New Legal Requirements

In September 2006, the Governor of California signed into law the new Omnibus Conservatorship Guardianship Law that will take effect January 1, 2008. This new provision of the law will, among other things, require official licensing of private professional fiduciaries. The application process presents a list of requirements in order to make the application and also provides for fingerprinting and a background credit check. Now, this new requirement is only for private professional fiduciaries who serve as conservators, guardians, trustees and agents under a power of attorney. It does not necessarily apply to Cousin Susie who is acting as conservator for Grandma unless Cousin Susie is the conservator for others. The official licensing of a private professional fiduciary has been a long time in the making, and a step that we support. It clearly weeds out the "real deal" from the wannabee who thinks that this work is easy and is in it for a quick buck. However, when you are looking at employing the services of a private professional fiduciary, you need to be a careful shopper. Always interview more than one private professional fiduciary whenever possible, and ask questions. If after an interview, go back to ask more questions if something new comes to your mind. The upside of the new law will mean added protection for the public, but on the downside, it means that you will have a smaller number of qualified ProFids providing a very valued service to the community. It also means that every County Public Guardian will likely become impacted with a larger number of case referrals that they cannot easily manage without more tax dollars. The cost of doing business for a private professional fiduciary has doubled and in some areas, tripled in cost with the new laws. Some ProFids may not be willing to accept freebie cases out of the kindness of their hearts, or they may be forced to reduce the quota of cases they are able to handle. It may be that we will see families forced to step up to the plate and become a conservator for their own, and if so, feel free to see if you can get the Professional Fiduciary to help you with case management for a modest fee. Yes, everything is always in a process of change. As we move into January 2008 and the first year of this new evolution of the ProFid, we will all see more fully how it will impact this profession, the public sector and our community.