Appointed legal counsel.

The Guardianship-Conservatorship Law authorizes the court to appoint private legal counsel for a ward, a proposed ward, a conservatee, or a proposed conservatee in any proceeding under its provisions if the court determines the person is not otherwise represented by legal counsel and that the appointment would be helpful to the resolution of the matter or is necessary to protect the person's interests. The law requires the court to appoint the public defender or private counsel to represent the interest of a conservatee, proposed conservatee, or person alleged to lack legal capacity for assistance in particular proceedings that include, among others, proceedings to establish a conservatorship or to remove the conservator. This bill would require an attorney, who is appointed under these provisions and determines that a conservatee or proposed conservatee is unable to communicate, to report the nature of that inability to the court, and would require the court, upon a determination of the inability to communicate, to discharge the appointed attorney and appoint a guardian ad litem. The bill would specifically require an attorney who is appointed under these provisions to represent a conservatee, a proposed conservatee, or person alleged to lack legal capacity to act as an advocate for the client, and would prohibit the attorney from substituting their own judgment for that of the client's expressed interests.