Peter Falk of "Colombo" Fame Placed in Conservatorship in California
A Los Angeles, California court recently established a conservatorship over actor Peter Falk, appointing Falk's wife as his conservator and granting visitation rights to his daughter.
What is a conservatorship? It is a formal legal proceeding in which a conservator - most often a spouse, partner, family member, close friend or professional caregiver - is appointed by the probate court to make decisions for an adult who is unable to care for or make decisions for themselves. In Falk's case, according to testimony from one of his doctors during the two-day conservatorship hearing, a conservatorship was needed because the actor suffered from advanced dementia, likely resulting from Alzheimer's disease.
A conservatorship is a very serious matter in that it actually removes or restricts the conservatee's rights relating either to his or her own personal care and health-care (Conservatorship of the Person), financial matters (Conservatorship of the Estate), or both (Conservatorship of the Person and the Estate). For a combined conservatorship of the Person and Estate, the court may appoint separate conservators for the person and for the estate, or a single conservator for both.
A conservatorship can be tailored to the specific needs of the person to be protected, and can be limited where, for instance, a developmentally disabled is able to manage certain aspects of their daily life and/or finances, but needs assistance with certain other matters. Another form of Conservatorship, know as an "LPS Conservatorship" is available for a person who is seriously impaired by a mental disorder and who may need to be admitted to a locked mental health facility.
While a Conservatorship is a useful and often necessary tool allowing you to care for and protect loved ones who are incapacitated, it is also costly, time-consuming and public. A person can take steps to avoid being placed in a conservatorship, or at a minimum designate the person who they would want to have appointed as a conservator, by working with an estate planning attorney to prepare a comprehensive estate plan which may include a durable general power of attorney, an advanced health care directive, a living trust and a will.
'Columbo' Star Peter Falk Placed Under Conservatorship, Entertainment Tonight, June 2, 2009
