Conservatorship of Liebscher CA1/1

Filed 7/17/13 Conservatorship of Liebscher CA1/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

Conservatorship of the Person and Estate of MARGARET McGEE LIEBSCHER. HERB THOMAS et al., as Coconservators, A128239 etc., (Contra Costa County Petitioners and Respondents, Super. Ct. No. PO7-00197) v. GILBERT E. ATENCIO, Objector and Appellant.

Appellant Gilbert E. Atencio, appearing in pro per, appeals a ruling by the superior court, entered in a minute order dated January 19, 2010, denying his motion to set aside default judgment. The default judgment was filed in June 2009 and awarded damages against appellant in the total amount of $463,651.29 on a complaint for elder physical and financial abuse, filed by Margaret McGee Liebscher through her court-appointed attorney, Robert S. Kosloff, in the matter of the Conservatorship of the Person and Estate of Margaret McGee Liebscher. We shall affirm. BACKGROUND In January 2007, Herb Thomas, a private professional fiduciary, filed a petition for temporary conservatorship of Margaret McGee Liebscher. Charles Liebscher, Margaret’s husband, and several of her children and grandchildren filed declarations in support of the petition, stating that immediate appointment of a temporary conservatorship was necessary and appropriate. Appellant, one of Margaret’s sons, was the sole dissenter,

1

asserting he presently held “Power of Attorney, conservatorship, etc., for the Margaret McGee living trust.” The court appointed Herb Thomas temporary conservator of the estate of Margaret McGee Liebscher, and Thomas filed letters of temporary conservatorship on February 7, 2007. The same day, Thomas also filed a petition for appointment of probate conservator of the person and estate of Margaret McGee Liebscher. In the petition, Thomas states the “subject conservatorship petition stems from a San Francisco APS [Adult Protective Services] investigation and referral regarding Mrs. Liebscher. Several cross-allegations of financial mismanagement, abuse, and/or undue influence have been made by Mrs. Liebscher’s children. There appears to be [a] consensus among the family that a neutral conservator is necessary and beneficial. The estate issues stem from allegations of undue influence and/or improper use of fiduciary authority under various estate planning documents.” Robert Kosloff was appointed counsel for conservatee by order of the superior court filed on March 15, 2007. Soon thereafter, Kosloff filed a petition for Charles Liebscher to be appointed as temporary conservator of the person of his spouse Margaret Liebscher. In support of the petition, Kosloff stated that at the time Thomas petitioned for appointment of a conservator, appellant “physically absconded with my client . . . and hid her from her other family members. My client was ultimately discovered, with her son Gilbert Atencio, at a motel in San Bruno. Charles Liebscher, my client’s husband, ultimately retrieved my client, who was found to be in a state of terrible confusion, and suffering from various medical issues. . . . At the time of the filing of this Petition, my client is safely residing with her husband . . . . [¶] [B]ased on my conversations with the parties, I have reason to believe that [my client] remains in serious danger of being wrongfully taken and hidden by her son, Gilbert Atencio . . . . [I]t has come to my attention that over the past three weeks or so, monies belonging to my client in the approximate amount of $32,000, have been misappropriated by Gilbert Atencio before the monies could be transferred into the temporary conservatorship estate. I believe that my client is in danger of fraud, undue influence and financial abuse at the behest of her