Gregory D. v. Linda D.

214 Cal. App. 4th 62, 153 Cal. Rptr. 3d 657
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 5, 2013
DocketNo. B237896
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 214 Cal. App. 4th 62 (Gregory D. v. Linda D.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gregory D. v. Linda D., 214 Cal. App. 4th 62, 153 Cal. Rptr. 3d 657 (Cal. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Opinion

KLEIN, P. J.

Linda D. (Linda), the mother of limited conservatee Gregory D. (Gregory) purports to appeal an order on petition for instructions regarding administration of Gregory’s limited conservatorship.

Because Linda lacks standing to prosecute this appeal, relating to various alleged violations of Gregory’s rights, the appeal is dismissed.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Gregory is a developmentally disabled adult, currently in his mid-20s. He was diagnosed with autism as a child. His parents, Joseph D. (Joseph) and Linda, obtained a divorce, and Gregory resided with each of his parents, at their respective homes, on alternating weeks. In 2005, Gregory reached the age of majority. In 2008, he moved into his own apartment, with supportive services which enable him to live independently.

1. Summary of conservatorship proceedings.

In 2004, Linda and Joseph filed competing petitions to be named as the limited conservator of their son Gregory. In 2005, they entered into a settlement agreement setting the terms for Gregory’s limited conservatorship. Pursuant to said settlement agreement, Joseph withdrew his petition for conservatorship and stipulated to Linda’s appointment as Gregory’s conservator.

On July 25, 2005, the trial court appointed Linda as Gregory’s limited conservator. The appointment order placed the following limitations on Gregory: “1. The limited conservatee lacks the capacity to control his own residence or place of dwelling. HQ 2. The limited conservatee lacks the capacity to access his confidential records and papers.” Linda was granted [65]*65various powers, including the power to fix Gregory’s place of residence, access to his confidential records and papers, and the power to contract on his behalf. The settlement agreement was signed by Joseph, Linda, and their respective attorneys, as well as by Gregory’s attorney.

While Linda was serving as limited conservator, further litigation erupted between Joseph and Linda pertaining to the administration of the conservator-ship. Joseph sought Linda’s removal, contending she had improperly relocated Gregory from half-time residence in Joseph’s home and had prohibited contact between Gregory and Joseph’s family.

In August 2008, the trial court appointed Paul Gaulke as the PVP attorney for Gregory.1 In September 2008, the trial court appointed Thomas Beltran as an expert to advise the court on the appropriateness of Gregory’s programming and his reasonable needs, “in the context of the specialized programs and services that he receives.”

On July 2, 2009, after Joseph and Linda entered into another settlement agreement, the trial court entered an order providing, inter alia, that Linda would resign as limited conservator immediately upon appointment of a successor limited conservator for Gregory. On September 11, 2009, the trial court appointed Linda Cotterman (Cotterman) as the successor limited conservator for Gregory.

In April 2011, Joseph filed a petition for termination of Cotterman as limited conservator. Following trial of the matter on September 20, 2011, the trial court granted the petition to remove Cotterman, finding that she had violated various court orders.

On November 18, 2011, the trial court appointed Bruce Hitchman and Lee Ann Hitchman (the Hitchmans) as the successor limited conservators.

2. The operative petition for instructions.

On or about October 20, 2011, Gaulke, Gregory’s court-appointed attorney, filed a petition for instructions, seeking guidance from the court as to how the new limited conservators could best administer Gregory’s limited conservatorship so as to minimize further disputes between the parties.

[66]*66Joseph and Linda filed responses thereto. Linda’s papers objected to the PVP’s petition on the following grounds: it requested powers that were not specifically requested in the petition for appointment of the limited conservator; the petition was too vague to give the parties notice as to what additional powers were being sought; the instructions sought were detrimental to the purposes of the limited conservatorship; the petition did not state sufficient facts to establish that the conservatee’s condition necessitated that additional powers be granted; and the petition sought orders in excess of the court’s jurisdiction and in violation of the conservatee’s civil rights.

On November 18, 2011, the trial court issued its order on the PVP’s petition for instructions. As relevant to this appeal, the trial court made certain rulings with respect to the issues of visitation, disclosure of Gregory’s records, and replacement of Gregory’s supported living services vendor.

(1) The trial court ordered the Hitchmans, the newly appointed limited conservators, to comply with an earlier court order removing My Life Foundation as Gregory’s supported living service vendor, and to retain within 60 days a new successor supported living services vendor “that has not previously cared for the Limited Conservatee, including personal care individuals.”

(2) The trial court established the following weekend visitation schedule for Gregory: the first weekend, Saturday and Sunday only, Gregory would determine how to spend his weekend; the second weekend, Saturday and Sunday only, were assigned to Joseph, who would decide how that weekend visitation would be spent with Gregory, with Gregory being able to elect an overnight stay at Joseph’s home or elsewhere; the third weekend, Saturday and Sunday only, were assigned to Linda, who would decide how that weekend visitation would be spent with Gregory, with Gregory being able to elect an overnight stay at Linda’s home or elsewhere; upon the conclusion of the three-week cycle, the rotation would begin again, with the visitation schedule ongoing until further order of the court.

(3) The trial court ordered all of Gregory’s records, including his medical, financial and personal records, be furnished by the Hitchmans to Gregory’s parents, in accordance with an earlier court order.

On December 8, 2011, Linda filed a timely notice of appeal from the November 18, 2011 order on the petition for instructions.2

[67]*67CONTENTIONS

Linda contends the visitation order violates Gregory’s constitutional rights to liberty and privacy; the order directing termination of My Life Foundation as Gregory’s supported living services care provider was in excess of the trial court’s jurisdiction; and the order mandating disclosure of Gregory’s medical, financial and personal records to his parents violates Gregory’s constitutional and statutory rights of privacy.

However, the threshold issue for this court is whether Linda has standing to assert these arguments.

DISCUSSION

Linda is not aggrieved and cannot assert errors affecting only Gregory, who has not appealed.

a. General principles; the requirement that an appellant be personally aggrieved.

The right to appeal is purely statutory. (Jennifer T. v. Superior Court (2007) 159 Cal.App.4th 254, 260 [71 Cal.Rptr.3d 293].) Code of Civil Procedure section 902 defines “Who May Appeal” from a judgment. (See Code Commissioners’ Notes, 17B West’s Ann. Code Civ. Proc. (2009 ed.) foll. § 902, p.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
214 Cal. App. 4th 62, 153 Cal. Rptr. 3d 657, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gregory-d-v-linda-d-calctapp-2013.