The Conference of Chief Justices and Conference of State Court Administrators Joint Committee on Elders and the Courts has approved the Strategic Action Plan – 2016 for the Adult Guardianship Initiative.

With support from SJI and the Retirement Research Foundation (RRF), the Center for Elders and the Courts is addressing guardianship and conservatorship issues in the state courts through the initiative.

The plan comprises a multi-year response that targets four key goals including:

• Develop and maintain a partnership of key stakeholders;
• Prioritize the protection and enhancement of individual rights;
• Promote modernization and transparency in the guardianship process; and,
• Enhance guardianship/conservatorship court processes and oversight.

A recent survey by the NCSC shows an estimated $50 billion in assets are currently under state courts’ watch in conservatorship cases across the country.  This number is based on projections from data from a handful of states.  Some 176,000 new conservatorship or guardianship cases were filed in state courts nationally in 2015, and there were an estimated 1.3 million open cases.  These statistics provide valuable insight to a growing national problem and how courts recognize and deal with the financial exploitation of people under a conservatorship.