You ended up on this article because you or someone else you know do not have the means or ability to make financial or medical decisions for themselves and hence require help. If your search for help in such matters led you to know about conservatorship, and you wanted to know more about it, then you have landed on the right page. Hop on below to learn a detailed guide to conservatorship, including what it is, its pros and cons, and all other alternative methods that you can pick.

What Is a Conservatorship?

A conservatorship is a legal settlement approach in which an individual – known as a conservator – is appointed by the court to help manage an individual's financial and medical affairs – known as a conservatee. The conservator's job is to work towards approaches that are in the best interests of the conservatee.

Conservatorships are meant to help individuals when they cannot care for their own affairs due to incapacity. The court will help designate a conservator to make financial and medical decisions for the conservatee.

The Pros and Cons of Conservatorship

Now that you understand what a conservatorship is, the next step will be to look into the pros and cons it may provide. If you are curious to gain insight into these two aspects, we have them covered for you below:

Pros

Conservatorship provides several benefits to the conservatee. A few of these exceptional benefits are:

Consistent Oversight

One of the significant benefits of conservatorship is the consistent oversight that happens in the entire process. Many people might assume that a conservator sometimes makes decisions in haste or goes against what favours the conservatee.

However, this is entirely impossible because the court oversees all the major decisions a conservator takes for the conservatee. Hence, this provides a more structured and rightful protection for the conservatee.

High Level of Protection

Another great benefit the conservatorship provides a user is the high level of protection. What does this mean? Well, for someone who is incapacitated or resistant to assistance like medication, any facility like a nursing home, etc, they can legally get the help they need through a conservatorship.

Singular

The entire process becomes much easier when a conservator is involved in any legal process. This is because a conservatorship only aligns with the best interests of an individual, which then helps simplify the decisions and reduce the conflict that may arise among family members in certain legal matters.

Cons

While the pros are exceptional, we cannot deny that conservatorship only comes with a few cons. We have these cons covered for you as well:

Restrictive

There can be times when, depending on its type, the conservatorship can withdraw significant rights and independence from an individual, which then can be extremely difficult to overturn.

Costly

If there is one major drawback that comes with conservatorship, it is how costly it can be. It can take months for a court to set up a permanent conservatorship for an individual.

Moreover, the entire process may include costs like court, attorney, and investigator fees throughout the process, which can add up to a lot. The annual review process can also be costly and time-consuming, among other aspects.

Public

Both the conservatorship and guardianship proceedings in court are public records. Hence, given they are available to approach anyone working in a court or may have access to those sorts of documents, it quickly means that it can affect the privacy of the conservatee and their loved ones.

What are the Alternatives to Conservatorship?

If you are someone who did like the idea of conservatorship but still wants to know other alternatives which you can take up in place of it, then we have this aspect of the alternatives to conservatorship covered for you below:

Power of Attorney

The first alternative aspect to conservatorship is known as the power of attorney. This aspect gives another individual the authority to decide on your behalf. This individual who makes the decision can be anyone you know and trust. However, how is it beneficial?

Well, power of attorney is a process that allows users to maintain control over their lives, and hence, one will not have to constantly go to court to make appointments and deal with matters.

Representative Payee

The representative payee is an organization or individual appointed by the Social Security Administration to manage and receive benefits on behalf of someone else. People who cannot control their finances usually pick this aspect or an alternative method. However, you should know that the representative payee cannot make medical decisions on another person's behalf.

Special Needs Trust

Special needs trust is an aspect for those with any mental or physical disability or chronic condition. These people are insured by being beneficiaries of a trust fund, which helps improve the quality of their lives without ripping them off the eligibility for government benefits. The beneficiaries help maintain control over the assets through a reliable trustee.

Joint Property or Joint Bank Account Ownership

Another great alternative to the conservatorship is joint property or bank account ownership. This alternative method is a form of arrangement that helps two or more people have ownership over a property or account together. Hence, each person with ownership can decide about the property or account.

Wrapping Up!

A conservator can be a helpful tool for individuals who cannot make financial and medical decisions for themselves. It can protect their assets and ensure that their medical and financial needs are taken care of legally and properly. However, one should also understand that there can be times when conservatorship can be difficult to manage or expensive to pick up; hence, looking into the alternative methods we have mentioned is essential for us.