News

SUMMER 2003
By Lawrence Dean,  Southern Region President

Congratulations on another great conference and a huge thank you to everyone who helped make it a success. A special thank you to Joyce Flint, Gayle Muller-Winnen and Sally Graham for all the hard work on the Auction. The conference raised approximately ninety thousand dollars for PFAC, great job everyone!

The Southern Region will have its next meeting on 6-18-03. This will be a closed business meeting. We will be looking for committee members and discussing our goals for the coming year. If you want to take part by joining a committee or if you want to have input to the goals for the next year we need to see you at the June meeting.
 
By Shirley Trissler,  Southern Region President
The focus of the Southern Region this past year has been to work with the Judiciary to better serve our clients and cooperate with the court in doing this. We were fortunate to be able to take several steps in accomplishing this goal.

On January 10th, a small representative group of our membership attended a meeting of the Los Angeles County Probate staff. The Honorable Thomas W. Stoever extended the invitation when he spoke at one of our meetings in 2002. Those attending were Judy Chinello, Daniel Stubbs, Sharon Woody and me. At the meeting, we learned that the court staff wants our accountings to be clearer: list income by bank and category, list expenses by category, provide a narrative explaining the case and state what we Conservator did to earn his or her fees. Judge Stoever also requested an outline of our business. We hope that this meeting will be only the first and that we can continue to work with the court staff to make the process more efficient.

Since this is my last report as president, of Southern Region, I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped me and the membership this past year. You all did a great job and I appreciate everything you did.

Naturally, the 2003 Conference Committee has been working hard, meeting regularly. Tracy Newell of MeetingWise has been a great organizer and a tremendous resource. We appreciate everything she has done and continues to do. Carol Loeffler, PFAC Administrator, has been very busy and helpful as well. We are looking for volunteers from each region to help with the conference, so call Carol if you wish to help at the registration table Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, or assemble notebooks and name badges on Wednesday evening. Carol’s phone number is (858) 674-7385, non members may help. New members this is a great way to network and have fun doing it.

WINTER  2002
We are all busy working on the 2003 Statewide Conference and have monthly meetings scheduled.  If anyone has information or input for us, please contact Carol Loeffler.  She may have the answer for you; if not, she'll refer it to the appropriate chairperson.

At the November 20th meeting in Studio City, Attorney Ruth A. Phelps spoke about Special Needs Trusts.

A representative group of PFAC members has been invited to speak at the January 2003 meeting of the judges and probate attorneys.  We are looking forward to educating them about what a professional conservator/fiduciary does and learning how we work better with the judicial system.

FALL 2002
The focus of the Southern Region for 2002-2003 will be "Working with the Judiciary."  We are planning meetings with various groups to find out how professional fiduciaries can work with the local judiciary system and have our voice heard.

The Honorable Thomas W. Stoever, Supervising Probate Judge of Los Angeles County, has invited a representative group from the Southern Region to make a presentation at the Fall meeting of the LA County Probate bench officers and probate attorneys.  We are looking forward to that meeting.

We are also busy working on the 2003 Statewide Conference.  A Meeting Planner has been hired and we are confident that she will take a great burden off the members in making the conference a success.

The September 18th bi-monthly meeting will be held at the Salvatori Room of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles.  Deputy District Attorney, Paul Greenwood, from the Elder Abuse Unit of San Diego District Attorney’s Office will speak.  He is head of the Elder Abuse Prosecution Unit.  His topic for the day is, his successful prosecution of physical and financial elder abuse cases.

SPRING 2002
The Southern Region of PFAC met on January 16, 2002 at the Sportsman’s Lodge.  This was an open forum meeting where several topics were discussed.  Included in these topics were areas of interest to be discussed with Judge Stoever when he addresses our regional meeting in March.

Nominations for PFAC Southern Region were announced. Ballots were sent out.  New officers will be: President: Shirley Trissler Co-Vice Presidents: Larry Dean and Ron Olund; Secretary: John Thill; Treasurer: Daniel Stubbs; State Board Representative: Annabelle Wilson.  Winnie Weshler will be the regional membership chairman.

Chapter meetings have been held in the San Fernando Valley, Orange County, and the Inland Empire.

WINTER 2002
The Southern Region of PFAC met in November 14, 2001 at the Yardbird Restaurant.  The meeting was sponsored by Experia Health Care.  This organization offers health care products and equipment, which is not easily attainable through other sources. They specialize in offering services to Special Needs Trusts and other catastrophic illnesses/ accidents.

The main program consisted of discussion of the meeting with our members and Judge Stoever on October 11, 2001. Members attending this meeting were: Judith Chinello, Dan Stubbs, Vicki Singh, Emily Stuhlbarg, Shirley Trissler, and Sharon Woody.  Overall the meeting went well and consisted primarily of information sharing.  Judge Stoever was very interested in learning about the kinds of case loads we have and learning more about the roles of conservators, care managers, and caregivers.  He was surprised to learn how many indigent clients we have in our case loads and how we continue to care for them.  He believes that PFAC membership is a plus.  He also stressed that he reads all accounts and fee requests and that he knows each case is difficult in its own way.  Judge Stoever will be addressing our March meeting.

The San Fernando, Inland Empire, Central Coast and Orange County chapters have met during the past 3 months.
A wonderful holiday party was hosted for PFAC Southern Region members at the historic Mission Inn in Riverside.
The new slate of officers for 2002 will be announced at our January meeting. Shirley Trissler will be glad to hear from you if you wish to serve on the Board or on a committee.

FALL 2001
The Southern Region of PFAC met on July 18, 2001 at Taix Restaurant in Los Angeles. Jason Bloom was the featured speaker; He talked about legislation affecting seniors and how he became interested in advocacy. He urged all of us to become active in this process.

September 19, 2001 we met at Claremont Manor in Claremont CA., the speaker was Jason Kaplan.  His topic was “Case Studies in Financial Management”.

The October 4, 2001 3rd Annual Mini Conference to be held in the Los Angeles area at the Ramada Plaza Hotel is in the final planning stages.  At the time you receive this newsletter, the planning will be finished and hopefully you will be attending this exciting, informative conference.  Our program will include speaker, Art Krause, a Sacramento lobbyist.  His topic will be: “How an Idea Comes to Law”, speaker, Susan Caldwell- “Nutrition Update for Care Managers and Conservators, and speaker, Patty Hooper-“Client Related Insurance Issues”.  There are also 10 excellent topics for round table discussions.  Attendees will want to attend all the sessions, and it will be difficult to choose only two.  At a planning meeting with the hotel, we sampled the lunch buffet, which was delicious.

An October 11, 2001, meeting is planned with Judge Thomas W. Stoever, presiding Judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court-Probate Section.  At his request, this will be a small meeting in chambers and the main topic of discussion will be compensation for professional conservators.  Other issues will be education and membership requirements of PFAC and the scope and responsibilities of our duties as professional fiduciaries.  The committee has held several planning meetings and welcomes input from all PFAC members.

SUMMER 2001
The regional board has announced that meetings will be held every other month starting the 3rd Wednesday of July.  The 3rd Wednesday of the month represents a change from the previous 4th Wednesday.  The exception will be in November that will be the 2nd Wednesday.  We will continue to alternate between sponsored and restaurant locations.

Plans are underway for the mini-conference to be held tentatively on October 4th in Los Angeles . We will continue with the successful format of speakers and educational topics of interest to our members.

Four chapters are holding meetings in the alternate months. The chapters are: San Fernando Valley , Orange County , Inland Empire , and Central Coast.

The Southern Region held a meeting March 28, 2001 , at the Los Angeles Jonathan Club where the topic was: “Developing a Profitable Fiduciary Business”.

In April, the Southern Region hosted the always-successful Attorney Appreciation Dinner.  It was well attended and appreciated by all members and guests.

SPRING 2001
By Emily Stuhlbarg

On January 31, 2001, the Southern region held its bi-monthly luncheon meeting at the Renaissance Hotel in Long Beach.  There were 32 members and 20 guests in attendance.

A panel presentation entitled “How Attorneys and Professional Fiduciaries Can Help Each Other to do the Best Possible Job” was presented.  Sherrie Ellman moderated it.  A panel of attorneys consisting of Misty L. Colwell from Long Beach, Ernest L. Hayward from Orange County, Michael J. Gill from Los Angeles, and Mitchell A. Karasov from San Fernando Valley answered questions such as:  (1) What is the best way to get in touch with a busy attorney?  (2) What can professionals do to maintain confidentiality with their attorneys?  (3) What is the best way to protect ourselves when involved with complicated issues in administering conservatorships and estates?  Other issues discussed were making sure communication was maintained at all times, the need to file accountings even in non-court supervised trusts, and contracting with outside professionals to prepare accountings, thus creating a checks and balances system.  It was an excellent topic and panel, and the presenters were extremely knowledgeable and supportive of professional fiduciaries. 

Two new members were introduced:  Jeanette Sharp and Nancy Barnes.

Because everyone has enjoyed their volunteer jobs so much this year, on PFAC committees, all the present officers of Southern Region are willing to serve next year.  Added to the proposed slate was Lawrence Dean as co-Vice President with Shirley Trissler, and Annabelle Wilson stepping in to be the Southern Region State Representative.

Three new chapters are in the formative process in the Southern Region.  Orange County Chapter held its first meeting on February 28, 2001, organized by Sally Graham.  Seven people attended.  Another meeting was held in the San Fernando Valley on February 28th, organized by Francine Teitelbaum and Harriet Rechtman.   San Luis Obispo/Santa Barbara are meeting to organize a Coastal Chapter.  For more information contact Bev Shannon or Suzanne McNeely There was a meeting in Morro Bay on February 26th with only 2 in attendance.  These chapters will be voted on in May, at the State Board Meeting.