Case library / Money, billing and honesty
The supervisor had died, and the hours still needed signing
In short
Revocation stayed. Three years of probation
three yrs probationThe §4982(u) case — experience hours, a forged signature, and an email chain that documented all of it.
A settlement that landed below the disciplinary guidelines' published minimum — which tells you what the guidelines actually are.
What happened
The associate's supervisor of record had died. To complete her hours she sought signatures from other people at the agency.
Per the accusation, she forged her supervisor's signature on an In-State Experience Verification form and a Weekly Summary of Experience Hours, submitted as part of her exam eligibility application.
The decision reproduces the whole email chain, including her requests to agency staff to sign on the deceased supervisor's behalf, and the clinical director's replies of “Here you go.”
The Board denied her LMFT application. She appealed. The accusation against her associate registration and the statement of issues on the license application were consolidated.
What it was charged as
Securing a license or registration by fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.
A dishonest or fraudulent act.
Violation of the statutes and regulations governing the gaining and supervision of experience.
§1815.8 is the regulation that sets out how to prove hours when a supervisor is deceased or incapacitated. There was a procedure. It was not used.
The outcome
Revocation stayed. Three years of probation.
No cost recovery stated in the orderWhat the rule actually says
The disciplinary guidelines set the minimum penalty for fraud in securing a license at outright revocation. This settlement landed below the published minimum, which is worth knowing: the guidelines are the Board's starting point in settlement negotiation, not a ceiling on what can be negotiated.
Discussion
Analysis, not part of the decision
The situation was real and the pressure was real. Her supervisor of record had died, and the hours still needed signing. What she did next — per the accusation, forging that supervisor's signature on an In-State Experience Verification form and a Weekly Summary submitted with her exam eligibility application — is fraud in securing a license.
The disciplinary guidelines set the minimum penalty for that at outright revocation. This settlement produced stayed revocation and three years of probation. That is below the published minimum, and it is one of the most practically useful facts in this library: the guidelines are the Board's starting point in settlement negotiation, not a floor beneath which a case cannot land.
The email chain is the other lesson. The decision reproduces it in full, including her requests to agency staff to sign on the deceased supervisor's behalf and a clinical director's reply of “Here you go.” Everything about the problem was documented in writing before anyone thought of it as evidence.
Where insurance reaches, and where it does not
Outside every policy. Professional liability insurance covers professional services rendered to clients; an application for licensure is not one. This is a case for a licensing attorney, paid out of pocket, and it is exactly the situation where the board-defense sublimit some associates assume they have through an employer turns out not to exist.
What would have changed it
- 16 CCR §1815.8 exists precisely for this. If your supervisor dies, becomes incapacitated, leaves without signing, or refuses to sign, there is a documented alternative route to proving your hours — use it, and start the paperwork the week it happens.
- Get your Weekly Summary signed weekly. Every case in the data involving hours begins with a backlog.
- Nobody at an agency has authority to sign for another supervisor, however senior and however willing. In this record the clinical director's cheerful cooperation is part of the evidence.
Questions
For a law and ethics seminar, or for yourself
- Your supervisor of record dies with hours unsigned. Set out the lawful path, step by step, and identify who has authority to do what.
- The clinical director wrote “Here you go.” What is that person's exposure?
- If the guidelines are only a starting point, what does that imply about how a respondent should approach a first settlement offer?
Source. This write-up is drawn from the signed public decision in the case number above. Names, cities and employers have been removed — why. To pull the original, open the Board's quarterly newsletter archive, find the issue covering December 4, 2025, and match the case number in the Formal Disciplinary Actions section. Not legal advice.
