How do you get a conservatorship?

A short note before you start

This guide is general information for the United States, not legal, tax, financial or medical advice. Conservatorship law, the exact forms, the filing fee and the timeline are all set separately by each state and sometimes by county, so treat the steps here as the general shape of the process and confirm the specifics with your state court's self-help site or an elder law attorney. For what the word itself means and how it differs from guardianship, see Meaning of conservatorship and Guardianship versus conservatorship.

How do you get a conservatorship? The general steps

How you get a conservatorship follows roughly the same sequence in every state, even though the forms and deadlines differ. An interested person asks a court to find that an adult can no longer safely manage money, personal care, or both, and to appoint someone to step in.

1. Confirm a conservatorship is actually needed. Courts are directed to use the least restrictive option that will work, so check first whether a durable power of attorney already exists, whether Social Security benefits could go through a representative payee instead, or whether supported decision-making would be enough¹.
2. Decide what kind of authority is needed. Some states split the role into a conservator (or guardian) of the estate, who manages money and property, and a conservator (or guardian) of the person, who makes day-to-day and medical decisions; the same person can hold both.
3. File the petition. The petitioner files with the probate or trial court in the county where the adult lives, stating why the person cannot manage alone and who is proposed as conservator⁸.
4. Get medical or professional evidence. Most states require a recent medical certificate or evaluation confirming incapacity; Massachusetts requires a medical certificate completed within 30 days of filing, and Texas requires a doctor's Certificate of Medical Examination¹⁰.
5. Serve notice on the person and their close relatives. The proposed conservatee has the right to object, hire a lawyer and appear in court; California requires notice to be served at least 15 days before the hearing⁴.
6. Go through the court's investigation or evaluation. Many states send a court investigator, visitor or examining committee to interview the person; Florida's examining committee has three members, one of whom must be a psychiatrist or physician⁷.
7. Attend the hearing. A judge reviews the evidence and decides whether the person is legally incapacitated and, if so, who should serve and how much authority they need. Florida requires the incapacity to be proven by clear and convincing evidence⁷.
8. Qualify and get letters of appointment. An appointed conservator may need to post a bond and take an oath before the court issues letters of conservatorship; Utah also requires the proposed conservator to pass a short test on their duties first⁸.
9. File the required reports. A conservator of an estate typically files an initial inventory and then a periodic accounting, often annually, showing money in, money out and what remains².

How this varies by state

The order above is broadly the same everywhere, but the forms, who must file first, and how fast the case moves are set state by state. Search "[your state] courts self-help guardianship conservatorship" for the current forms rather than assuming one state's rule applies to another.

What does it cost to get a conservatorship?

There is no national fee. Getting a conservatorship carries a court filing fee on top of any ongoing management costs, and the money almost always comes out of the protected person's own assets. California's statewide fees for a limited conservatorship petition start at $435, with a separate fee for the required investigation⁴. Beyond the filing fee, a case commonly involves a medical or capacity evaluation, a court investigator's or examining committee's fee, and attorney's fees if either side hires a lawyer. Many courts also require the conservator of an estate to buy a surety bond sized to the assets being managed; the bond does not pay the conservator, it reimburses the protected person's estate if money is mismanaged, and premiums continue for as long as the conservatorship lasts². Ask the specific court handling the case for its current fee schedule, since courts update these figures regularly and county add-ons are common.

Checklist: getting a conservatorship, step by step

• Confirmed no less restrictive option, such as a power of attorney or representative payee, will work

• Decided whether a conservatorship of the estate, of the person, or both is needed

• Identified the correct probate or trial court for the county where the adult lives

• Obtained or scheduled the required medical certificate or capacity evaluation

• Completed and filed the petition and any state-required supplemental forms

• Paid the filing fee, or filed for a fee waiver

• Served notice on the proposed conservatee and required relatives within the state's deadline

• Cooperated with the court investigator, visitor or examining committee

• Attended the hearing and received the court's order

• Posted any required bond and took the oath of office

• Received certified letters of conservatorship or guardianship

• Opened any required accounts and calendared the first inventory and accounting deadline

What to record in a family guide

If a conservatorship is already open, or the family is considering filing one, this is the kind of information a family guide keeps in one place so nobody has to reconstruct it during a crisis:

• Whether a petition has been filed, in which court, and the case or docket number
• The name, phone and email of the petitioner's attorney and any attorney appointed for the conservatee
• The date of the hearing, and, once granted, the date certified letters of conservatorship were issued
• Where the original court order and certified letters are kept
• The bond company name and policy or bond number, if a bond was required
• The date the next inventory or periodic accounting is due
• Whether a durable power of attorney or advance health care directive was signed before incapacity, and whether it changes what the conservatorship needs to cover

Common mistakes

• Filing before checking whether a less restrictive option, like an existing power of attorney or a representative payee, would already cover the need.
• Assuming one state's forms, fees or deadlines apply everywhere; the checklist and table above show how much this varies.
• Missing a state's notice deadline, which can delay or derail the hearing; California, for example, requires service at least 15 days before the hearing date⁴.
• Not budgeting for the investigation fee, medical evaluation and bond premium on top of the filing fee.
• Waiting for a crisis, such as a hospitalization, to start the petition, when the process itself commonly takes weeks to move from filing to hearing.
• Losing track of the certified letters of conservatorship once issued, which slows down every bank, insurer or agency that later asks for proof of authority.
• Missing the first inventory or periodic accounting deadline after appointment, which can trigger a court citation against the conservator.

When to get professional help

Talk to a probate or elder law attorney before filing, since notice rules, required forms and local practice differ even within a state, and some states, including Texas, require the petitioner to have a lawyer. Bring in an attorney immediately if any family member objects to the petition or to who should serve as conservator, if the adult owns property in more than one state, or if a less restrictive alternative might work instead of a full conservatorship. A financial advisor or CPA is worth involving once a conservator will manage significant investments, a business or real estate. For finding and hiring one, see Conservatorship attorney and Lawyer for conservatorship.