Probate Judges Cracking Down on Conservators

By DAVAN MAHARAJ and KEN ELLINGWOOD Aug. 3, 1996 12 AM TIMES STAFF WRITERS ORANGE —  Some Southern California probate judges have been waging a quiet campaign to stamp out abuses by a small number of professional conservators–entrepreneurs who control the lives and estates of mostly elderly people unable to take care of their personal and financial affairs. With memories of an earlier probate scandal still fresh in their minds, probate judges in Orange County are believed to have taken the most aggressive stance, systematically slashing the fees that conservators propose paying themselves from clients’ estates. A Los Angeles probate judge recently… Continue reading