In California, a probate conservatorship and an LPS conservatorship solve different problems. A probate conservatorship is a court arrangement a family member or friend can petition for when an adult can no longer handle personal care or finances, often because of dementia, stroke, or serious physical impairment. An LPS conservatorship, named for the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, is a narrower tool that only a county agency can initiate, and it exists to authorize involuntary psychiatric treatment for someone a court finds “gravely disabled” because of a mental health disorder or severe substance use disorder. The two run on different standards of proof, different timelines, and different levels of authority, and families who confuse them often spend months on the wrong track.
What Each Conservatorship Is For
A probate conservatorship is the general-purpose option. A court can appoint a conservator when an adult cannot provide for their own physical health, food, clothing, or shelter, or is substantially unable to manage finances or resist fraud.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 1801 – Persons for Whom Conservator May Be Appointed The court can grant authority over the person, the estate, or both. A conservator of the person handles housing, medical care, and daily welfare. A conservator of the estate pays bills, collects income, and protects assets. One person can hold both roles, or the court can split them.2California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 2351 – Powers and Duties of Guardian or Conservator of the Person
An LPS conservatorship serves one function: authorizing involuntary mental health treatment for someone who is gravely disabled. Under current law, that means a person who, because of a mental health disorder, a severe substance use disorder, or both together, cannot meet their own basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, personal safety, or necessary medical care. Chronic alcoholism can also qualify.3California Department of Health Care Services. Senate Bill 43 Frequently Asked Questions Senate Bill 43, signed in 2023, expanded the definition to include severe substance use disorders and added personal safety and medical care to the list of basic needs. Counties had the option to delay implementation until January 1, 2026, so the exact scope in effect depends on the county.
Who Can Start the Case
This is the first and most important fork. A probate conservatorship starts with a private petition in superior court. A spouse, adult child, sibling, friend, or the proposed conservatee themselves can file.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 1801 – Persons for Whom Conservator May Be Appointed
Families cannot file for an LPS conservatorship on their own, no matter how dire the situation looks. The process begins only after someone is placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold as a danger to themselves or others, or as gravely disabled.4California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 5150 – Detention of Persons with a Mental Health Condition for Evaluation and Treatment If the treating psychiatrist believes the person remains gravely disabled through additional certification periods, the hospital refers the case to the county’s designated conservatorship investigator, usually inside the Public Guardian’s office. That investigator must consider less restrictive options first, including assisted outpatient treatment and the CARE Act program, and submit a written report before the county petitions the court.5California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 5354 The decision to file sits with the county, not the family.6California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 5350
What the Court Has to Find
The evidentiary bar tracks how much liberty is at stake. A probate conservatorship requires “clear and convincing evidence” that the person cannot care for themselves or manage their finances.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 1801 – Persons for Whom Conservator May Be Appointed
An LPS conservatorship requires proof “beyond a reasonable doubt,” the same standard used in criminal trials, and the proposed conservatee can demand a jury trial on the question of grave disability. Convincing a unanimous jury that someone meets that standard is genuinely difficult, which is one reason LPS petitions sometimes fail even when a family is certain treatment is needed.
What the Conservator Can Actually Do
A probate conservator’s authority can be broad. A conservator of the person makes decisions about healthcare, housing, and daily welfare. A conservator of the estate handles all financial matters.2California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 2351 – Powers and Duties of Guardian or Conservator of the Person With a separate court finding, a probate conservator can place a conservatee who has a major neurocognitive disorder like Alzheimer’s in a locked residential care facility, provided the court finds it the least restrictive appropriate option.7California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 2356.5
An LPS conservator’s powers are deliberately narrow. The conservator can authorize involuntary psychiatric treatment, arrange placement in a locked treatment facility, and in some cases manage the conservatee’s finances. The authority does not sweep in general life decisions the way a probate conservatorship does. The LPS conservator’s job is to get the person into treatment, not to run their life.
How Long It Lasts
A probate conservatorship has no automatic expiration. It continues as long as the need exists, subject to ongoing court review. A court investigator visits the conservatee on a schedule, confirms whether the arrangement is still necessary, and checks whether the conservator is acting in the conservatee’s interests.8Justia. California Probate Code 1850-1853
An LPS conservatorship automatically terminates after one year.3California Department of Health Care Services. Senate Bill 43 Frequently Asked Questions If the county believes the person remains gravely disabled, it must file a new petition and prove the case again, beyond a reasonable doubt. That annual reset is an intentional civil liberties safeguard.
How a Conservatorship Ends Early
Under a probate conservatorship, the conservatee, their attorney, or any interested person can petition the court to terminate at any time, and the conservatee can demand a jury trial on the question. The law places the burden on the conservator: the court must terminate unless it finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that the conservatee still meets the criteria and that the conservatorship remains the least restrictive alternative.9California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 1863 If the conservatee’s condition has improved, the court can also modify a conservator’s powers rather than ending the arrangement entirely.
A person under an LPS conservatorship can challenge it before the year expires. They also benefit from the automatic termination, so no action on their part is required for it to lapse at the twelve-month mark.
Rights the Conservatee Keeps
Neither type strips away every right. Under a probate conservatorship, the conservatee keeps the right to control a personal spending allowance, keep wages (to an extent the court sets), make a will, and enter basic transactions for necessities.10California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 1871
People under LPS conservatorships have their own protections: the right to wear their own clothes, keep personal possessions, receive visitors daily, make and receive confidential phone calls, send and receive unopened mail, refuse electroconvulsive therapy and psychosurgery, and access a patient advocate independent of their clinical team.11California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 5325 Under both types, the conservatee has the right to an attorney and the right to petition the court to modify or end the conservatorship.
Costs
A probate conservatorship is not cheap. The initial court filing fee in California is $435 as of 2026,12California Courts. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule Effective January 1, 2026 and that covers the petition only. Attorney fees typically run into the thousands for the initial proceedings and more for contested cases. A conservator of the estate must also post a surety bond before the court issues letters of conservatorship, with the amount set based on the conservatee’s property, estimated annual income, and expected income from public benefits.13California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 2320 The conservator pays an annual premium to the bonding company.
LPS conservatorships are initiated and funded by the county, so families generally do not pay filing costs. The conservatee’s estate can still be charged for certain care and treatment expenses.
A Third Option: Limited Conservatorship for Developmental Disabilities
If the person you are concerned about has an intellectual or developmental disability rather than dementia or a mental health crisis, California provides a separate limited conservatorship. The conservatee keeps all legal and civil rights except those the court specifically transfers, and only to the extent the person’s proven limitations require.14California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 1801 The statute reflects the Legislature’s intent that developmentally disabled Californians receive services supporting independent, productive lives. For families in this situation, limited conservatorship is usually the appropriate starting point rather than a general probate conservatorship.
Try Less Restrictive Tools First
Courts increasingly expect petitioners to explain why alternatives will not work. A durable power of attorney lets a competent adult designate an agent to handle financial or legal matters, and it stays effective after the person becomes incapacitated. It must be notarized or signed by two adult witnesses, and no court involvement is needed.15California Courts. Conservatorship and Alternatives
An advance healthcare directive does the same job for medical decisions, letting the person name an agent and set specific instructions. Unless the directive limits the agent’s authority, the agent can make all healthcare decisions. If the person signing is a resident of a skilled nursing facility, a patient advocate or ombudsman must also sign as a witness.15California Courts. Conservatorship and Alternatives The catch with both tools is capacity: the person must still have the mental ability to execute them when they sign. Once capacity is gone, these doors close and conservatorship may be the only route left.
Social Security Needs Its Own Paperwork
Being named conservator of the estate does not give you authority over the conservatee’s Social Security benefits. The Social Security Administration runs its own system and requires a separate application to become a representative payee. Even a power of attorney is not recognized by the Treasury Department for receiving federal benefit payments. To become a representative payee, you have to visit a Social Security office in person, complete Form SSA-11, and provide identification. The SSA evaluates whether the beneficiary needs a payee and whether you are the right choice, and a representative payee must account for benefit spending separately from any accounting filed with the probate court.16Social Security Administration. Frequently Asked Questions for Representative Payees Skip this step and the checks keep going where they have been going, regardless of what the conservatorship order says.