A conservatorship is a court supervised process for managing
an incompetent person's assets and personal care. The
process has many similarities to probate
in that a petition must be filed with the court appointing
a conservator for the incompetent person (conservatee),
assets must be inventoried, and regular accountings must
be filed with and approved by the court. The major difference
is that a conservatorship continues indefinitely until
the conservatee dies, regains competence, or otherwise
no longer requires a conservatorship.
A conservator can be appointed as conservator of the
estate (management of financial affairs only), as conservator
of the person (management of personal care), or both.
The court monitors the care of the conservatee through
court employed investigators who check on the conservatee's
care and through court appointed counsel who help to protect
the conservatee's interests.
Conservatorships involve many legal obligations and duties
and require the assistance of counsel at all stages. They
are an option for care for people who cannot take care
of themselves and who have no power of attorney or trust
prior to becoming incompetent.
