Independence Day invites reflection on another form of freedom. How do we respect the autonomy of California’s elders who experience progressive forms of dementia while protecting them from potential abuse and other harm?...more
What do Glen Campbell, Rosa Parks, Gene Wilder, Aaron Spelling, Etta James, and Peter Falk have in common? They are all celebrities whose Alzheimer’s disease impacted their estate planning. Current and historic headlines are...more
The #FreeBritney movement catapulted the ethical challenges of conservatorships into the public eye. Pop icon Britney Spears, whose father was appointed as her conservator in 2008, stands at the center of this cultural...more
We wrote last July about a draft California ethics opinion regarding clients who may have diminished mental capacity. After receiving public comment, the State Bar’s Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and...more
What are the ethical obligations of a California lawyer for a client with diminished mental capacity? The ethics committee of the State Bar of California answers this key question in draft Formal Opinion No. 13-0002, with...more
For more than a decade, some of Britney Spears’s most devoted fans feared that she was locked up against her will under a court-ordered conservatorship, even going as far to accuse her father, Jamie Spears, of drugging her to...more
Effective January, 1, 2020, the Legislature changed California conservatorship law with respect to the personal residences of conservatees. Senate Bill 303 attempts to protect conservatees by making it harder to relocate them...more