Introduction to being a conservator

You have been appointed a conservator because someone needs help, and you are willing to lend a hand. This section offers an introduction to what you'll be expected o do in our new role

  • in this section

    [These would be jump links]

    Summary of conservator duties

    Getting started: letters, working with others, and a lawyer

    Conservators who live out of the area

    Resources

Summary of conservator duties

A conservative's duties are different depending on whether they are a conservator of the person, estate, or both.

Conservator of the person

The conservator has a duty to provide for the care of the conservatee. This includes providing for their housing, health care, education, transportation, personal care, food, and clothing needs.

Conservator of the estate

The conservator of the estate is a legal fiduciary. They must manage the assets for the benefit of the conservatee, not themselves. They must keep the conservatee’s money separate and make prudent investments and not take unnecessary risks.

Duties to the court

Conservatorships are reviewed by the court that created the conservatorship. Someone from the Court Investigator's Office will review the case one year after the conservatorship is granted, then every two years after that. The court can also ask for an investigation on its own schedule.  Conservators must cooperate with investigators. 

Conservators should attend all court hearings regarding the conservatorship and must keep their contact information updated with the court. 

Additionally, conservators of the estate must also conduct: 

  • Initial inventory and appraisal 

  • Annual accounting  

  • Careful record-keeping 

These records may be required during the court’s review of the conservatorship and when the court reviews the job of a conservator.   

What a conservator cannot do

A limited conservator’s powers are strictly limited to those laid out in the conservatorship papers. A limited conservator cannot do anything that is not specifically included in the orders and letters of conservatorship.

Additionally, a limited conservator cannot:  

  • Place in a limited conservatee in a locked psychiatric facility 

  • Force psychotropic medications on a limited conservatee 

  • Have a limited conservatee sterilized (even if the limited conservator can make medical decisions for the limited conservatee) 

The conservatee has rights a conservator should know about.

 

Getting started

 

Conservator who lives out of the area

 

 

Resources