(a) (1) If court review is required pursuant to Section 1850, the court investigator shall, without prior notice to the conservator except as ordered by the court for necessity or to prevent harm to the conservatee, visit the conservatee. The court investigator shall inform the conservatee personally that the conservatee is under a conservatorship and shall give the name of the conservator to the conservatee. The court investigator shall determine all of the following:

(A) If the conservatee wishes to petition the court for termination of the conservatorship.

(B) If the conservatee is still in need of the conservatorship.

(C) If the conservator is acting in the best interests of the conservatee. In determining if the conservator is acting in the best interests of the conservatee, the court investigator’s evaluation shall include an examination of the conservatee’s placement, the quality of care, including physical and mental treatment, and the conservatee’s finances. To the extent practicable, the investigator shall review the accounting with a conservatee who has sufficient capacity. To the greatest extent possible, the court investigator shall interview individuals set forth in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 1826, in order to determine if the conservator is acting in the best interests of the conservatee.

(D) (i) If the conservatee is incapable of communicating, with or without reasonable accommodations, a desire to participate in the voting process and may be disqualified from voting pursuant to Section 2208 or 2209 of the Elections Code.

(ii) The conservatee shall not be disqualified from voting on the basis that he or she does, or would need to do, any of the following to complete an affidavit of voter registration:

(I) Signs the affidavit of voter registration with a mark or a cross pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 2150 of the Elections Code.

(II) Signs the affidavit of voter registration by means of a signature stamp pursuant to Section 354.5 of the Elections Code.

(III) Completes the affidavit of voter registration with the assistance of another person pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 2150 of the Elections Code.

(IV) Completes the affidavit of voter registration with reasonable accommodations.

(2) If the court has made an order under Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 1870), the court investigator shall determine if the present condition of the conservatee is such that the terms of the order should be modified or the order revoked.

(3) Upon request of the court investigator, the conservator shall make available to the court investigator during the investigation for inspection and copying all books and records, including receipts and any expenditures, of the conservatorship.

(b) (1) The findings of the court investigator, including the facts upon which the findings are based, shall be certified in writing to the court not less than 15 days before the date of review. A copy of the report shall be delivered pursuant to Section 1215 to the conservator and to the attorneys of record for the conservator and conservatee at the same time it is certified to the court. A copy of the report, modified as set forth in paragraph (2), also shall be delivered pursuant to Section 1215 to the conservatee’s spouse or registered domestic partner, the conservatee’s relatives in the first degree, and, if there are no such relatives, to the next closest relative, unless the court determines that the delivery will harm the conservatee.

(2) Confidential medical information and confidential information from the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System shall be in a separate attachment to the report and shall not be provided in copies sent to the conservatee’s spouse or registered domestic partner, the conservatee’s relatives in the first degree, and, if there are no such relatives, to the next closest relative.

(c) In the case of a limited conservatee, the court investigator shall recommend continuing or terminating the limited conservatorship.

(d) The court investigator may personally visit the conservator and other persons as may be necessary to determine if the conservator is acting in the best interests of the conservatee.

(e) The report required by this section shall be confidential and shall be made available only to parties, persons described in subdivision (b), persons given notice of the petition who have requested the report or who have appeared in the proceeding, their attorneys, and the court. The court shall have discretion at any other time to release the report if it would serve the interests of the conservatee. The clerk of the court shall limit disclosure of the report exclusively to persons entitled to the report under this section.

(f) A superior court is not required to perform any duties imposed pursuant to the amendments to this section enacted by Chapter 493 of the Statutes of 2006 until the Legislature makes an appropriation identified for this purpose.

(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 319, Sec. 40. (AB 976) Effective January 1, 2018.)