Conservatorship of Edith M Edwards

Case Number

22PR00181

Case Type

Hearing Date / Time

Wed, 08/21/2024 - 08:30

Nature of Proceedings

Final Account and Report

Tentative Ruling

Probate Notes:

Appearances required.

After review of the supplements and financial documents filed on April 2, 2024, June 11, 2024, and August 1, 2024, the following is noted for the Court at the hearing:

First Accounting

Legal Research considered every document on file in arriving at the calculations and legal analysis below. After review of all supplements and account statements, the accounting is still defective.  The following notes start with the first accounting and follow the summary of account, addressing the supporting schedules:

1. Amount on hand at beginning of accounting not supported by account statements.  Petitioner states the amount on hand at the beginning of the accounting period is cash: $89, 697, and $454,552.25 (total $544,249.47).  These totals match the Final Inventory and appraisal, but are not supported by account statements.  It appears the entirety of the securities and cash is held in two Edward Jones accounts.  There are no account statements on file that contain a date of appointment balance, thus the closing date balances contained in those statements are different from the date of appointment balances.  There is nothing in any account statement that would communicate to the court the balance on the date of appointment (August 3, 2022).  Despite numerous notes communicating this fact to counsel, the Court still has no such statements, thus cannot verify that the starting values of the accounting were actually what Petitioner says they were.
2. Receipts.  No issues.
3. Disbursements. Schedule C shows $8,804.87 in disbursements.  $7,043.84 of that amount was disbursed as a RMD, and $1,760.96 was paid in tax.  It was first noted that this was improperly accounted for, because the money appears to have been placed into a banking account owned by the conservatorship estate, which would mean the transaction was not a disbursement for accounting purposes, but a change in the form of assets that should have been accounted for on a schedule labeled “changes in the form of assets.”  After supplement, the court now understands this was a disbursement placed in the joint account of the conservator and conservatee managed outside of the conservatorship estate, thus properly accounted for.
4. Losses on sale; PS Business Parks.  The Court’s concern with this issue is resolved by supplement.
5. Property on hand at end of accounting not supported by account statements.  Petitioner states the amount on hand at the end of the accounting period is cash: $106,059.19, and $423,742.25 (total $529,801.44).  These totals are not supported by account statements.  It appears the entirety of the securities and cash at the end of the accounting was still held in the same two Edward Jones accounts.  There are no account statements on file that show the date of death balance for these accounts, thus the closing date balances contained in those statements are different from the date of death balances.  There is nothing in any account statement that would communicate to the court the balance on the date of death and close of the first accounting period (December 24, 2022).  Despite numerous notes communicating this fact to counsel, the Court still has no such statements, thus cannot verify that the ending values of the accounting were actually what Petitioner says they were.

Second Accounting
 

6. Property on hand at end of accounting not supported by account statements.  Petitioner states the amount on hand at the end of the accounting period is cash: $106,059.19, and $423,742.25 (total $529,801.44). Like the first account, the entirety of the securities and cash is held in the same two Edward Jones accounts.  There are no account statements on file that contain a balance as of the December 25, 2022 (start date for second accounting), thus the closing date balances contained in those statements are different from the start date balances reported in the estate on hand at the beginning of the second accounting. Thus, the Court cannot verify that the starting values of the accounting were actually what Petitioner says they were.
7. Receipts.  No issues.
8. Distributions.  No issues.
9. Property on hand at end of accounting.  No issues. Supplement explains that the estate was delivered via operation of law to conservatee’s spouse.

Appearances:

The court is open to the public for court business. The court is also conducting hearings via Zoom videoconference.

Meeting ID: 161 956 1423

Passcode: 137305