTIONS 2100-2113 - California Statutes

PROBATE CODE

SECTION 2100-2113

2100. Guardianships and conservatorships are governed by Division 3
(commencing with Section 1000), except to the extent otherwise
expressly provided by statute, and by this division. If no specific
provision of this division is applicable, the provisions applicable
to administration of estates of decedents govern so far as they are
applicable to like situations.

2101. The relationship of guardian and ward and of conservator and
conservatee is a fiduciary relationship that is governed by the law
of trusts, except as provided in this division.

2102. A guardian or conservator is subject to the regulation and
control of the court in the performance of the duties of the office.

2103. (a) When a judgment or order made pursuant to this division
becomes final, it releases the guardian or conservator and the
sureties from all claims of the ward or conservatee and of any
persons affected thereby based upon any act or omission directly
authorized, approved, or confirmed in the judgment or order. For the
purposes of this section, "order" includes an order settling an
account of the guardian or conservator, whether an intermediate or
final account.
(b) This section does not apply where the judgment or order is
obtained by fraud or conspiracy or by misrepresentation contained in
the petition or account or in the judgment or order as to any
material fact. For the purposes of this subdivision,
misrepresentation includes, but is not limited to, the omission of a
material fact.

2104. (a) A nonprofit charitable corporation may be appointed as a
guardian or conservator of the person or estate, or both, if all of
the following requirements are met:
(1) The corporation is incorporated in this state.
(2) The articles of incorporation specifically authorize the
corporation to accept appointments as guardian or conservator, as the
case may be.
(3) The corporation has been providing, at the time of
appointment, care, counseling, or financial assistance to the
proposed ward or conservatee under the supervision of a registered
social worker certified by the Board of Behavioral Science Examiners
of this state.
(b) The petition for appointment of a nonprofit charitable
corporation described in this section as a guardian or conservator
shall include in the caption the name of a responsible corporate
officer who shall act for the corporation for the purposes of this
division. If, for any reason, the officer so named ceases to act as
the responsible corporate officer for the purposes of this division,
the corporation shall file with the court a notice containing (1) the
name of the successor responsible corporate officer and (2) the date
the successor becomes the responsible corporate officer.
(c) If a nonprofit charitable corporation described in this
section is appointed as a guardian or conservator:
(1) The corporation's compensation as guardian or conservator
shall be allowed only for services actually rendered.
(2) Any fee allowed for an attorney for the corporation shall be
for services actually rendered.

2105. (a) The court, in its discretion, may appoint for a ward or
conservatee:
(1) Two or more joint guardians or conservators of the person.
(2) Two or more joint guardians or conservators of the estate.
(3) Two or more joint guardians or conservators of the person and
estate.
(b) When joint guardians or conservators are appointed, each shall
qualify in the same manner as a sole guardian or conservator.
(c) Subject to subdivisions (d) and (e):
(1) Where there are two guardians or conservators, both must
concur to exercise a power.
(2) Where there are more than two guardians or conservators, a
majority must concur to exercise a power.
(d) If one of the joint guardians or conservators dies or is
removed or resigns, the powers and duties continue in the remaining
joint guardians or conservators until further appointment is made by
the court.
(e) Where joint guardians or conservators have been appointed and
one or more are (1) absent from the state and unable to act, (2)
otherwise unable to act, or (3) legally disqualified from serving,
the court may, by order made with or without notice, authorize the
remaining joint guardians or conservators to act as to all matters
embraced within its order.
(f) If a custodial parent has been diagnosed as having a terminal
condition, as evidenced by a declaration executed by a licensed
physician, the court, in its discretion, may appoint the custodial
parent and a person nominated by the custodial parent as joint
guardians of the person of the minor. However, this appointment shall
not be made over the objection of a noncustodial parent without a
finding that the noncustodial parent's custody would be detrimental
to the minor, as provided in Section 3041 of the Family Code. It is
the intent of the Legislature in enacting the amendments to this
subdivision adopted during the 1995-96 Regular Session for a parent
with a terminal condition to be able to make arrangements for the
joint care, custody, and control of his or her minor children so as
to minimize the emotional stress of, and disruption for, the minor
children whenever the parent is incapacitated or upon the parent's
death, and to avoid the need to provide a temporary guardian or place
the minor children in foster care, pending appointment of a
guardian, as might otherwise be required.
"Terminal condition," for purposes of this subdivision, means an
incurable and irreversible condition that, without the administration
of life-sustaining treatment, will, within reasonable medical
judgment, result in death.

2105.5. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), where there is
more than one guardian or conservator of the estate, one guardian or
conservator is not liable for a breach of fiduciary duty committed by
another guardian or conservator.
(b) Where there is more than one guardian or conservator of the
estate, one guardian or conservator is liable for a breach of
fiduciary duty committed by another guardian or conservator of the
same estate under any of the following circumstances:
(1) Where the guardian or conservator participates in a breach of
fiduciary duty committed by the other guardian or conservator.
(2) Where the guardian or conservator improperly delegates the
administration of the estate to the other guardian or conservator.
(3) Where the guardian or conservator approves, knowingly
acquiesces in, or conceals a breach of fiduciary duty committed by
the other guardian or conservator.
(4) Where the guardian or conservator negligently enables the
other guardian or conservator to commit a breach of fiduciary duty.
(5) Where the guardian or conservator knows or has information
from which the guardian or conservator reasonably should have known
of the breach of fiduciary duty by the other guardian or conservator
and fails to take reasonable steps to compel the other guardian or
conservator to redress the breach.
(c) The liability of a guardian or conservator for a breach of
fiduciary duty committed by another guardian or conservator that
occurred before July 1, 1988, is governed by prior law and not by
this section.

2106. (a) The court, in its discretion, may appoint one guardian or
conservator for several wards or conservatees.
(b) The appointment of one guardian or conservator for several
wards or conservatees may be requested in the initial petition filed
in the proceeding or may be requested subsequently upon a petition
filed in the same proceeding and noticed and heard with respect to
the newly proposed ward or conservatee in the same manner as an
initial petition for appointment of a guardian or conservator.

2107. (a) Unless limited by court order, a guardian or conservator
of the person of a nonresident has the same powers and duties as a
guardian or conservator of the person of a resident while the
nonresident is in this state.
(b) A guardian or conservator of the estate of a nonresident has,
with respect to the property of the nonresident within this state,
the same powers and duties as a guardian or conservator of the estate
of a resident. The responsibility of such a guardian or conservator
with regard to inventory, accounting, and disposal of the estate is
confined to the property that comes into the hands of the guardian or
conservator in this state.

2108. (a) Except to the extent the court for good cause determines
otherwise, if a guardian of the person is nominated as provided in
Article 1 (commencing with Section 1500) of Chapter 1 of Part 2 and
is appointed by the court, the guardian shall be granted in the order
of appointment, to the extent provided in the nomination, the same
authority with respect to the person of the ward as a parent having
legal custody of a child and may exercise such authority without
notice, hearing, or court authorization, instructions, approval, or
confirmation in the same manner as if such authority were exercised
by a parent having legal custody of a child.
(b) Except to the extent the court for good cause determines
otherwise and subject to Sections 2593, 2594, and 2595, if a guardian
of the estate is nominated under Section 1500 or a guardian for
property is nominated under Section 1501 and the guardian is
appointed by the court, the guardian shall be granted in the order of
appointment, to the extent provided in the nomination, the right to
exercise any one or more of the powers listed in Section 2591 without
notice, hearing, or court authorization, instructions, approval, or
confirmation in the same manner as if such authority were granted by
order of the court under Section 2590. In the case of a guardian
nominated under Section 1501, such additional authority shall be
limited to the property covered by the nomination.
(c) The terms of any order made under this section shall be
included in the letters.

2109. (a) Subject to Section 2108, a guardian appointed under
subdivision (d) of Section 1514 for particular property upon a
nomination made under Section 1501 has, with respect to that
property, the same powers and duties as a guardian of the estate. The
responsibility of such a guardian with regard to inventory,
accounting, and disposal of the estate is confined to the property
covered by the nomination.
(b) When a guardian is appointed under subdivision (d) of Section
1514 for particular property upon a nomination made under Section
1501 and there is a guardian of the estate appointed under any other
provision of Part 2 (commencing with Section 1500):
(1) The guardian appointed for the property covered by the
nomination manages and controls that property and the guardian of the
estate manages and controls the balance of the guardianship estate.
(2) Either guardian may petition under Section 2403 to the court
in which the guardianship of the estate proceeding is pending for
instructions concerning how the duties that are imposed by law upon
the guardian of the estate are to be allocated between the two
guardians.

2110. Unless otherwise provided in the instrument or in this
division, a guardian or conservator is not personally liable on an
instrument, including but not limited to a note, mortgage, deed of
trust, or other contract, properly entered into in the guardian's or
conservator's fiduciary capacity in the course of the guardianship or
conservatorship unless the guardian or conservator fails to reveal
the guardian's or conservator's representative capacity or identify
the guardianship or conservatorship estate in the instrument.

2111. (a) As used in this section, "transaction" means any of the
following:
(1) A conveyance or lease of real property of the guardianship or
conservatorship estate.
(2) The creation of a mortgage or deed of trust on real property
of the guardianship or conservatorship estate.
(3) A transfer of personal property of the guardianship or
conservatorship estate.
(4) The creation of a security interest or other lien in personal
property of the guardianship or conservatorship estate.
(b) Whenever the court authorizes or directs a transaction, the
transaction shall be carried out by the guardian or conservator of
the estate in accordance with the terms of the order.
(c) A conveyance, lease, or mortgage of, or deed of trust on, real
property executed by a guardian or conservator shall set forth
therein that it is made by authority of the order authorizing or
directing the transaction and shall give the date of the order. A
certified copy of the order shall be recorded in the office of the
county recorder in each county in which any portion of the real
property is located.
(d) A transaction carried out by a guardian or conservator in
accordance with an order authorizing or directing the transaction has
the same effect as if the ward or conservatee had carried out the
transaction while having legal capacity to do so.

2111.5. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), every court
official or employee who has duties or responsibilities related to
the appointment of a guardian or conservator, or the processing of
any document related to a guardian or conservator, and every person
who is related by blood or marriage to a court official or employee
who has these duties, is prohibited from purchasing, leasing, or
renting any real or personal property from the estate of the ward or
conservatee whom the guardian or conservator represents. For purposes
of this subdivision, a "person related by blood or marriage" means
any of the following:
(1) A person's spouse or domestic partner.
(2) Relatives within the second degree of lineal or collateral
consanguinity of a person or a person's spouse.
(b) A person described in subdivision (a) is not prohibited from
purchasing real or personal property from the estate of the ward or
conservatee whom the guardian or conservator represents where the
purchase is made under terms and conditions of a public sale of the
property.
(c) A violation of this section shall result in the rescission of
the purchase, lease, or rental of the property. Any losses incurred
by the estate of the ward or conservatee because the property was
sold or leased at less than fair market value shall be deemed as
charges against the guardian or conservator under the provisions of
Sections 2401.3 and 2401.5. The court shall assess a civil penalty
equal to three times the charges against the guardian, conservator,
or other person in violation of this section, and may assess punitive
damages as it deems proper. If the estate does not incur losses as a
result of the violation, the court shall order the guardian,
conservator, or other person in violation of this section to pay a
fine of up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each violation. The
fines and penalties provided in this section are in addition to any
other rights and remedies provided by law.

2113. A conservator shall accommodate the desires of the
conservatee, except to the extent that doing so would violate the
conservator's fiduciary duties to the conservatee or impose an
unreasonable expense on the conservatorship estate.