Local Rule 08-1

MEMORANDUM ORDER 
LOCAL RULE 08-1

     The enactment of legislation pertaining to the appointment, duties and powers of guardians and conservators as set forth in Article 1.1 and Article 2, Chapter 4, Title 37.2, Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, and particularly Section 37.2-1023 amended effective January 1, 2007, provided that a court may impose requirements to be satisfied by a conservator prior to a conveyance of any interest in real estate. The court is of the opinion that certain requirements should be imposed upon any conservator who manages real estate to assure the conservator's accountability when selling or conveying such real estate; therefore, the court doth Order as follows:

1. All orders appointing a conservator for an incapacitated person wherein the conservator manages real property or may in the future manage or convey real property shall contain the following provisions in clearly numbered paragraphs (unless otherwise modified or expanded by this Court at the time of the hearing for such appointment):
   
   In the event real property is to be conveyed the conservator shall be subject to these requirements:
   
   
   1. The conservator shall record a true copy of his order of appointment in the Office of the Clerk of any jurisdiction in which the incapacitated person owns real property.
   2. The conservator shall provide the Commissioner of Accounts with an independent real estate appraisal of the property or such other evidence of value of the property as may be acceptable to the Commissioner of Accounts.
   3. The conservator shall consult with the Commissioner of Accounts as to the propriety of the transaction and shall disclose anticipated net proceeds of sale of the property.
   4. The conservator shall be required to increase his/her bond to an appropriate amount taking into account the anticipated proceeds of sale; and, the Commissioner shall recommend to the Court in writing an amount by which the bond shall be increased.
   5. The conservator shall make a report of his/her compliance with each requirement set forth in this order as it pertains to the conveyance of real estate and shall file such report with the Commissioner of Accounts.
   6. The conservator shall give notice to the Guardian ad Litem heretofore appointed, and to those parties to whom notice was given when the Petition for appointment of a Conservator was filed, unless the Court rules otherwise.
   7. In the event the Commissioner of Accounts does not consent to such sale, the conservator may file exceptions to the report of the Commissioner of Accounts.
   8. The conveyance shall not be closed until a report by the Commissioner of Accounts is filed with the Court and confirmed as provided in Sections 26-33, 26-34, and 26-35 of the Code of Virginia, as amended, and also recorded in the indices to deeds in the Office of the Clerk of the jurisdiction where the property is located.
   9. The Commissioner of Accounts, in addition to the fees for inventories and accounts, shall be allowed a fee of $250.00 for each such report.
   10. The Court requires the conservator to use a common source information company, as defined in Sec. 54.1-2130 of the Code of Virginia of 1950, as amended, when listing the property.
2. The Clerk of this Court shall, upon the filing of a petition to appoint a conservator, tender or mail a copy of this order to the petitioner or petitioner's counsel who seeks appointment of a conservator for an incapacitated person.

Aundria D. Foster, Chief Judge 
H. Vincent Conway, Jr., Judge 
C. Peter Tench, Judge 
Timothy S. Fisher, Judge 
David F. Pugh, Judge