(a) Subject to subdivision (d), the guardian or conservator may petition the court under Section 2403 for instructions when there is doubt whether a wage claim should be paid under this section.
(b) The guardian or conservator shall promptly pay wage claims for work done or services rendered for the ward or conservatee within 30 days prior to the date the petition for appointment of the guardian or conservator was filed. The payments made pursuant to this subdivision shall not exceed nine hundred dollars ($900) to each claimant. If there is insufficient money to pay all the claims described in this subdivision up to nine hundred dollars ($900), the money available shall be distributed among such claimants in proportion to the amount of their respective claims.
(c) After the payments referred to in subdivision (b) have been made, the guardian or conservator shall pay wage claims for work done or services rendered for the ward or conservatee within 90 days prior to the date the petition for appointment of the guardian or conservator was filed, excluding the claims described in subdivision (b). The payments made pursuant to this subdivision shall not exceed one thousand one hundred dollars ($1,100) to each claimant. If there is insufficient money to pay all the claims described in this subdivision up to one thousand one hundred dollars ($1,100), the money available shall be distributed among such claimants in proportion to the amounts of their respective claims.
(d) The guardian or conservator may require sworn claims to be presented. If there is reasonable cause to believe that the claim is not valid, the guardian or conservator may refuse to pay the claim in whole or in part but shall pay any part thereof that is not disputed without prejudice to the claimant’s rights as to the balance of the claim. The guardian or conservator shall withhold sufficient money to cover the disputed portion until the claimant has had a reasonable opportunity to establish the validity of the claim by bringing an action, either in the claimant’s own name or through an assignee, against the guardian or conservator.
(e) If the guardian or conservator neglects or refuses to pay all or any portion of a claim which is not in dispute, the court shall order the guardian or conservator to do so upon the informal application of any wage claimant or the assignee or legal representative of such claimant.
(Enacted by Stats. 1990, Ch. 79.)