Palm Desert, CA Conservatorship

William R. Jaymes, Attorney at Law

Conservatorships and Guardianships

Conservatorship - A conservatorship is a court case in which a judge appoints a family member, friend or other responsible person (called a conservator) to care for another who cannot care for him or herself (called a conservatee). Once you are appointed conservator, you are legally responsible to provide care for the conservatoree's daily needs.

There are three types of conservatorship actions:

    General Probate Conservatorship is for all other adults who are unable to provide for the personal needs due to physical injury, dementia or other reasons rendering them incapable of caring for themselves or making them subject to due influence.

    Limited Conservatorship is only for a person who is developmentally disabled. In this type of conservatorship the powers of the conservator are limited so that the disabled person may live as independently as possible.

    LPS (Lanternman-Petris-Short) Conservatorship (W&I 5350-5371) is for a gravely disabled person who may be a danger to themselves or others and requires hospitalization in a psychiatric facility. An LPS conservatorship requires the annual reappointment of the conservator. A person under an LPS conservatorship may be placed in a locked facility. There are many extra protections in LPS conservatorships to insure that the conservatoree's civil rights are not being violated. LPS conservatorships are confidential.

Guardianship - A guardianship is a court case in which a person who is not the parent of a child asks for custody of the child, the power to manage the child's property, or both. There are two types of guardianships. Most cases go to the Probate Court. But if the child is a dependent or ward of the juvenile court, guardianship must be decided in Juvenile Court.

If you have a loved one whose unable to care for themselves, contact our office to see if we can help.