Conservatorship / Guardianship

There are a few different scenarios as to whether you or your loved ones would need a conservatorship. The most common reason is when a person is mentally ill and cannot or should not make their own decisions. Here are a few things to think about when considering a conservatorship:

• Has a power of attorney already been appointed
• Is there a living will or medical directive
• If a medical directive has been set up, what health matters are and aren’t covered
• Is there somebody designated to make decisions for personal life matters (where is the person going to live, who is allowed to visit/spend time with the person)

Conservatorship and Guardianship; Elder Law Attorneys Cohen and Oalican, Boston, Andover, Raynham, Massachusetts

Guardianship is basically the same thing a conservatorship. Simply put, if a person can’t make decisions for themselves, a judge will appoint someone to do just that for that person. They have all legal “say” where they are appointed to; finance or medical care. Sometimes that person will be appointed to cover both jobs; finance and medical care.

Advantages of Conservatorship and/or Guardianship

• Family members can be at ease knowing a conservator / guardian that they trust will be handling important decisions
• Conservator / Guardian will handle all legal dealings with third parties
• Conservatorship / Guardianship helps the process for a judge to approve decision

If a few decisions are made by the conservator, and the family and/or judge is not happy with the decisions the judge can appoint somebody else to the job. Most of the time, the conservatorship will last until the person dies, but the conservator can be UN-appointed if the person becomes able to make their own decisions again.