Conservatorship

What it means

Conservatorship covers finances: bank accounts, income, bills, property. In most states it is the financial counterpart of guardianship, which covers care and medical decisions.

It normally carries strict duties — a bond, an inventory of what the person owns, and regular accountings filed with the court.

The vocabulary is genuinely inconsistent between states. Some states call the financial role guardianship of the estate; a few reverse the two words entirely.

Why it matters

It is the most intrusive of the financial arrangements and the slowest to obtain, which is what makes a durable power of attorney worth signing years before anybody thinks it is needed.

The accounting duties are real. A family member appointed as conservator is answerable to a court for every transaction.

When you are likely to meet it

• When a parent can no longer manage money and no power of attorney exists.
• When assets have to be sold and nobody has authority.
• When a court has already appointed a guardian and the money still needs handling.

How this varies by state

Which word a state uses, whether a bond is required, and how often accountings must be filed are all set by state law.

Related terms

• AdemptionWhat happens when a will leaves a specific item that no longer exists at death: the gift usually simply fails.
• Adult Protective ServicesThe state agency that investigates suspected abuse, neglect or financial exploitation of vulnerable adults.
• CapacityWhether somebody is able to understand a decision and its consequences well enough to make it. It is decided decision by decision, not once and for all.
• Catalog of electronic communicationsThe list of who was written to and when — as distinct from what the messages said.
• DissociationA partner ceasing to be a partner — by death, by incapacity, or by leaving — without the partnership ending.
• Durable power of attorneyA power of attorney that keeps working after the person who signed it loses the ability to make decisions — which is usually the whole point of signing one.
• Estate accountingA statement of everything that came into the estate and everything that went out, presented before the estate can be closed.
• FiduciaryAnybody who holds power over somebody else's money or decisions and is legally required to use it for them rather than for themselves.
• Fiduciary dutyThe obligation to act for somebody else's benefit rather than your own — and to be able to show you did.
• Financial exploitationTaking or misusing an older or vulnerable person's money or property. It is usually done by somebody they know.
• Guardian ad litemSomebody the court appoints to speak for an interest that cannot speak for itself in one case.
• Guardian nominationNaming, in a will, who should raise your children — or care for a dependent adult — if you cannot.
• GuardianshipA court appointing somebody to make decisions for an adult who cannot make them, usually about care, housing and medical treatment.
• Incapacitated principalThe person who signed a power of attorney, after they have lost capacity — and the statutes are explicit that no court has to have said so.
• Probate bondAn insurance policy a court can require, protecting an estate against the person running it.
• Probate courtThe court that supervises estates. In many states it is a division of a general trial court and goes by another name.
• Protected personThe person a conservatorship or guardianship is about — and a term whose meaning is not the same in every state.
• Representative payeeSomebody appointed by Social Security to receive and manage benefits for a person who cannot manage them.
• Successor agentThe person a power of attorney names to act if the first-named agent cannot. Without one, the document can be left with nobody able to use it.

Sahvelo guidance that uses this

• Guardianship
• Managing money for a parent