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Conservatorship in California
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Conservatorship is a type of legal guardianship where the conservator (also called the guardian) controls specific areas of the conservatee’s life.
Conservator and Conservatee
The conservator is appointed as the guardian who manages the conservatee’s affairs. The conservatee is someone under the conservatorship.
Conservatorship is given to a person who can’t make their own decisions and is typically based on the mental state and ability to make the right judgments of the individual. Physical disability rarely justifies conservatorship.
Wondering what the difference between Conservatorship vs. Guardianship in California is? One of the significant differences between the two is the scope of authority of the decision-maker.
In contrast to conservatorship, which often offers far less extensive decision-making authority, a legal guardian can conduct a broad range of personal and physical decisions for the protected individual. A conservator’s authority usually is limited to monetary things such as bill paying, investing, and managing the estate’s finances. However, it still depends on the type of conservatorship in place.
What is the extent of conservatorship?
1. Financial
The conservator has complete financial control of the conservatee’s assets. The conservatee still has autonomy over their assets but cannot access anything without the conservator’s signature.
2. Physical
The conservator oversees the conservatee’s life and health. The conservator can decide anything concerning the life and health of the conservatee.
3. Full
A full conservatorship gives the conservator the same rights and responsibilities as a parent. The conservator has autonomy in financial, physical, and other areas of the conservatee’s life.
4. Limited
The conservator has some control over the conservatee’s life. Typically focuses on the most specific needs of a conservatee.
What is the extent of conservatorship?
The duration of conservatorship can vary between short periods or even last for the rest of the conservatee’s life.
A short-term conservatorship in California may take up to 90 days and focuses on matters that need to be done immediately. Short-time conservatorship typically happens when someone gets unexpectedly debilitated or incapacitated.
A conservatorship may also be granted for a temporary time only. An example of a temporary conservatorship is when a conservatee falls into a coma, which may last until they wake up.
On the other hand, a permanent conservatorship lasts for the rest of the conservatee’s life. The decision for a permanent conservatorship may be canceled per the appeal of the conservatee, but doing so will require them to present their case in court and win.
If you are interested to know further about conservatorship in California or would like to know about how conservatorship in California forms, please contact us at your earliest convenience to get started.