Conservatorship of Stouky CA6

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Helene was born in 1933. She had two brothers, Paul S. Mula (Paul Senior) and Alan Mula, and no children. Appellant Paul is Paul Senior’s son. Christina Weiss-Smith is Paul’s stepsister and the daughter of Paul Senior’s former wife. In 1997, Helene created a trust. Under the 1997 trust, Paul would receive a property on Arbor Drive if it remained in the trust at Helene’s death. Most of her remaining property was to be distributed to her two brothers if they survived her. Her will largely conformed to the provisions of her trust. Some of her property would go to her mother. Christina was not named in the 1997 trust or will. Helene’s mother died in 2005. Helene, who suffers from severe memory impairment, was conserved in 2012. That year, the probate court appointed Robert E. Temmerman as Helene’s counsel and Christina as conservator of her person. In 2012, Temmerman petitioned for a substituted judgment changing Helene’s estate plan to account for the death of Helene’s mother, simplify her estate plan, and conform to Helene’s “stated primary desire to treat her two brothers equally.” The proposed amendments to the 1997 trust retained the provision…