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Call Now for a Free Legal Consultation: A court will order a conservatorship of the person for someone whose health is at risk because they can’t provide for their own food, shelter, and other basic needs. The benefits of this conservatorship are providing a way for you to assist a loved one whose health is at risk but who refuses help. Additionally, the conservator can obtain medical information and communicate with health care providers to make sure your loved one receives the best medical care. This is particularly helpful if your loved one is in a nursing home or assisted living home, or needs continuous monitoring of a serious health condition.
The conservator has the legal authority to make basic personal and health-care decisions for the protected person. The conservator must act responsibly and file regular reports with the court. If you consider a conservatorship but due to distance or other factors you cannot personally assume this responsibility, the court can appoint a professional conservator whose fees (which are usually high) must be paid from your loved one’s assets, unless a friend or relative wants to pay them.
A conservatorship of the estate is ordered to protect the finances of someone who can’t competently handle their own debts and income, or who can’t resist unfair financial pressure from others. It is also used to permit Medi-Cal eligibility planning to help preserve the assets of a person who has entered a nursing home and is too ill to understand and consent to a Medi-Cal planning power of attorney.
A conservatorship of the estate can provide a way for you, as a family member or close friend, to help a loved one who is rapidly losing assets or piling up bills because they are unable to manage their money, or because they are being taken advantage of financially.
The conservator has legal authority to make good financial decisions for the protected person and to sign checks and other financial documents. The conservator must act responsibly and file regular reports with the court. The benefits of a conservatorship of the estate must be weighed against the cost, which can become expensive due to court hearings, filing of regular reports, and other related tasks.
A conservatorship of the person and estate may be ordered by a court to protect both the health and finances of an adult who cannot care for himself or herself. There can be a separate conservator of the person and a financial conservator, or a single responsible person can be the conservator of both.
A limited conservatorship authorizes the conservator to be responsible for part of a developmentally disabled adult’s life and finances, as specified by the court. The disabled person will retain all of their other rights, and the conservator is legally required to get treatment, services, and opportunities to help the disabled person become as independent as possible.
An “LPS conservatorship” is ordered by the court under the California Welfare and Institutions Code (instead of under the Probate Code, as are the other examples above). An LPS conservatorship is for a person who is seriously disabled by a mental disorder or chronic alcoholism, and who may need to be placed in a locked facility. These conservatorships have very different rules, which are not covered on this website.
