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AVIA
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
Document Scanning Lead Sheet
Feb-08-2013 12:16 pm
Case Number: PTR-06-288755
Filing Date: Feb-08-2013 12:13
Filed by: GERALDINE ANDERSON
Juke Box: 001 Image: 03938357
DECLARATION
IN THE MATTER OF THE ROSIA L. HART REVOCABLE TRUST
001P03938357
Instructions:
Please place this sheet on top of the document to be scanned.wn
Andrew K. Schultz (State Bar No. 215917)
WITHERSPOON & SIRACUSA
1550 Bryant Street, Suite 875 F
San Francisco, CA 94103
Telephone (415) 552-1814
Fax (415) 552-2158
aschultz@witsir.com FEB 8 - 2013
Attorneys for Herb Thomas, moe OF THE COURT
Successor Trustee of the Trust . itt
eputy Clerk
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
San Francisco County Superior Court
CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
Case No. PTR-06-288755
THE ROSIA L. HART
REVOCABLE TRUST
dated May 19, 2004
DECLARATION OF ATTORNEY FOR
CONSERVATOR/TRUSTEE RE: AGREE-
MENT BETWEEN THE PARTIES RE-
GARDING THE PETITION FOR INSTRUC-
TIONS AND MANAGEMENT OF THE
CONSERVATEE’S/SETTLOR’S REAL
PROPERTIES AND FINANCES
Date: February 11, 2013
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Dept: Probate, Room 204
Cross Ref. Case No. PCN-06-288756
The Conservatorship of Rosia Lee Hart
Andrew K. Schultz, as attorney for Petitioner, Herb Thomas, as Conservator of the
Estate of Rosia L. Hart, Conservatee, and Successor Trustee of the Rosia L. Hart Revocable
Trust, declares:
1. On August 17, 2012, Petitioner, as Successor Trustee of the Rosia L. Hart
Revocable Trust (the “Trust’), filed his Petition for instructions Regarding the Management
of the Settlor’s Real Property and Finances in the related Trust proceedings. On November
DECLARATION OF ATTORNEY RE:
PETITION FOR INSTRUCTIONS, ETC. 1 . Case No. PTR-06-288755wn
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2, 2012 he filed herein the related Petition for Instructions Regarding the Management of
the Conservatee’s Real Property and Finances, And, If So Instructed, to Transfer Real
Property by Substituted Judgment; and Petition to Waive Notice to Trust Beneficiary.
Together, the two petitions address all of Mrs. Hart’s real properties and finances, whether
currently held in her own name or in the name of the Trust.
2. Since the filing of the first petition, the parties and their attorneys have met in
person and engaged in an ongoing dialogue. The parties believe that they have come to an
agreement regarding the issues raised in the petitions. The purpose of this declaration is to
describe the agreements and reasoning behind them. The Court will also be presented with
accompanying proposed Orders for the conservatorship and trust proceedings for its review
and approval.
3. 3133 Crestline Court, Antioch, CA (the “Antioch Property”): The Antioch
Property is Mrs. Hart’s home and is currently an asset of the Trust. Although it currently has
negative equity, the amount of the negative equity is only about $35,000, so there is the
possibility that it will recover positive equity in the near future.
The only questions regarding the Antioch Property relate to its mortgage. In the Order
Appointing Probate Conservator dated November 16, 2006, Mrs. Hart was authorized to have
a personal checking account, receive her monthly Social Security and pension payments, and
pay all of her own regular household bills and expenses, which she always has and continues
to do. The monthly mortgage payment for the property is currently approximately $520 per
month, and Mrs. Hart has been making this payment from her personal account as well. To
Petitioner's knowledge, Mrs. Hart has made all the mortgage payments in a timely manner,
and the parties have agreed that she will continue to make this payment herself from her
personal account. Petitioner requests that this Court explicitly authorize Mrs. Hart to continue
todo so. Mrs. Hart has agreed that she will authorize the bank holding the mortgage to speak
directly with Petitioner regarding the mortgage and to provide Petitioner with a duplicate
monthly mortgage statement.
DECLARATION OF ATTORNEY RE:
PETITION FOR INSTRUCTIONS, ETC. 2 Case No. PTR-06-288755a AW
4, 950 Newhall Street, San Francisco, CA (the “Newhall Property”): The
Newhall Property, which is an asset of the Trust, is not encumbered and has a current market
value of less than $600,000. One tenant is currently paying $3,500 per month rent. The
property has a second commercial space, formerly Mrs. Hart’s laundromat, which is not
currently rented.
Mrs. Hart currently has very little cash available to her. She does not currently need
any paid personal care, but should her care needs change, it is possible that she will not have
cash immediately available to pay for it. The Newhall Property is her only property which
currently has positive equity which could be sold to provide her with a cash reserve. Further-
more, because of its location, many decades of deferred maintenance, and environmental
concerns because the property has housed an auto repair facility for many decades, it may
take some time to sell once put on the market. The Newhall Property is very important to Mrs.
Hart, however. Of the properties that she purchased with her husband, it is the only one
remaining in her possession, and the two of them ran their businesses out of it for many years.
Mrs. Hart is well known in the neighborhood of the property. It currently providing $3,500 per
month in rent, and could possibly provide more if the second space is rented. As long as all
the parties acknowledge that, by holding the property, the risk exists that Mrs. Hart may not
have cash readily available to meet possible future expenses, Petitioner agrees to hold and
manage the property for her and hopefully will be able to accumulate a cash reserve over time.
Mrs. Hart and her friend, Rev. Smith, believe that there may be several people in the neighbor-
hood interested in renting the vacant space, possibly for use as a beauty salon, and the parties
are hopeful that by offering a long-term lease, it may be possible to secure a tenant willing to
pay for all the necessary improvements.
To summarize, the parties have agreed that the Newhall Property will be retained in the
Trust at this time, that the Petitioner will continue to manage the property, and that, with the
assistance of Mrs. Hart and Rev. Smith, Petitioner will make efforts to rent the second
commercial space in the property.
DECLARATION OF ATTORNEY RE:
PETITION FOR INSTRUCTIONS, ETC. 3 Case No, PTR-06-288755w
5. 1760 Dover Circle, Suisun City, CA (the “Suisun City Property”): Since the
filing of the petitions, the occupants of the property have been evicted, and the property is
currently vacant. Title to the entire property is currently held by Mrs. Hart in her individual
capacity.
The tenants were apparently paying their rent to Mr. Wiggins until their eviction.
According to them, they were told to ignore all the various notices regarding the eviction, and
that he would take care of it. Mr. Wiggins has also, apparently, been keeping the mortgage
current, but it is unknown if he has continued to do so since the eviction.
The Suisun City Property has negative equity of approximately $120,000. The monthly
mortgage payment is approximately $2,216. The tenants were paying Mr. Wiggins $1,500 per
month. Petitioner obtained a professional estimate that the fair market rental value for the
property is approximately $1,800, but the rental value may have increased since that estimate
in the improving economy.
Petitioner believes that, if the situation is evaluated strictly from the point of view of
Mrs. Hart's personal financial interest at this very moment, it does not appear to be in her best
interest to continue to hold this property. Itis probably unlikely that it will regain positive equity
in her lifetime, and it will probably generate a negative income flow at this time.
Again, however, Mrs. Hart is loathe to part with any of her properties. She worked so
hard for so many decades in order to acquire her properties that to lose any of them is a real
blow. Although the negative equity is quite large, the negative income flow is not so great, and
the rental value may continue to improve if the economy continues to improve. Because she
currently has such minimal personal expenses, and because the Trust is receiving $3,500 per
month from the Newhall Property, her estate can absorb the monthly loss at this time.
Moreover, should the second space in the Newhall Property be leased, her estate will have
that much more income to absorb the loss from this property.
Section 6.10 of the Trust authorizes the Trustee to retain unproductive or underpro-
ductive property. Because of the great emotional importance to Mrs. Hart, Petitioner is willing
to agree to retain and manage the property. Petitioner requests, however, that the Court
DECLARATION OF ATTORNEY RE:
PETITION FOR INSTRUCTIONS, ETC. 4 Case No. PTR-06-288755vA BF wWoN
explicitly authorize him to retain and manage this property. Also, Mrs. Hart agrees that she will
allow Petition to manage the property, include collecting the rent and paying the mortgage,
and she will authorize the bank holding the mortgage to speak with Petitioner directly and send
him the monthly mortgage statements for payment.
Should Mrs. Hart’s care needs change, however, especially if her monthly income
becomes insufficient for her monthly needs, it will be necessary to re-visit the issue of whether
it remains prudent to retain this property.
The parties are also agreed that, as long as the Suisun City Property remains part of
Mrs. Hart's estate, it should be transferred to her Trust, and Petitioner requests that the Court
grant the request in his petition for instructions that he be authorized, by substituted judgment,
to transfer the property to the Trust.
6. 211 Tanager Way, Hercules, CA (the “Hercules Property”): Mrs. Hart owns
the Hercules Property as joint tenant with Gregory Wiggins. The property has negative equity
of approximately $262,000 and appears to have a negative monthly income flow of at least
$1,135 per month. The parties have agreed that, because of the property's extremely poor
financial health and also because of the difficulty (if not virtual impossibility) of managing the
property jointly with Mr. Wiggins, as well as a desire to be rid of any connection with him, the
Court should grant Petitioner's request in his petition for instructions that he be authorized as
conservator, by substituted judgment, to execute a quit claim deed transferring Mrs. Hart's
interest in the property to Mr. Wiggins. As noted in the petitions, should the value of the
property ever improve enough so that it does have positive equity, the Judgment obtained
against Mr. Wiggins can be enforced with regard to that equity.
7. The Antioch Property and Newhall Property are currently the assets of the
Trust. As agreed by the parties, the Suisun City Property will be transferred to the Trust, and
Mrs. Hart's interest in the Hercules Property will be transferred to Mr. Wiggins. Once these
transfers occur, title to all of Mrs. Hart’s remaining real properties will be held by the Trust, and
there will be no real property remaining in the conservatorship. The only assets outside of the
Trust will be Mrs. Hart's monthly income from her Social Security and pensions, which she
DECLARATION OF ATTORNEY RE:
PETITION FOR INSTRUCTIONS, ETC. 5 Case No. PTR-06-288755receives directly and uses to pay her regular monthly expenses and the mortgage on her
Antioch property.
8. As has been mentioned previously in this declaration, this agreement is based
on the situation as it currently exists, which includes any number of variables, and the parties
understand that if and when various circumstances change, aspects of this agreement may
need to be reconsidered or changed.
| certify under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the
foregoing is true and correct insofar as it is based on my own knowledge, and that | believe it
to be true insofar as it is based on information and belief, and that this deciaration was
executed at San Francisco, California, on the date indicated below.
Dated: Ebina 7, 2013 Be day Scie thy
Andrew K. Schultz ?
Attorney for Herb Thomas, Conservator
and Successor Trustee
DECLARATION OF ATTORNEY RE:
PETITION FOR INSTRUCTIONS, ETC. 6 Case No. PTR-06-288755
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AVIA SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO Document Scanning Lead Sheet Feb-08-2013 12:16 pm Case Number: PTR-06-288755 Filing Date: Feb-08-2013 12:13 Filed by: GERALDINE ANDERSON Juke Box: 001 Image: 03938357 DECLARATION IN THE MATTER OF THE ROSIA L. HART REVOCABLE TRUST 001P03938357 Instructions: Please place this sheet on top of the document to be scanned.wn Andrew K. Schultz (State Bar No. 215917) WITHERSPOON & SIRACUSA 1550 Bryant Street, Suite 875 F San Francisco, CA 94103 Telephone (415) 552-1814 Fax (415) 552-2158 aschultz@witsir.com FEB 8 - 2013 Attorneys for Herb Thomas, moe OF THE COURT Successor Trustee of the Trust . itt eputy Clerk SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA San Francisco County Superior Court CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO Case No. PTR-06-288755 THE ROSIA L. HART REVOCABLE TRUST dated May 19, 2004 DECLARATION OF ATTORNEY FOR CONSERVATOR/TRUSTEE RE: AGREE- MENT BETWEEN THE PARTIES RE- GARDING THE PETITION FOR INSTRUC- TIONS AND MANAGEMENT OF THE CONSERVATEE’S/SETTLOR’S REAL PROPERTIES AND FINANCES Date: February 11, 2013 Time: 9:00 a.m. Dept: Probate, Room 204 Cross Ref. Case No. PCN-06-288756 The Conservatorship of Rosia Lee Hart Andrew K. Schultz, as attorney for Petitioner, Herb Thomas, as Conservator of the Estate of Rosia L. Hart, Conservatee, and Successor Trustee of the Rosia L. Hart Revocable Trust, declares: 1. On August 17, 2012, Petitioner, as Successor Trustee of the Rosia L. Hart Revocable Trust (the “Trust’), filed his Petition for instructions Regarding the Management of the Settlor’s Real Property and Finances in the related Trust proceedings. On November DECLARATION OF ATTORNEY RE: PETITION FOR INSTRUCTIONS, ETC. 1 . Case No. PTR-06-288755wn 0 ND 10 HW 12 13 14 15 16 7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 7 28 2, 2012 he filed herein the related Petition for Instructions Regarding the Management of the Conservatee’s Real Property and Finances, And, If So Instructed, to Transfer Real Property by Substituted Judgment; and Petition to Waive Notice to Trust Beneficiary. Together, the two petitions address all of Mrs. Hart’s real properties and finances, whether currently held in her own name or in the name of the Trust. 2. Since the filing of the first petition, the parties and their attorneys have met in person and engaged in an ongoing dialogue. The parties believe that they have come to an agreement regarding the issues raised in the petitions. The purpose of this declaration is to describe the agreements and reasoning behind them. The Court will also be presented with accompanying proposed Orders for the conservatorship and trust proceedings for its review and approval. 3. 3133 Crestline Court, Antioch, CA (the “Antioch Property”): The Antioch Property is Mrs. Hart’s home and is currently an asset of the Trust. Although it currently has negative equity, the amount of the negative equity is only about $35,000, so there is the possibility that it will recover positive equity in the near future. The only questions regarding the Antioch Property relate to its mortgage. In the Order Appointing Probate Conservator dated November 16, 2006, Mrs. Hart was authorized to have a personal checking account, receive her monthly Social Security and pension payments, and pay all of her own regular household bills and expenses, which she always has and continues to do. The monthly mortgage payment for the property is currently approximately $520 per month, and Mrs. Hart has been making this payment from her personal account as well. To Petitioner's knowledge, Mrs. Hart has made all the mortgage payments in a timely manner, and the parties have agreed that she will continue to make this payment herself from her personal account. Petitioner requests that this Court explicitly authorize Mrs. Hart to continue todo so. Mrs. Hart has agreed that she will authorize the bank holding the mortgage to speak directly with Petitioner regarding the mortgage and to provide Petitioner with a duplicate monthly mortgage statement. DECLARATION OF ATTORNEY RE: PETITION FOR INSTRUCTIONS, ETC. 2 Case No. PTR-06-288755a AW 4, 950 Newhall Street, San Francisco, CA (the “Newhall Property”): The Newhall Property, which is an asset of the Trust, is not encumbered and has a current market value of less than $600,000. One tenant is currently paying $3,500 per month rent. The property has a second commercial space, formerly Mrs. Hart’s laundromat, which is not currently rented. Mrs. Hart currently has very little cash available to her. She does not currently need any paid personal care, but should her care needs change, it is possible that she will not have cash immediately available to pay for it. The Newhall Property is her only property which currently has positive equity which could be sold to provide her with a cash reserve. Further- more, because of its location, many decades of deferred maintenance, and environmental concerns because the property has housed an auto repair facility for many decades, it may take some time to sell once put on the market. The Newhall Property is very important to Mrs. Hart, however. Of the properties that she purchased with her husband, it is the only one remaining in her possession, and the two of them ran their businesses out of it for many years. Mrs. Hart is well known in the neighborhood of the property. It currently providing $3,500 per month in rent, and could possibly provide more if the second space is rented. As long as all the parties acknowledge that, by holding the property, the risk exists that Mrs. Hart may not have cash readily available to meet possible future expenses, Petitioner agrees to hold and manage the property for her and hopefully will be able to accumulate a cash reserve over time. Mrs. Hart and her friend, Rev. Smith, believe that there may be several people in the neighbor- hood interested in renting the vacant space, possibly for use as a beauty salon, and the parties are hopeful that by offering a long-term lease, it may be possible to secure a tenant willing to pay for all the necessary improvements. To summarize, the parties have agreed that the Newhall Property will be retained in the Trust at this time, that the Petitioner will continue to manage the property, and that, with the assistance of Mrs. Hart and Rev. Smith, Petitioner will make efforts to rent the second commercial space in the property. DECLARATION OF ATTORNEY RE: PETITION FOR INSTRUCTIONS, ETC. 3 Case No, PTR-06-288755w 5. 1760 Dover Circle, Suisun City, CA (the “Suisun City Property”): Since the filing of the petitions, the occupants of the property have been evicted, and the property is currently vacant. Title to the entire property is currently held by Mrs. Hart in her individual capacity. The tenants were apparently paying their rent to Mr. Wiggins until their eviction. According to them, they were told to ignore all the various notices regarding the eviction, and that he would take care of it. Mr. Wiggins has also, apparently, been keeping the mortgage current, but it is unknown if he has continued to do so since the eviction. The Suisun City Property has negative equity of approximately $120,000. The monthly mortgage payment is approximately $2,216. The tenants were paying Mr. Wiggins $1,500 per month. Petitioner obtained a professional estimate that the fair market rental value for the property is approximately $1,800, but the rental value may have increased since that estimate in the improving economy. Petitioner believes that, if the situation is evaluated strictly from the point of view of Mrs. Hart's personal financial interest at this very moment, it does not appear to be in her best interest to continue to hold this property. Itis probably unlikely that it will regain positive equity in her lifetime, and it will probably generate a negative income flow at this time. Again, however, Mrs. Hart is loathe to part with any of her properties. She worked so hard for so many decades in order to acquire her properties that to lose any of them is a real blow. Although the negative equity is quite large, the negative income flow is not so great, and the rental value may continue to improve if the economy continues to improve. Because she currently has such minimal personal expenses, and because the Trust is receiving $3,500 per month from the Newhall Property, her estate can absorb the monthly loss at this time. Moreover, should the second space in the Newhall Property be leased, her estate will have that much more income to absorb the loss from this property. Section 6.10 of the Trust authorizes the Trustee to retain unproductive or underpro- ductive property. Because of the great emotional importance to Mrs. Hart, Petitioner is willing to agree to retain and manage the property. Petitioner requests, however, that the Court DECLARATION OF ATTORNEY RE: PETITION FOR INSTRUCTIONS, ETC. 4 Case No. PTR-06-288755vA BF wWoN explicitly authorize him to retain and manage this property. Also, Mrs. Hart agrees that she will allow Petition to manage the property, include collecting the rent and paying the mortgage, and she will authorize the bank holding the mortgage to speak with Petitioner directly and send him the monthly mortgage statements for payment. Should Mrs. Hart’s care needs change, however, especially if her monthly income becomes insufficient for her monthly needs, it will be necessary to re-visit the issue of whether it remains prudent to retain this property. The parties are also agreed that, as long as the Suisun City Property remains part of Mrs. Hart's estate, it should be transferred to her Trust, and Petitioner requests that the Court grant the request in his petition for instructions that he be authorized, by substituted judgment, to transfer the property to the Trust. 6. 211 Tanager Way, Hercules, CA (the “Hercules Property”): Mrs. Hart owns the Hercules Property as joint tenant with Gregory Wiggins. The property has negative equity of approximately $262,000 and appears to have a negative monthly income flow of at least $1,135 per month. The parties have agreed that, because of the property's extremely poor financial health and also because of the difficulty (if not virtual impossibility) of managing the property jointly with Mr. Wiggins, as well as a desire to be rid of any connection with him, the Court should grant Petitioner's request in his petition for instructions that he be authorized as conservator, by substituted judgment, to execute a quit claim deed transferring Mrs. Hart's interest in the property to Mr. Wiggins. As noted in the petitions, should the value of the property ever improve enough so that it does have positive equity, the Judgment obtained against Mr. Wiggins can be enforced with regard to that equity. 7. The Antioch Property and Newhall Property are currently the assets of the Trust. As agreed by the parties, the Suisun City Property will be transferred to the Trust, and Mrs. Hart's interest in the Hercules Property will be transferred to Mr. Wiggins. Once these transfers occur, title to all of Mrs. Hart’s remaining real properties will be held by the Trust, and there will be no real property remaining in the conservatorship. The only assets outside of the Trust will be Mrs. Hart's monthly income from her Social Security and pensions, which she DECLARATION OF ATTORNEY RE: PETITION FOR INSTRUCTIONS, ETC. 5 Case No. PTR-06-288755receives directly and uses to pay her regular monthly expenses and the mortgage on her Antioch property. 8. As has been mentioned previously in this declaration, this agreement is based on the situation as it currently exists, which includes any number of variables, and the parties understand that if and when various circumstances change, aspects of this agreement may need to be reconsidered or changed. | certify under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct insofar as it is based on my own knowledge, and that | believe it to be true insofar as it is based on information and belief, and that this deciaration was executed at San Francisco, California, on the date indicated below. Dated: Ebina 7, 2013 Be day Scie thy Andrew K. Schultz ? Attorney for Herb Thomas, Conservator and Successor Trustee DECLARATION OF ATTORNEY RE: PETITION FOR INSTRUCTIONS, ETC. 6 Case No. PTR-06-288755