Conservatorship / Guardianship

CONSERVATORSHIP
Conservatorship is judicial process of granting to a person (the proposed conservator) the legal right to care for the health and welfare of an adult person (the conservatee). The proposed conservator can request by Petition, a court order to care for an adult family member or any adult person in need. However, for a conservatorship to be granted, there must be a showing that the conservatee is incompetent and therefore incapable of caring for himself or herself. Because of the serious nature of impeding into the right of an individual of making his own decision, the proposed conservator must produce evidences (doctor’s report or other convincing evidence) that the conservatee is incapable of making independent decisions due to a temporary or permanent illness. Once the evidence is considered, at a Court hearing appropriate orders (Letters) will be issued tailored to the conservatee’s needs.

GUARDIANSHIP
Guardianship is judicial process of granting to a person (the proposed guardian) the legal right to care for the health and welfare of a minor child (the ward). The proposed guardian can request by Petition, a court order to care for a minor child in need (ex: parents cannot to care for and support their child). It can be a family member or other individuals in interest who can petition the Court for the appointment as guardian. Once there sufficient showing at a Court hearing that the minor child needs can be met through a guardianship appointment the Court will issue the appropriate orders (Letters) tailored to the minor child’s needs.

MATTERS CONCERNING BOTH CONSERVATORSHIP/GUARDIANSHIP
There are two types of Conservatorship: There are two types of Guardianship:
• Conservatorship of the Person • Guardianship of the Person
• Conservatorship of the Estate • Guardianship of the Estate
“of the Person” means providing for the individuals needs as to his or her health and welfare
“of the Estate” means overseeing to the individuals financial accounts
Customarily, a person petitions for both the Person and the Estate and that is because with the caring of an individual there may be government benefits the cared person may be entitled to receive. The appointed conservator under a Conservatorship or guardian under a Guardianship will be entitled to manage those government benefits on behalf of the Estate.
Additionally, an investigation is be conducted under both Conservatorship and Guardianship. In order to ensure that the conservatee and ward will be cared for properly and their needs met, the Department of Social Services (Department of Child Services for the minor) will conduct an investigation into the living arrangements of the conservatee and ward. The petitioning parties (the proposed conservator and proposed guardian) will also be investigated as to their background history in an attempt to prevent and any potential wrong doing on against the person being cared for. At the conclusion of the investigation, the investigating agency will forward their recommendation to the Court which will be a material factor in the Court’s decision in issuing the order (Letters) of appointment.

TEMPORARY ORDERS FOR CONSERVATORSHIP OR GUARDIANSHIP
After filing a Petition for Conservatorship or Guardianships, Court hearings are usually 6 weeks away. In the event 6 weeks is too long to wait for orders (Letters), temporary relief is available through a Petition for Appointment of Temporary Conservator and through Petition for Appointment of Temporary Guardian. Once the documents for temporary relief is complete, temporary orders (temporary Letters) can be issues as soon as the next day.