What Is a Conservatorship in California? How It Works

A conservatorship is a court order that puts someone else, the conservator, in charge of an adult’s personal care, finances, or both, because the adult can’t safely manage them alone. In California a judge grants one only on clear and convincing evidence, and only after finding that nothing less restrictive would protect the person.

By Eric Ridley, attorney, Ridley Law. Updated October 2026.

For the adult, a conservatorship can mean losing the right to sign contracts, pick a home, and in some cases vote. For the family, it means proving to a judge that nothing gentler will do, then answering to the court for as long as the order lasts. Every statute and fee below is traced to the Probate Code or the Judicial Council. If you’re trying to keep a conservatorship from ever being needed, read how to avoid conservatorship in California instead.

What a conservatorship takes from the person, and who decides

If a judge grants the petition, a conservator makes decisions for an adult, the conservatee, who can’t make them safely. The Probate Code lets the court appoint a conservator of the person, of the estate, or of both (Prob. Code, §§ 1800.3, 1801).

The conservatee can lose the say over where to live. A conservator of the person handles care, which includes the residence, and can pick it anywhere in California without asking the court first, though it must be the least restrictive appropriate place that meets the conservatee’s needs (Prob. Code, § 2352, subd. (b)).

A conservator of the estate handles money and property, and the appointment is itself an adjudication that the conservatee can’t make a transaction that binds the conservatorship estate (Prob. Code, § 1872, subd. (a)).

Beyond home and money, a conservatorship can transfer to the conservator the person’s right to contract, manage property, give informed consent for medical treatment, and fix a residence (Prob. Code, § 1823, subd. (b)(2)). A conservatee may be disqualified from voting only if they can’t communicate, even with reasonable accommodations, a desire to participate in the voting process (Prob. Code, § 1823, subd. (b)(3)).

A wide range of people can start the case, but the family doesn’t decide who serves. A petition can be filed by the proposed conservatee, a spouse or domestic partner, a relative, a government agency or officer, or any other interested person or friend (Prob. Code, § 1820, subd. (a)). The court, not the family, makes the final choice of conservator, guided by the proposed conservatee’s best interests. When candidates are equally qualified, the court starts with the person’s own stated preference, then a spouse or domestic partner, an adult child, a parent, and a sibling (Prob. Code, § 1812).

Guardianship is the parallel proceeding for children. See our glossary entries on conservatorship and guardianship.

Three kinds of conservatorship, and the one most families face

California has the probate conservatorship most families mean, and two others. The rest of this page covers the probate conservatorship, and the other two are described here so you can tell which one applies. The probate conservatorship is the general conservatorship of the person, the estate, or both under Prob. Code, § 1801, subds. (a) to (c).

Limited conservatorship for adults with developmental disabilities

If the adult has a developmental disability, the case may be a limited conservatorship, where the person keeps every right the court doesn’t specifically grant to the limited conservator. A limited conservatorship may be used only as necessary to promote and protect the person’s well-being (Prob. Code, § 1801, subd. (d)). If the court learns that the proposed conservatee has a developmental disability and the petitioner isn’t seeking authority under Prob. Code, § 2356.5, the court treats the case as a limited conservatorship (Prob. Code, § 1800.3, subd. (d)). With the person’s consent, a regional center assesses the proposed limited conservatee within 30 days after the petition is filed and reports to the court (Prob. Code, § 1827.5, subd. (a)).

LPS conservatorship

The Lanterman-Petris-Short conservatorship is a different track, and this page doesn’t cover it further. It applies to a person who is gravely disabled or impaired by chronic alcoholism, and it follows the Probate Code procedure except where the Welfare and Institutions Code says otherwise (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 5350).

Temporary conservatorship

While a petition is pending, a family can ask for temporary letters of conservatorship. The statewide fee schedule lists a separate fee for that request, covered below.

What the court has to find before it grants one

A family that files has to prove a specific inability, and the test depends on the kind of conservator it’s asking for. For a conservator of the person, the proposed conservatee must be unable to provide properly for personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter. For a conservator of the estate, the person must be substantially unable to manage their own financial resources or resist fraud or undue influence (Prob. Code, § 1801, subds. (a), (b)).

It takes strong proof, and a few bad decisions won’t carry it. The standard of proof is clear and convincing evidence (Prob. Code, § 1801, subd. (e)). Substantial inability to manage finances can’t be proved solely by isolated incidents of negligence or improvidence (Prob. Code, § 1801, subd. (b)), so the family needs a pattern to show the judge.

Even with that proof, the judge has to rule out anything gentler. The court can’t grant a conservatorship of the person or estate without an express finding that it’s the least restrictive alternative needed to protect the conservatee (Prob. Code, § 1800.3, subd. (b)). In deciding, the court must consider the person’s abilities with current and possible supports, including supported decision-making agreements, powers of attorney, a health care surrogate designation, and advance health care directives (Prob. Code, § 1800.3, subd. (c)).

The petition has to explain why those tools aren’t enough. AB 1663 (Stats. 2022, ch. 894), effective January 1, 2023, amended Prob. Code, § 1800.3 to require the court to weigh supported decision-making agreements and other supports when it decides whether a conservatorship is the least restrictive alternative. The petitioner’s supplemental information must also address which alternatives were considered or tried and why they didn’t work (Prob. Code, § 1821, subd. (a)(1)(C)).

The person the family wants to protect gets a lawyer and a say. AB 1194 (Stats. 2021, ch. 417), effective January 1, 2022, requires the court to appoint the public defender or private counsel for a conservatee or proposed conservatee who has no lawyer and doesn’t plan to hire one, and to honor the person’s preferred attorney (Prob. Code, § 1471, subds. (a), (c)). The proposed conservatee can appear and oppose the petition, choose a lawyer or have one appointed, and ask for a jury trial, and the citation served on them must say so (Prob. Code, § 1823, subd. (b)).

A contested petition therefore means a hearing, and a jury trial if the proposed conservatee asks for one (Prob. Code, § 1823, subd. (b)(7)). Before that hearing, a court investigator interviews the proposed conservatee, the petitioners, and family members (Prob. Code, § 1826, subd. (a)).

A conservator who loses certain fights can’t bill the estate for them. AB 1194 also bars a conservator from being paid from the estate for costs of unsuccessfully defending their own fee request or opposing a petition or request made by or for the conservatee, with a narrow good-faith exception (Prob. Code, § 2640, subd. (d)).

Documents the court has to consider first

Documents signed while the person still has capacity can often replace a conservatorship, and the court has to consider them before it grants one (Prob. Code, § 1800.3, subd. (c)).

Durable power of attorney. The person names an agent to handle finances. See our guide to the durable power of attorney in California and how it compares to a living trust.
Advance health care directive. The person names an agent for medical decisions and records their wishes. See advance health care directives.
Revocable living trust with a successor trustee. If the trust holds the assets, the successor trustee can manage them without a court appointment. Anything left outside the trust isn’t covered. See our living trust library.
Supported decision-making agreement. A voluntary written agreement, revocable at any time, in which an adult with a disability gets help from chosen supporters in making life decisions (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 21001).
Health care surrogate designation. The court must consider it alongside the other supports (Prob. Code, § 1800.3, subd. (c)).

These tools only work if they’re signed before capacity is lost. For a person who has already been diagnosed with dementia, see whether someone with dementia can still sign trust documents. Our guide to incapacity planning in California covers the full set of documents, and the incapacity library collects the rest. For prevention, start with avoiding conservatorship in California.

I do not handle conservatorship proceedings. My practice is the planning that avoids them: durable powers of attorney, advance health care directives, and living trusts. If your family already needs a conservatorship, I can refer you to counsel who handles those cases. To put these documents in place before one is needed, reach Ridley Law through our contact page.

How the case moves through court, and what follows

When no signed document can do the job, the case runs through a petition, notice, a court investigation, a hearing, a bond and letters, and then years of court reporting, so the family’s work doesn’t end when the judge signs the order. Each step below is set by the Probate Code and Judicial Council forms.

File the petition

As the petitioner, you have to say why a conservatorship is necessary and, in confidential supplemental information, what else was tried. The petitioner files Judicial Council form GC-310, Petition for Appointment of Probate Conservator. It names the proposed conservator and the proposed conservatee (Prob. Code, § 1821, subd. (a)). Unless the petitioner is a bank or trust company, the petitioner also files confidential supplemental information on form GC-312, covering the person’s inability to meet needs or manage money, their residence, alternatives considered, and services they received in the prior year (Prob. Code, § 1821, subd. (a)(1)).
Give notice and serve the citation

Relatives get at least 15 days’ notice, and the court can’t shorten that time. Notice of the hearing and a copy of the petition go to the spouse or domestic partner and the relatives named in the petition (Prob. Code, § 1822, subds. (a), (b)). The clerk issues a citation to the proposed conservatee (form GC-320) that explains the person’s rights (Prob. Code, § 1823).
Court investigator reviews the case

Expect an investigator to talk to the proposed conservatee and the family before the hearing, with a written report to the judge at least five days ahead. The investigator interviews the proposed conservatee, the petitioners and proposed conservators, and family members, and reviews medical reports and the petition’s supplemental information. The report is confidential (Prob. Code, § 1826, subds. (a), (c)).
Attend the hearing

You find out at the hearing whether the evidence was enough. The judge decides whether the evidence meets the Prob. Code, § 1801 standard by clear and convincing evidence, whether the conservatorship is the least restrictive alternative, and who should serve. If the proposed conservatee has no lawyer, the court appoints one (Prob. Code, § 1471, subd. (a)).
Post the bond and receive letters

Letters of Conservatorship (form GC-350) are the document the conservator shows banks, doctors, and care facilities as proof of authority, and letters generally don’t issue until the conservator posts a bond the court approves (Prob. Code, § 2320, subd. (a)). Within 30 days of the order, the conservator must deliver the order and an information notice of conservatee rights to the conservatee and relatives (Prob. Code, § 1830, subd. (c)).
File the inventory and appraisal within 90 days

A conservator of the estate has 90 days after appointment to inventory and appraise the estate, unless the court allows more time for reasonable cause. It’s delivered to the conservatee and others, and appraised in the manner used for a decedent’s estate (Prob. Code, § 2610, subds. (a), (c)).
Account to the court and submit to reviews

The first accounting is due one year after appointment and then at least every two years (Prob. Code, § 2620, subd. (a)). The court investigator also visits the conservatee six months after appointment, again at one year, and annually after that (Prob. Code, § 1850, subd. (a)).

What it costs, and who pays

The court filing fee to petition for a conservator is $435 under the Judicial Council’s statewide civil fee schedule effective January 1, 2026, with different amounts in Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Francisco counties. The attorney fees and investigator fees are the larger costs. The table prices the components the sources let me price.

Cost	Amount	Source
Petition for appointment of conservator	$435 (varies in Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Francisco counties)	Statewide Civil Fee Schedule, eff. Jan. 1, 2026, item 131
Petition for temporary letters of conservatorship	$60	Statewide Civil Fee Schedule, item 136
Information package for conservators	$20	Statewide Civil Fee Schedule, item 166 (Prob. Code, § 1835)
Conservatee’s opposition to the petition	No fee	Statewide Civil Fee Schedule, item 132
Court investigator’s fee	Amount set by the court	Statewide Civil Fee Schedule, item 167 (Prob. Code, § 1851.5)

The conservatee’s estate can end up paying the investigator. The investigator’s fee is assessed against the conservatee for each investigation or review. The court may order reimbursement unless that would be a hardship, and there’s a rebuttable presumption of hardship if the conservatee receives Medi-Cal (Prob. Code, § 1851.5). A petitioner who can’t pay the filing fee can ask the court to waive it, using form FW-001-GC and an order on court fee waiver.

Attorney fees and conservator compensation are set by the court, not by a price list, so there’s no statewide figure. After 90 days from the issuance of letters, the conservator or the attorney can petition for payment, and the court allows compensation that is just and reasonable for the conservator and reasonable for the attorney, charged to the conservatee’s estate (Prob. Code, § 2640, subds. (a), (c)). A professional fiduciary who petitions must disclose a proposed hourly fee schedule in the petition (Prob. Code, § 1821, subd. (c)). A lawyer the court appoints for an adult conservatee is paid a sum the court fixes, from the conservatee’s estate (Prob. Code, § 1470, subds. (b), (c)).

Three more costs sit on top of those, and they depend on the size of the estate, so I won’t quote a figure: the bond premium, the cost of the appraisal, and the cost of preparing each accounting. A contested case costs far more than an uncontested one.

Whether a petitioner needs a lawyer

You can file without a lawyer. The Probate Code doesn’t require a petitioner to hire one, and California superior courts publish forms and instructions for people who file on their own. The proposed conservatee is a different matter. If they have no lawyer and don’t plan to hire one, the court must appoint one (Prob. Code, § 1471, subd. (a)). That lawyer represents the conservatee’s wishes, not the petitioner’s (Prob. Code, § 1471, subd. (d)).

My view is that a lawyer is worth the cost in four situations: a conservatorship of the estate, which brings the bond, inventory, and accounting duties; real estate that has to be sold; a family member who is likely to object; and any case where the proposed conservatee wants to oppose.

How long it lasts and how it ends

There’s no fixed end date, so expect the reporting to continue. A general conservatorship continues until the conservatee dies or the court terminates it (Prob. Code, § 1860, subd. (a)). That section doesn’t apply to limited conservatorships (Prob. Code, § 1860, subd. (d)). Until then the bond, the accountings and the recurring investigator visits continue, and so does the conservatee’s estate paying the investigator, the conservator and the attorneys.

Many people can ask the court to end it. The conservator, the conservatee, a spouse or domestic partner, a relative, a friend, or another interested person can petition to terminate the conservatorship by stating facts showing it’s no longer required (Prob. Code, § 1861). The investigator’s reviews are another route. At the one-year review and annually afterward, the investigator discusses less restrictive alternatives with the conservatee when possible, and if the report indicates it, the court considers promptly terminating or modifying the conservatorship (Prob. Code, § 1850, subd. (a)(2)).

Filings have climbed 60 percent in ten years

California’s superior courts received 24,923 conservatorship and guardianship petitions in fiscal year 2024-25, up 60 percent from 15,529 in 2015-16, according to the Judicial Council of California’s 2026 Court Statistics Report.

24,923Conservatorship and guardianship filings, fiscal year 2024-25

15,529Same filings in fiscal year 2015-16

60%Increase over those ten fiscal years

20,749Filings in fiscal year 2023-24, so 2024-25 was a 20 percent one-year jump

The Judicial Council reports conservatorships and guardianships as one case-type category, so the count includes guardianships of minors. It doesn’t split probate conservatorships out. County-level counts are on our page of California probate filings by county.

Fiscal year	Conservatorship and guardianship filings
2015-16	15,529
2016-17	15,923
2017-18	16,821
2018-19	16,628
2019-20	14,992
2020-21	14,525
2021-22	15,516
2022-23	18,144
2023-24	20,749
2024-25	24,923

Related pages on this site

Sources

California Probate Code, § 1801, § 1800.3, § 1821, § 1850, § 2610, § 2620, § 2640 (Legislative Counsel of California).
California Welfare and Institutions Code, § 5350 and § 21001.
Judicial Council of California, Statewide Civil Fee Schedule, effective January 1, 2026.
Judicial Council of California, 2026 Court Statistics Report, Data for Figures 53-62 (fiscal years 2015-16 through 2024-25).
Judicial Council of California, Form GC-310, Petition for Appointment of Probate Conservator.
Legislative Counsel of California, AB 1194 (Stats. 2021, ch. 417).

Frequently asked questions

What is a conservatorship?

A conservatorship is a court proceeding in which a judge appoints a conservator to make decisions for an adult, the conservatee, who can’t make them safely.

What are the criteria for a conservatorship in California?

For a conservator of the person, the proposed conservatee must be unable to provide properly for personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter.

What types of conservatorship are there in California?

California has three: the probate conservatorship most families mean, the limited conservatorship for adults with developmental disabilities, and the LPS conservatorship for people who are gravely disabled.

What did California’s recent conservatorship reforms change?

Two laws tightened the rules. AB 1194, effective January 1, 2022, requires the court to appoint counsel for a conservatee or proposed conservatee who has no lawyer and to honor the person’s preferred attorney (Prob. Code, § 1471, subds. (a), (c)). AB 1663, effective January 1, 2023, requires the court to weigh supported decision-making agreements and other supports when it decides whether a conservatorship is the least restrictive alternative (Prob. Code, § 1800.3).

How does a conservatorship work in California?

A conservatorship runs through a petition, notice, a court investigation, a hearing, a bond and letters, and then years of court reporting.

How much does a conservatorship cost in California?

The court filing fee to petition for a conservator is $435 under the Judicial Council’s statewide civil fee schedule effective January 1, 2026, and the attorney fees and investigator fees are the larger costs.

Do I need a lawyer to file for conservatorship?

The Probate Code doesn’t require a petitioner to hire a lawyer, and California superior courts publish forms and instructions for people who file on their own.

What are the disadvantages of a conservatorship?

The main disadvantage is lost autonomy. A conservatorship can transfer to the conservator the person’s right to contract, manage property, give informed consent for medical treatment, and fix a residence (Prob. Code, § 1823, subd. (b)(2)).

How long does a conservatorship last?

A general conservatorship continues until the conservatee dies or the court terminates it, with no fixed end date (Prob. Code, § 1860, subd. (a)).

How common are conservatorships in California?

What are the alternatives to a conservatorship?