Colorado’s probate courts have few standards for guardians and conservators, including how much they can charge and what their qualifications must be, a state audit found.
Those who manage the estates of very young, elderly or disabled people have charged the same fees for mowing the lawn as they do for legal services, said Art Bridges, senior manager of Clifton Gunderson, the private firm commissioned by the auditor’s office for the report.
Clifton Gunderson officials on Tuesday reported their review of 114 probate cases from 2003 to the Legislative Audit Committee.
The audit found that guardians and conservators of at-risk clients often did not file required reports, but there were no consequences to them.
“Some of the courts’ current practices for reviewing reports were insufficient to identify errors and inappropriate expenses or to evaluate the appropriateness of care,” the report said.
In defense of the state probate system, State Court Administrator Gerald Marroney said that Colorado has a severe shortage of judges and court staff to manage the cases.
“We will ask for additional judges,” he said.
Marroney also said part of the problem is that there has been little or no legislative guidance on such things as conservator or guardian qualifications or what is an appropriate fee.
Exorbitant fees for professional guardians or conservators can wipe out the estates of vulnerable people, he said.
The Clifton Gunderson report said one professional guardian was charging $158 an hour for services when licensed clinical social workers are typically paid between $15 and $27 an hour.
An attorney charged the same rate of $145 an hour for legal services as he did for buying a TV and washer and dryer and talking to neighbors.
Marroney said a probate court task force is being formed to study solutions to problems identified by the audit. The group may make recommendations for new laws to the state legislature to fix the problems.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
