Code Section

2653.  

(a) The guardian or conservator, the ward or conservatee, the spouse of the ward or the spouse or registered domestic partner of the conservatee, a relative or friend of the ward or conservatee, and any interested person may appear at the hearing and support or oppose the petition.

(b) If the court determines that cause for removal of the guardian or conservator exists, the court may remove the guardian or conservator, revoke the letters of guardianship or conservatorship, and enter judgment accordingly and, in the case of a guardianship or conservatorship of the estate, order the guardian or conservator to file an accounting and to surrender the estate to the person legally entitled thereto. If the guardian or conservator fails to file the accounting as ordered, the court may compel the accounting pursuant to Section 2620.2.

(c) If the court removes the guardian or conservator for cause, as described in subdivisions (a) to (g), inclusive, of Section 2650 or Section 2655, all of the following shall apply:

(1) The court shall award the petitioner the costs of the petition and other expenses and costs of litigation, including attorney’s fees, incurred under this article.

(2) The guardian or conservator may not deduct from, or charge to, the estate the guardian’s or conservator’s costs of opposing the petition for removal, and is personally liable for those costs and expenses.

(3) If the court removes a professional fiduciary as guardian or conservator for cause, the court shall report that determination and the basis for removal to the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau. If the court reports an action taken under this section, the court shall provide the bureau, at no charge, with access to the information, including confidential information, regarding its investigation of the professional fiduciary contained in court records. The bureau shall maintain the confidentiality of the information, as required by paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 6580 of the Business and Professions Code or any other applicable state or federal law.

(d) A superior court shall not be required to perform any duties imposed pursuant to the amendments to this section enacted by the measure that added this subdivision until the Legislature makes an appropriation identified for this purpose.