What is Conservatorship?
Conservatorship gives a person authority over a person’s finances. This is appropriate in situations where an adult may not have the faculties to handle their own financial affairs, such as with an elderly parent suffering from dementia or other infirmities making them unable to care for their finances. Other times a minor may have assets that require an adult to look after.
How do you acquire Conservatorship?
In order to be appointed conservator over someone, a petition must be filed with the probate court. Even if the conservatorship is not contested, a hearing is generally required to appoint the conservator. If the conservatorship is contested, by other parties or the ward themselves, the hearing will likely be more involved and requires a showing of evidence to meet the statutory standards for appointing a conservator.
What are the duties of a Conservatorship?
There are annual accounting requirements for conservators that need to be turned into the court. If a conservator wishes to sell real estate of the ward, the court will generally require a hearing to ensure that the sale is proper. Depending on the dynamic between the interested parties, there could be further issues requiring hearings as well. If the ward recovers to a point where they can handle their own finances, or in the case of a minor becoming an adult, a conservatorship can be terminated. Conservatorship also terminates upon death and a final accounting is required and any remaining assets are property of the ward’s estate and need to be handled through the county’s decedent estate procedures pursuant to the ward’s estate plan or intestacy laws.