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Estate of West12/20/1994
, 51 St.Rep. 1409.
Submitted on Briefs October 28, 1994.
This is an appeal from the District Court of the Thirteenth Judicial District, Yellowstone County, of an order establishing a limited guardianship and terminating the general guardianship of Don C. West. The order also continued a conservatorship with Norwest Capital Management and denied a joint petition from the protected person, his guardian and the conservator to substitute the conservatorship with a trust. We affirm.
The questions for review are:
I. Did the District Court err in establishing a limited guardianship?
II. Did the District Court err in denying the joint petition to terminate the conservatorship?
Don C. West (Don) is a "protected person" whose personal and financial interests have been managed by his mother, Mary Lou West, as guardian, and Norwest Capital Management Co.-Montana, formerly Northwestern Union Trust Co., as conservator, since 1978. In October of 1976, Don sustained severe injuries in a motor vehicle accident in New Mexico, when a vehicle in which he was a passenger collided with an oil tanker. As a result of this accident, Don suffered extensive physical injuries, including burns, blindness and head and leg injuries. He suffers from motor difficulties in his legs and has some deformity in his legs and ankles which requires him to wear braces. His head injuries caused some mental impairment and he has also lost physical sensitivity in his fingers because of burns.
Following the accident, Don remained in a coma for over three months. In November of 1976, a New Mexico state court declared Don an incompetent person "until such time he is able, unassisted to properly manage and take care of himself and his property." The New Mexico court also appointed his mother, Mary Lou West, as guardian ad litem. In her capacity as guardian ad litem, Mary Lou West initiated a personal injury suit in New Mexico on Don's behalf. The lawsuit resulted in a negotiated settlement in the spring of 1978.
In May of 1978, following the settlement, the Montana district court appointed Northwest Union Trust Co., now operating as Norwest Capital Management & Trust Co.-Montana (Norwest Capital), as conservator of Don's financial affairs. The conservatorship was initially funded with $463,319. By the end of 1978, after payment of medical expenses and other bills on Don's behalf, the value of the conservatorship was reduced to $374,323. Social Security Disability Payments have been deposited into the conservatorship during the years of Norwest Capital's management of Don's estate. During the years since 1978, the conservatorship has increased in value under Norwest Capital's management, with the result that at the time of the hearing on this matter, the conservatorship held assets in the amount of $1,084,239. In recent years, the annual income of the conservatorship has consistently exceeded the amount necessary to meet Don's needs.
In June of 1978, the Montana district court also appointed Mary Lou West as general guardian. Mary Lou West has made several personal care arrangements for her son in the years since 1978. In the last few years, however, she has been increasingly less involved in making such arrangements.
After being released from the hospital in January 1977, Don completed a rehabilitation program at St. Vincent's Hospital in Billings, Montana. His guardian then placed him in a rehabilitation program for the blind in Topeka, Kansas; followed by the Lighthouse Program for the Blind in Seattle, Washington; and then in High Hopes Brain Trauma Learning Center in Costa Mesa, California.
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