Bill Text: CA SB544 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Civil law: omnibus bill.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2009-08-06 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 54, Statutes of 2009. [SB544 Detail]
Download: California-2009-SB544-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 544 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 54
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE AUGUST 6, 2009
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR AUGUST 5, 2009
PASSED THE SENATE JULY 16, 2009
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY JULY 1, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 26, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 4, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 2, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Committee on Judiciary (Senators Corbett (Chair),
Florez, Harman, Leno, and Walters)
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to amend Sections 6200, 6203, and 6204 of the Business and
Professions Code, to amend Sections 1219 and 1798.79 of the Civil
Code, to amend Section 706.108 of the Code of Civil Procedure, to
amend Section 68516 of the Government Code, and to amend Section 2620
of the Probate Code, relating to civil law.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 544, Committee on Judiciary. Civil law: omnibus bill.
(1) The State Bar Act provides that the Board of Governors of the
State Bar shall establish, maintain, and administer a system for
arbitration and mediation of disputes concerning fees or costs, or
both, between attorneys and their clients.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these
provisions.
(2) Existing law provides that certain documents or papers related
to oil and gas leases, as provided, that are presented for
recordation and set apart and separated from any other writing,
typing, or printing, shall not be recorded if that document is
preceded by the words or clearly marked "do not record" or "not to be
recorded," as specified.
This bill would remove this provision and would make
nonsubstantive, technical changes to related provisions.
(3) Existing law provides that a person or entity that
intentionally remotely reads or attempts to remotely read a person's
identification document using radio frequency identification (RFID)
without his or her knowledge and prior consent, as described, shall
be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for up to one year, a
fine of not more than $1,500, or both that fine and imprisonment,
except as specified. Existing law also provides that a person or
entity that knowingly discloses, or causes to be disclosed, specified
operational system keys shall be punished by imprisonment in a
county jail for up to one year, a fine of not more than $1,500, or
both that fine and imprisonment.
This bill would correct a cross-reference within these provisions.
(4) Existing law permits a judgment creditor to apply for an
earnings withholding order for a judgment debtor and prescribes a
process for this purpose. Existing law requires, as part of this
process, that certain items be filed with the levying officer within
5 days after service of the order on the judgment debtor's employer.
This bill would provide that the items be filed with the levying
officer, as described above, within 5 court days.
(5) Existing law authorizes the Judicial Council to establish a
tax-exempt public benefit nonprofit corporation, or other tax-exempt
entity, qualified under federal and state law to receive grants or
other financial support from private or public sources for the
purposes of undertaking or funding any survey, study, publication,
proceeding, or other activity authorized by law to be undertaken by
the Judicial Council. Existing law also authorizes the Administrative
Office of the Courts to provide administrative support and oversight
services, limited to ministerial support for meetings, and
preparing, maintaining, and presenting financial records as needed
for audits, to a tax-exempt public benefit nonprofit corporation or
other tax-exempt entity established under these provisions, as
specified.
This bill would authorize the Judicial Council to establish a
tax-exempt public benefit nonprofit corporation, or other tax-exempt
entity, as provided, for the purpose of undertaking or funding any
lawful activity authorized to be undertaken by the Judicial Council.
This bill would also remove the limitation on the administrative and
support services that can be provided by the Administrative Office of
the Courts.
(6) Existing law requires a guardian or conservator to present an
accounting of the assets of the estate of the ward or conservatee to
the court for settlement and allowance in a specified manner at the
end of one year from the time of appointment and, after that, not
less frequently than once every 2 years, unless otherwise ordered by
the court to be more frequent. Existing law requires the guardian or
conservator to file specified supporting documents with the
accounting. Existing law requires the filing to include all account
statements showing the account balance at the beginning of the
accounting period and the account balance as of the closing date, as
specified.
This bill would remove the requirement to show all account
statements showing the account balance at the beginning of the
accounting period.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 6200 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
6200. (a) The board of governors shall, by rule, establish,
maintain, and administer a system and procedure for the arbitration,
and may establish, maintain, and administer a system and procedure
for mediation of disputes concerning fees, costs, or both, charged
for professional services by members of the State Bar or by members
of the bar of other jurisdictions. The rules may include provision
for a filing fee in the amount as the board may, from time to time,
determine.
(b) This article shall not apply to any of the following:
(1) Disputes where a member of the State Bar of California is also
admitted to practice in another jurisdiction or where an attorney is
only admitted to practice in another jurisdiction, and he or she
maintains no office in the State of California, and no material
portion of the services were rendered in the State of California.
(2) Claims for affirmative relief against the attorney for damages
or otherwise based upon alleged malpractice or professional
misconduct, except as provided in subdivision (a) of Section 6203.
(3) Disputes where the fee or cost to be paid by the client or on
his or her behalf has been determined pursuant to statute or court
order.
(c) Unless the client has agreed in writing to arbitration under
this article of all disputes concerning fees, costs, or both,
arbitration under this article shall be voluntary for a client and
shall be mandatory for an attorney if commenced by a client.
Mediation under this article shall be voluntary for an attorney and a
client.
(d) The board of governors shall adopt rules to allow arbitration
and mediation of attorney fee and cost disputes under this article to
proceed under arbitration and mediation systems sponsored by local
bar associations in this state. Rules of procedure promulgated by
local bar associations are subject to review by the board or a
committee designated by the board to ensure that they provide for a
fair, impartial, and speedy hearing and award.
(e) In adopting or reviewing rules of arbitration under this
section, the board shall provide that the panel shall include one
attorney member whose area of practice is either, at the option of
the client, civil law, if the attorney's representation involved
civil law, or criminal law, if the attorney's representation involved
criminal law, as follows:
(1) If the panel is composed of three members the panel shall
include one attorney member whose area of practice is either, at the
option of the client, civil or criminal law, and shall include one
lay member.
(2) If the panel is composed of one member, that member shall be
an attorney whose area of practice is either, at the option of the
client, civil or criminal law.
(f) In any arbitration or mediation conducted pursuant to this
article by the State Bar or by a local bar association, pursuant to
rules of procedure approved by the board of governors, an arbitrator
or mediator, as well as the arbitrating association and its
directors, officers, and employees, shall have the same immunity
which attaches in judicial proceedings.
(g) In the conduct of arbitrations under this article the
arbitrator or arbitrators may do all of the following:
(1) Take and hear evidence pertaining to the proceeding.
(2) Administer oaths and affirmations.
(3) Issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses and the
production of books, papers, and documents pertaining to the
proceeding.
(h) Participation in mediation is a voluntary consensual process,
based on direct negotiations between the attorney and his or her
client, and is an extension of the negotiated settlement process. All
discussions and offers of settlement are confidential and may not be
disclosed in any subsequent arbitration or other proceedings.
SEC. 2. Section 6203 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
6203. (a) The award shall be in writing and signed by the
arbitrators concurring therein. It shall include a determination of
all the questions submitted to the arbitrators, the decision of which
is necessary in order to determine the controversy. The award shall
not include any award to either party for costs or attorney's fees
incurred in preparation for or in the course of the fee arbitration
proceeding, notwithstanding any contract between the parties
providing for such an award or costs or attorney's fees. However, the
filing fee paid may be allocated between the parties by the
arbitrators. This section shall not preclude an award of costs or
attorney's fees to either party by a court pursuant to subdivision
(c) of this section or of subdivision (d) of Section 6204. The State
Bar, or the local bar association delegated by the State Bar to
conduct the arbitration, shall deliver to each of the parties with
the award, an original declaration of service of the award.
Evidence relating to claims of malpractice and professional
misconduct, shall be admissible only to the extent that those claims
bear upon the fees, costs, or both, to which the attorney is
entitled. The arbitrators shall not award affirmative relief, in the
form of damages or offset or otherwise, for injuries underlying the
claim. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the
arbitrators from awarding the client a refund of unearned fees,
costs, or both previously paid to the attorney.
(b) Even if the parties to the arbitration have not agreed in
writing to be bound, the arbitration award shall become binding upon
the passage of 30 days after service of notice of the award, unless a
party has, within the 30 days, sought a trial after arbitration
pursuant to Section 6204. If an action has previously been filed in
any court, any petition to confirm, correct, or vacate the award
shall be to the court in which the action is pending, and may be
served by mail on any party who has appeared, as provided in Chapter
4 (commencing with Section 1003) of Title 14 of Part 2 of the Code of
Civil Procedure; otherwise it shall be in the same manner as
provided in Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 1285) of Title 9 of
Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure. If no action is pending in any
court, the award may be confirmed, corrected, or vacated by petition
to the court having jurisdiction over the amount of the arbitration
award, but otherwise in the same manner as provided in Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 1285) of Title 9 of Part 3 of the Code of
Civil Procedure.
(c) Neither party to the arbitration may recover costs or attorney'
s fees incurred in preparation for or in the course of the fee
arbitration proceeding with the exception of the filing fee paid
pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section. However, a court
confirming, correcting, or vacating an award under this section may
award to the prevailing party reasonable fees and costs incurred in
obtaining confirmation, correction, or vacation of the award
including, if applicable, fees and costs on appeal. The party
obtaining judgment confirming, correcting, or vacating the award
shall be the prevailing party except that, without regard to
consideration of who the prevailing party may be, if a party did not
appear at the arbitration hearing in the manner provided by the rules
adopted by the board of governors, that party shall not be entitled
to attorney's fees or costs upon confirmation, correction, or
vacation of the award.
(d) (1) In any matter arbitrated under this article in which the
award is binding or has become binding by operation of law or has
become a judgment either after confirmation under subdivision (c) or
after a trial after arbitration under Section 6204, or in any matter
mediated under this article, if: (A) the award, judgment, or
agreement reached after mediation includes a refund of fees or costs,
or both, to the client and (B) the attorney has not complied with
that award, judgment, or agreement the State Bar shall enforce the
award, judgment, or agreement by placing the attorney on involuntary
inactive status until the refund has been paid.
(2) The State Bar shall provide for an administrative procedure to
determine whether an award, judgment, or agreement should be
enforced pursuant to this subdivision. An award, judgment, or
agreement shall be so enforced if:
(A) The State Bar shows that the attorney has failed to comply
with a binding fee arbitration award, judgment, or agreement rendered
pursuant to this article.
(B) The attorney has not proposed a payment plan acceptable to the
client or the State Bar.
However, the award, judgment, or agreement shall not be so
enforced if the attorney has demonstrated that he or she (i) is not
personally responsible for making or ensuring payment of the refund,
or (ii) is unable to pay the refund.
(3) An attorney who has failed to comply with a binding award,
judgment, or agreement shall pay administrative penalties or
reasonable costs, or both, as directed by the State Bar. Penalties
imposed shall not exceed 20 percent of the amount to be refunded to
the client or one thousand dollars ($1,000), whichever is greater.
Any penalties or costs, or both, that are not paid shall be added to
the membership fee of the attorney for the next calendar year.
(4) The board shall terminate the inactive enrollment upon proof
that the attorney has complied with the award, judgment, or agreement
and upon payment of any costs or penalties, or both, assessed as a
result of the attorney's failure to comply.
(5) A request for enforcement under this subdivision shall be made
within four years from the date (A) the arbitration award was
mailed, (B) the judgment was entered, or (C) the date the agreement
was signed. In an arbitrated matter, however, in no event shall a
request be made prior to 100 days from the date of the service of a
signed copy of the award. In cases where the award is appealed, a
request shall not be made prior to 100 days from the date the award
has become final as set forth in this section.
SEC. 3. Section 6204 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
6204. (a) The parties may agree in writing to be bound by the
award of arbitrators appointed pursuant to this article at any time
after the dispute over fees, costs, or both, has arisen. In the
absence of such an agreement, either party shall be entitled to a
trial after arbitration if sought within 30 days, pursuant to
subdivisions (b) and (c), except that if either party willfully fails
to appear at the arbitration hearing in the manner provided by the
rules adopted by the board of governors, that party shall not be
entitled to a trial after arbitration. The determination of
willfulness shall be made by the court. The party who failed to
appear at the arbitration shall have the burden of proving that the
failure to appear was not willful. In making its determination, the
court may consider any findings made by the arbitrators on the
subject of a party's failure to appear.
(b) If there is an action pending, the trial after arbitration
shall be initiated by filing a rejection of arbitration award and
request for trial after arbitration in that action within 30 days
after service of notice of the award. If the rejection of arbitration
award has been filed by the plaintiff in the pending action, all
defendants shall file a responsive pleading within 30 days following
service upon the defendant of the rejection of arbitration award and
request for trial after arbitration. If the rejection of arbitration
award has been filed by the defendant in the pending action, all
defendants shall file a responsive pleading within 30 days after the
filing of the rejection of arbitration award and request for trial
after arbitration. Service may be made by mail on any party who has
appeared; otherwise service shall be made in the manner provided in
Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 413.10) of Title 5 of Part 2 of
the Code of Civil Procedure. Upon service and filing of the rejection
of arbitration award, any stay entered pursuant to Section 6201
shall be vacated, without the necessity of a court order.
(c) If no action is pending, the trial after arbitration shall be
initiated by the commencement of an action in the court having
jurisdiction over the amount of money in controversy within 30 days
after service of notice of the award. After the filing of such an
action, the action shall proceed in accordance with the provisions of
Part 2 (commencing with Section 307) of the Code of Civil Procedure,
concerning civil actions generally.
(d) The party seeking a trial after arbitration shall be the
prevailing party if that party obtains a judgment more favorable than
that provided by the arbitration award, and in all other cases the
other party shall be the prevailing party. The prevailing party may,
in the discretion of the court, be entitled to an allowance for
reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred in the trial after
arbitration, which allowance shall be fixed by the court. In fixing
the attorney's fees, the court shall consider the award and
determinations of the arbitrators, in addition to any other relevant
evidence.
(e) Except as provided in this section, the award and
determinations of the arbitrators shall not be admissible nor operate
as collateral estoppel or res judicata in any action or proceeding.
SEC. 4. Section 1219 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
1219. Oil and gas leases may be acknowledged or proved, certified
and recorded in like manner and with like effect, as grants of real
property. However, an oil and gas lease may be recorded and
constructive notice of the same and the contents of that lease given
in the following manner:
Any person may record in the office of county recorder of any
county fictitious oil and gas leases. Those fictitious oil and gas
leases need not be acknowledged, or proved, or certified, to be
recorded or entitled to record. Oil and gas leases shall have noted
upon the face thereof that they are fictitious. The county recorder
shall index and record fictitious oil and gas leases in the same
manner as other oil and gas leases are recorded, and shall note on
all indices and records of the same that they are fictitious.
Thereafter, any of the provisions of any recorded fictitious oil and
gas lease may be included for any and all purposes in any oil and gas
lease by reference therein to those provisions, without setting the
same forth in full, if the fictitious oil and gas lease is of record
in the county in which the oil and gas lease adopting or including by
reference any of the provisions of the lease is recorded. The
reference shall contain a statement, as to each county in which the
oil and gas lease containing such a reference is recorded, of the
date the fictitious oil and gas lease was recorded, the county
recorder's office in which it is recorded, and the book or volume and
the first page of the records or the recorder's instrument number in
the recorder's office in which the fictitious oil and gas lease was
recorded, and a statement by paragraph numbers or any other method
that will definitely identify the same, of the specific provisions of
any fictitious oil and gas lease that are being adopted and included
therein. The recording of any oil and gas lease which has included
any provisions by reference shall operate as constructive notice of
the whole including the terms, as a part of the written contents of
any oil and gas lease, of any provisions so included by reference as
though the same were written in full therein. The parties bound or to
be bound by provisions so adopted and included by reference shall be
bound thereby in the same manner and with like effect for all
purposes as though the provisions had been and were set forth in full
in the oil and gas lease.
SEC. 5. Section 1798.79 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
1798.79. (a) Except as provided in this section, a person or
entity that intentionally remotely reads or attempts to remotely read
a person's identification document using radio frequency
identification (RFID), for the purpose of reading that person's
identification document without that person's knowledge and prior
consent, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for up to
one year, a fine of not more than one thousand five hundred dollars
($1,500), or both that fine and imprisonment.
(b) A person or entity that knowingly discloses, or causes to be
disclosed, the operational system keys used in a contactless
identification document system shall be punished by imprisonment in a
county jail for up to one year, a fine of not more than one thousand
five hundred dollars ($1,500), or both that fine and imprisonment.
(c) Subdivision (a) shall not apply to:
(1) The reading of a person's identification document for triage
or medical care during a disaster and immediate hospitalization or
immediate outpatient care directly related to a disaster, as defined
by the local emergency medical services agency organized under
Section 1797.200 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2) The reading of a person's identification document by a health
care professional for reasons relating to the health or safety of
that person or an identification document issued to a patient by
emergency services.
(3) The reading of an identification document of a person who is
incarcerated in the state prison or a county jail, detained in a
juvenile facility operated by the Division of Juvenile Facilities in
the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or housed in a
mental health facility, pursuant to a court order after having been
charged with a crime, or to a person pursuant to a court-ordered
electronic monitoring.
(4) Law enforcement or government personnel who need to read a
lost identification document when the owner is unavailable for
notice, knowledge, or consent, or those parties specifically
authorized by law enforcement or government personnel for the limited
purpose of reading a lost identification document when the owner is
unavailable for notice, knowledge, or consent.
(5) Law enforcement personnel who need to read a person's
identification document after an accident in which the person is
unavailable for notice, knowledge, or consent.
(6) Law enforcement personnel who need to read a person's
identification document pursuant to a search warrant.
(d) Subdivision (a) shall not apply to a person or entity that
unintentionally remotely reads a person's identification document
using RFID in the course of operating a contactless identification
document system unless it knows it unintentionally read the document
and thereafter intentionally does any of the following acts:
(1) Discloses what it read to a third party whose purpose is to
read a person's identification document, or any information derived
therefrom, without that person's knowledge and consent.
(2) Stores what it read for the purpose of reading a person's
identification document, or any information derived therefrom,
without that person's knowledge and prior consent.
(3) Uses what it read for the purpose of reading a person's
identification document, or any information derived therefrom,
without that person's knowledge and prior consent.
(e) Subdivisions (a) and (b) shall not apply to the reading,
storage, use, or disclosure to a third party of a person's
identification document, or information derived therefrom, in the
course of an act of good faith security research, experimentation, or
scientific inquiry, including, but not limited to, activities useful
in identifying and analyzing security flaws and vulnerabilities.
(f) Nothing in this section shall affect the existing rights of
law enforcement to access data stored electronically on driver's
licenses.
(g) The penalties set forth in subdivisions (a) and (b) are
independent of, and do not supersede, any other penalties provided by
state law, and in the case of any conflict, the greater penalties
shall apply.
SEC. 6. Section 706.108 of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended
to read:
706.108. (a) If a writ of execution has been issued to the county
where the judgment debtor's employer is to be served and the time
specified in subdivision (b) of Section 699.530 for levy on property
under the writ has not expired, a judgment creditor may deliver an
application for issuance of an earnings withholding order to a
registered process server who may then issue an earnings withholding
order.
(b) If the registered process server has issued the earnings
withholding order, the registered process server, before serving the
earnings withholding order, shall deposit with the levying officer a
copy of the writ of execution, the application for issuance of an
earnings withholding order, and a copy of the earnings withholding
order, and shall pay the fee provided by Section 26750 of the
Government Code.
(c) A registered process server may serve an earnings withholding
order on an employer whether the earnings withholding order was
issued by a levying officer or by a registered process server, but no
earnings withholding order may be served after the time specified in
subdivision (b) of Section 699.530. In performing this function, the
registered process server shall serve upon the designated employer
all of the following:
(1) The original and one copy of the earnings withholding order.
(2) The form for the employer's return.
(3) The notice to the employee of the earnings withholding order.
(4) A copy of the employer's instructions referred to in Section
706.127, except as otherwise prescribed in rules adopted by the
Judicial Council.
(d) Within five court days after service under this section, all
of the following shall be filed with the levying officer:
(1) The writ of execution, if it is not already in the hands of
the levying officer.
(2) Proof of service on the employer of the papers listed in
subdivision (c).
(3) Instructions in writing, as required by the provisions of
Section 687.010.
(e) If the fee provided by Section 26750 of the Government Code
has been paid, the levying officer shall perform all other duties
required by this chapter as if the levying officer had served the
earnings withholding order. If the registered process server does not
comply with subdivisions (b), where applicable, and (d), the service
of the earnings withholding order is ineffective and the levying
officer is not required to perform any duties under the order and may
terminate the order and may release any withheld earnings to the
judgment debtor.
(f) The fee for services of a registered process server under this
section shall be allowed as a recoverable cost pursuant to Section
1033.5.
SEC. 7. Section 68516 of the Government Code is amended to read:
68516. (a) The Judicial Council is authorized to establish a
tax-exempt public benefit nonprofit corporation, or other tax-exempt
entity, qualified under federal and state law to raise revenues and
receive grants or other financial support from private or public
sources, for the purposes of undertaking or funding any lawful
activity authorized to be undertaken by the Judicial Council.
Financial support sought by the nonprofit corporation or other
tax-exempt entity shall be used solely for the governmental purposes
approved by the Judicial Council for activities within the scope of
authority of the Judicial Council.
(b) The Administrative Office of the Courts may provide
administrative support and oversight services to a tax-exempt public
benefit nonprofit corporation or other tax-exempt entity established
under this section. Any services provided shall be consistent with
current limitations and practices of public employment.
SEC. 8. Section 2620 of the Probate Code is amended to read:
2620. (a) At the expiration of one year from the time of
appointment and thereafter not less frequently than biennially,
unless otherwise ordered by the court to be more frequent, the
guardian or conservator shall present the accounting of the assets of
the estate of the ward or conservatee to the court for settlement
and allowance in the manner provided in Chapter 4 (commencing with
Section 1060) of Part 1 of Division 3. By January 1, 2008, the
Judicial Council, in consultation with the California Judges
Association, the California Association of Superior Court
Investigators, the California State Association of Public
Administrators, Public Guardians, and Public Conservators, the State
Bar of California, and the California Society of Certified Public
Accountants, shall develop a standard accounting form, a simplified
accounting form, and rules for when the simplified accounting form
may be used. After January 1, 2008, all accountings submitted
pursuant to this section shall be submitted on the Judicial Council
form.
(b) The final court accounting of the guardian or conservator
following the death of the ward or conservatee shall include a court
accounting for the period that ended on the date of death and a
separate accounting for the period subsequent to the date of death.
(c) Along with each court accounting, the guardian or conservator
shall file supporting documents, as provided in this section.
(1) For purposes of this subdivision, the term "account statement"
shall include any original account statement from any institution,
as defined in Section 2890, or any financial institution, as defined
in Section 2892, in which money or other assets of the estate are
held or deposited.
(2) The filing shall include all account statements showing the
account balance as of the closing date of the accounting period of
the court accounting. If the court accounting is the first court
accounting of the guardianship or conservatorship, the guardian or
conservator shall provide to the court all account statements showing
the account balance immediately preceding the date the conservator
or guardian was appointed and all account statements showing the
account balance as of the closing date of the first court accounting.
(3) If the guardian or conservator is a private professional or
licensed guardian or conservator, the guardian or conservator shall
also file all original account statements, as described above,
showing the balance as of all periods covered by the accounting.
(4) The filing shall include the original closing escrow statement
received showing the charges and credits for any sale of real
property of the estate.
(5) If the ward or conservatee is in a residential care facility
or a long-term care facility, the filing shall include the original
bill statements for the facility.
(6) This subdivision shall not apply to the public guardian if the
money belonging to the estate is pooled with money belonging to
other estates pursuant
to Section 2940 and Article 3 (commencing with Section 7640) of
Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 7. Nothing in this section shall
affect any other duty or responsibility of the public guardian with
regard to managing money belonging to the estate or filing
accountings with the court.
(7) If any document to be filed or lodged with the court under
this section contains the ward's or conservatee's social security
number or any other personal information regarding the ward or
conservatee that would not ordinarily be disclosed in a court
accounting, an inventory and appraisal, or other nonconfidential
pleadings filed in the action, the account statement or other
document shall be attached to a separate affidavit describing the
character of the document, captioned "CONFIDENTIAL FINANCIAL
STATEMENT" in capital letters. Except as otherwise ordered by the
court, the clerk of the court shall keep the document confidential
except to the court and subject to disclosure only upon an order of
the court. The guardian or conservator may redact the ward's or
conservatee's social security number from any document lodged with
the court under this section.
(8) Courts may provide by local rule that the court shall retain
all documents lodged with it under this subdivision until the court's
determination of the guardian's or conservator's account has become
final, at which time the supporting documents shall be returned to
the depositing guardian or conservator or delivered to any successor
appointed by the court.
(d) Each accounting is subject to random or discretionary, full or
partial review by the court. The review may include consideration of
any information necessary to determine the accuracy of the
accounting. If the accounting has any material error, the court shall
make an express finding as to the severity of the error and what
further action is appropriate in response to the error, if any. Among
the actions available to the court is immediate suspension of the
guardian or conservator without further notice or proceedings and
appointment of a temporary guardian or conservator or removal of the
guardian or conservator pursuant to Section 2650 and appointment of a
temporary guardian or conservator.
(e) The guardian or conservator shall make available for
inspection and copying, upon reasonable notice, to any person
designated by the court to verify the accuracy of the accounting, all
books and records, including receipts for any expenditures, of the
guardianship or conservatorship.
