In this three-part video series, NCSC provides information and tools for probate court staff that wish to implement more rigorous conservatorship and guardianship monitoring. The series emphasizes important aspects of case management, report tracking, responses to potential fraud and abuse, and financial monitoring, including comparing assets, expenses and budgets over time and highlighting common problem areas to look out for. Intended for courts across the country and thus necessarily general in nature, the videos are particularly helpful to courts that currently lack local training resources. A separate series of videos for conservators helps them understand their role and how to prevent misuse of resources.
See the transcript here.
To access New Conservator Video Series, click here.
Monitoring Conservatorship and Guardianship Cases
In this first video for probate staff, you will learn about:
- Setting reporting expectations and providing guidance
- Active tracking of open conservatorship and guardianship cases
- Questions to ask yourself when reviewing reports
Supplemental materials:
- Go to the Center for Elders and the Courts' Resources for Courts for more information on:
- Providing clear expectations to guardians & conservators
- Common documents, methods for identifying cases requiring ongoing guardianships/conservatorships, and tracking tools to ensure documents are filed on time
- Developing an action plan if a case is not in compliance (e.g., reports are not filed on
time, show discrepancies, or lack documentation) - Reviewing reports
- The video "Responsibilities of a Conservator and Questions You Should Ask" explains the conservator's responsibilities.
- For more information on financial monitoring services, watch: Conservator Video #5 “Preventing and Detecting Fraud”
- One example of a financial monitoring service is EverSafe
- New Mexico’s Financial Report Form
- Example of a statewide guardianship tracking tool
Red Flags in Financial Reports
In this second video for probate staff, you will learn about:
- Red flags to look out for when reviewing expenses
- Expenses that might be missing
- Concerns to follow up on
Supplemental materials:
- For more information on expenses that deserve investigation, visit CEC's Proactively Managing Guardianships & Conservatorships.
Responses to Potential Fraud or Abuse
In this third video for probate staff, you will learn about:
- Best practices and procedures when concerns or problems in guardianships or conservatorships arise
- Situations that warrant additional monitoring
Supplemental materials:
- Interactive Guardianship/Conservatorship Judicial Response Protocol
- For more information on strategies to prevent and mitigate fraud/abuse – including Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTs) and Differentiated Case Monitoring, go to NCSC’s Center for Elders and the Courts:
This video series was supported by Cooperative Agreement 2018-V3-GX-K023, awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this video are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.