The recent
news that Joni Mitchell's close friend had been appointed her conservator after
she suffered an aneurysm as well as the disturbing news that there is a conservatorship
battle being waged over former Eagles member Randy Meisner made me realize that
the public might not be completely aware of this legal concept. You can also see an extreme example of this a
conservatorship in the Brian Wilson biopic "Love and Mercy".
Conservatorships are court ordered arrangements where one individual is
appointed to oversee the financial affairs and some time day to day responsibilities
of another person who can no longer take care of himself or herself. Although
we tend to associate conservatorships with elderly people, that is not always
the case.
In
Tennessee the law governing conservatorships, T.C.A. Sec. 34‑3‑101
provides that a petition to appoint a conservator may be filed by any person
having knowledge of the circumstances necessitating the appointment of a
conservator. This is important because
it allows for the process to be instituted even when a "disabled
person" might not be aware that they need a conservator (or might actively
rebel against the idea) or, when a family member might be somehow endangering
the person.
The statute
requires very detailed pleading and requirements including examination by a
physician or psychologist and a requirement that a guardian ad litem be appointed to represent the rights of the
"disabled person". If the
court determines that a conservator is necessary it follows a prioritized list
to determine who to appoint as conservator.
Some rights, but not necessarily all rights, might
be removed by the conservatorship including the right to dispose of property,
execute contracts, make purchases or consent to medical treatment. Also, as is apparently the case in the Joni
Mitchell conservatorship the court can make one person conservator of the
disabled person's "person" and another individual the conservator of
his or her property and finances. I have
seen this type of conservatorship firsthand and can attest that it does a lot
to diffuse concerns and suspicions that family members may have over the
appointment of a conservator.
There has
been a lot of controversy over conservatorships. We have all heard horror stories
of how the system has been abused but we seldom hear of conservatorships that
worked well. Having been involved in
several conservatorships, I can tell you that this is a system that is set up
to try to handle a difficult situation with care and compassion. I served as the court-appointed conservator for
a well-known songwriter (and later his spouse) for nearly 14 years and it
was a difficult but ultimately rewarding experience. I had to overcome mistrust and suspicion and the
general awfulness of seeming to invade
another family's privacy in the worst possible moment. The experience gave me a great deal of
respect for the people who are called upon to undertake this role and the
judges who oversee the process.
