Public urges automatic court notice and higher bonds after enforcement concerns raised to fiduciary advisory committee
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Summary
Public commenters at the Dec. 10 meeting pressed the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau Advisory Committee to require automatic court notification of citations and to raise the fiduciary bond minimum, citing instances where courts are unaware of licensee disciplinary actions; bureau staff directed commenters to the fiduciary email for enforcement questions and presented current enforcement statistics.
Multiple members of the public urged the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau Advisory Committee on Dec. 10 to adopt a formal protocol (or pursue legislation) requiring automatic notice to superior courts when the bureau issues citations or completes disciplinary actions against licensed fiduciaries.
An unidentified telephone caller asked early in the meeting whether complaints or disciplinary actions were "transferred into the court's system so the court knows that there's complaints going on," and later urged the committee to require notices so judges will be aware when a fiduciary with disciplinary matters is appointed in probate matters.
"The bureau should file a notice of pending or completed disciplinary action with the superior court in every probate matter where the cited licensee is appointed," the caller said, urging the committee to direct the bureau to adopt an administrative protocol for automatic notifications to courts.
Callers also criticized citation practices and suggested existing citation reductions and a $10,000 bond minimum are inadequate to protect vulnerable clients. One commenter argued that reducing citation amounts by large percentages erodes revenue and public protection and called for clearer guidelines and higher bonds to reflect fiduciaries who manage large sums.
Program manager Cynthia Antar presented enforcement metrics during the bureau update: for the first quarter (07/01/2025–09/30/2025) the bureau reported 46 complaints received, 58 complaints closed, 159 complaints pending, an average of 211 days to close complaints (affected by older case closures), 7 citations issued, and 1 referral to the Attorney General's office.
Bureau legal counsel and staff repeatedly reminded public commenters that enforcement‑specific discussion of pending cases should be handled through the bureaus' official channels and provided the fiduciary mailbox (fiduciary@dca.ca.gov) for follow‑up. No formal rule or administrative change to require court notice was adopted at the meeting; commenters asked that the committee place such a proposal on a future agenda.
The committee did not take formal enforcement action at the session; the public asked that the March 11, 2026 meeting include discussion of bond minimums and court notification procedures.