California Guardianship and Conservatorship Laws (2026 Guide)

In California, a court appoints a guardian for a minor and a conservator for an adult, under Division 4 of the Probate Code. A conservator of the person may be appointed for a person who is "unable to provide properly for his or her personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter," and a conservator of the estate for a person who is "substantially unable to manage his or her own financial resources or resist fraud or undue influence," in each case except as Probate Code § 1828.5 provides, and the standard of proof is clear and convincing evidence (Cal. Prob. Code § 1801(a), (b), (e)). The court may not grant a conservatorship of the person or of the estate unless it makes an express finding that the conservatorship "is the least restrictive alternative needed for the protection of the conservatee" (§ 1800.3(b)).

Section 1800.3(a) allows an appointment only "if the need therefor is established to the satisfaction of the court and the other requirements of this chapter are satisfied."

The vocabulary matters. A child under guardianship is the "ward," and an adult under conservatorship is the "conservatee." For adults, the Probate Code provides for a conservator of the person, of the estate, or both (§ 1800.3(a)(1)); it also allows a conservator of the person of a minor who is married or whose marriage has been dissolved (§ 1800.3(a)(2)). A separate conservatorship under the Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) provisions of the Welfare and Institutions Code applies to a person who is gravely disabled or impaired by chronic alcoholism (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5350). For how other states handle these questions, see our guardianship laws by state overview.

Information last verified on October 20, 2026. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers California state law on guardianship of minors and conservatorship of adults in Probate Code Division 4, the Family Code caregiver's authorization affidavit, supported decisionmaking agreements under Welfare and Institutions Code Division 11.5, and moving a conservatorship between states. It does not cover custody disputes between parents (see California child custody laws), grandparent visitation (see California grandparents' rights), adoption, emancipation, what happens to a person's estate after death (see California probate), juvenile-court dependency and foster-care cases, which run on a separate track, or civil commitment and mental-health holds. LPS conservatorship is described in one paragraph below only to show where it sits.

California guardianship and conservatorship terms

California keeps the two roles apart by age. The Probate Code's Part 2 of Division 4 governs guardianship of minors, and Part 3 governs conservatorship of adults. The core terms:

LPS is a different track. An LPS conservator "of the person, of the estate, or of the person and the estate may be appointed for a person who is gravely disabled or impaired by chronic alcoholism," and the procedure follows Probate Code Division 4 except as the LPS chapter provides (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5350). The Probate Code keeps the two systems apart: a ward or conservatee "shall not be placed in a mental health treatment facility under this division against his or her will," and involuntary civil placement in such a facility may be obtained only under the Welfare and Institutions Code chapters beginning at §§ 5150 and 5350 (Cal. Prob. Code § 2356(a)).

How to get guardianship of a child in California

Who may file. Under § 1510(a), "a relative or other person on behalf of the minor, or the minor if 12 years of age or older, may file a petition for the appointment of a guardian of the minor." The same subsection adds that a relative may file "regardless of the relative's immigration status."

Notice to the parents and the child. At least 15 days before the hearing, notice of the time and place must be given with a copy of the petition, and the court "shall not shorten the time for giving the notice" (§ 1511(a)). The people who must receive it under § 1511(b) include the proposed ward if 12 or older, anyone with legal custody of the proposed ward or serving as guardian of the estate, and the proposed ward's parents. Section 1511(a) sets this out "except as provided in subdivisions (f) and (g)."

The standard. "Upon hearing of the petition, if it appears necessary or convenient, the court may appoint a guardian of the person or estate of the proposed ward or both" (§ 1514(a)). In appointing a guardian of the person, the court is governed by the Family Code chapters on custody of a minor beginning at Family Code §§ 3020 and 3040 (§ 1514(b)(1)).

One of those rules is Family Code § 3041. Before granting custody to a nonparent over a parent's objection, the court must find that granting custody to a parent would be detrimental to the child and that granting custody to the nonparent is required to serve the child's best interest. Subject to § 3041(d), the detriment finding must be supported by clear and convincing evidence, and it does not require a finding that the parents are unfit (Cal. Fam. Code § 3041(a)-(c)). Under § 3041(d), if the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the nonparent has assumed, on a day-to-day basis, the role of the child's parent, fulfilling both the child's physical needs and the child's psychological needs for care and affection, for a substantial period of time, that finding counts as a finding that parental custody would be detrimental and that nonparent custody is in the child's best interest, absent a showing by a preponderance of the evidence to the contrary (Cal. Fam. Code § 3041(c), (d)). Our pages on California child custody laws and California grandparents' rights cover those custody rules from the family-court side.

A parent is not the guardian. "Except as provided in Section 1510.1 or 2105, a minor's parent may not be appointed as a guardian of the person of the minor" (§ 1514(b)(2)).

What the guardian decides. A guardian "has the care, custody, and control of, and has charge of the education of," the ward (§ 2351(a)). The guardian "may establish the residence of the ward at any place within this state without the permission of the court," and must "select the least restrictive appropriate residence that is available and necessary to meet the needs of the ward, and that is in the best interests of the ward" (§ 2352(a)).

Young adults and special immigrant juvenile findings

With the proposed ward's consent, the court may appoint a guardian of the person for an unmarried individual who is 18 or older but not yet 21, "in connection with a petition to make the necessary findings regarding special immigrant juvenile status" (§ 1510.1(a)(1)).

A child's money and property

The court may appoint a guardian of the estate of a minor under § 1514(a). If a minor's total estate, including the money or property to be delivered, does not exceed $5,000, it may be paid or delivered to a parent entitled to custody, to be held in trust for the minor until majority, without a guardian of the estate, if the parent gives the payer a written assurance under oath that the total does not exceed $5,000 (§§ 3400, 3401(a), (c)).

How a minor's guardianship ends

A guardianship ends when the ward reaches majority, unless the ward asks for or consents to an extension of the guardianship of the person to age 21 under § 1510.1, and a guardianship of the person also ends on the ward's death, adoption or emancipation (§ 1600(a), (b)).

On petition of the guardian, a parent, the minor ward, or, in an Indian child custody proceeding, an Indian custodian or the ward's tribe, "the court may make an order terminating the guardianship if the court determines that it is in the ward's best interest to terminate the guardianship." On petition of a ward who is 18 or older, "the court shall make an order terminating the guardianship" (§ 1601).

Can a parent name a guardian for a child in California?

Yes, within limits. Subject to § 1502, "a parent may nominate a guardian of the person or estate, or both, of a minor child" in either of two cases (§ 1500):

• the other parent nominates, or consents in writing to the nomination of, the same guardian for the same child; or
• when the guardianship petition is filed, the other parent is dead or lacks legal capacity to consent to the nomination, or the other parent's consent would not be required for an adoption of the child.

The nomination may be made in the guardianship petition, at the hearing, or in a writing signed before or after the petition is filed, and a writing may provide that it takes effect only on conditions it states, such as the parent's later absence, legal incapacity or death (§ 1502(a), (b)). For the guardian of the person, the court gives the nomination "due weight" under Family Code § 3043 (§ 1502(a)); for the guardian of the estate, the court must appoint the nominee unless it determines that the nominee is unsuitable (§ 1514(c)).

Joint guardianship with a parent

Section 2105 lets a parent share guardianship with the person the parent nominates in two situations:

• Terminal condition. If a custodial parent has been diagnosed with a terminal condition, as evidenced by a declaration signed by a licensed physician, the court "in its discretion, may appoint the custodial parent and a person nominated by the custodial parent as joint guardians of the person of the minor" (§ 2105(f)).
• Temporary unavailability. If a custodial parent "is temporarily unavailable due to circumstances, including, but not limited to, a serious medical condition or disability, military service, incarceration, or an immigration-related administrative action, specified in the parent's nomination of a guardian," the court may, in its discretion, appoint the custodial parent and the nominee as joint guardians of the person of the minor (§ 2105(g)(1)). This subdivision took effect January 1, 2026 (Stats. 2025, ch. 664, AB 495).

Under either subdivision, the appointment may not be made over the objection of a noncustodial parent without a finding that the noncustodial parent's custody would be detrimental to the child, as provided in Family Code § 3041 (§ 2105(f), (g)(1)). If a parent appointed under § 2105(g) petitions to end the joint guardianship because the condition no longer makes the parent unavailable, there is a presumption that ending it is in the child's best interest, and the court records of a § 2105(g) joint guardianship are confidential (§ 2105(g)(2), (3)).

Letting a relative care for a child without going to court

California's no-court tools are narrow.

Caregiver's authorization affidavit. Family Code § 6550(a) provides that the affidavit "authorizes a caregiver 18 years of age or older who completes items 1 to 4, inclusive, of the affidavit provided in Section 6552 and signs the affidavit to enroll a minor in school and consent to school-related medical care on behalf of the minor." A caregiver who is a relative and completes items 1 to 8 "shall have the same rights to authorize medical care and dental care for the minor that are given to guardians under Section 2353 of the Probate Code."

For this purpose a "relative" is an adult related to the child by blood, adoption or affinity within the fifth degree of kinship, including stepparents, stepsiblings and relatives whose status is preceded by "great," "great-great" or "grand," or the spouse of any of them, even after the marriage ended by death or dissolution (Fam. Code § 6550(h)(2)).

The statute sets these limits:

• The parent still decides. A caregiver's decision to consent to or refuse medical or dental care "shall be superseded by any contravening decision of the parent or other person having legal custody of the minor, provided the decision of the parent or other person having legal custody of the minor does not jeopardize the life, health, or safety of the minor" (§ 6550(b)).
• When the child moves out. If the minor stops living with the caregiver, the caregiver must notify any school, health care provider or health care service plan that has the affidavit, and the affidavit "is invalid after the school, health care provider, or health care service plan receives notice that the minor is no longer living with the caregiver" (§ 6550(f)).

Written medical-care authorization. Under Family Code § 6910, a parent, a guardian, or a relative caregiver who may authorize medical and dental care under § 6550 "may authorize in writing an adult into whose care a minor has been entrusted to consent to medical care or dental care, or both, for the minor."

How to become conservator of an adult in California

The petition must address alternatives

A conservatorship petition must include supplemental information on "alternatives to conservatorship considered by the petitioner or proposed conservator and reasons why those alternatives are not suitable," alternatives tried and why they do not meet the conservatee's needs. Those alternatives include supported decisionmaking agreements and powers of attorney, among others (Cal. Prob. Code § 1821(a)(1)(C)).

Notice of the hearing

"At least 15 days before the hearing on the petition for appointment of a conservator, notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be given as provided in this section." The notice goes with a copy of the petition, and "the court shall not shorten the time for giving the notice of hearing under this section" (§ 1822(a)).

The citation to the proposed conservatee must tell the person, among other things, that the person "has the right to choose and be represented by legal counsel and has the right to have legal counsel appointed by the court if not otherwise represented by legal counsel," and "has the right to a jury trial, if desired" (§ 1823(b)(6), (7)).

A lawyer for the proposed conservatee

If a conservatee, proposed conservatee, or person alleged to lack legal capacity is not represented by legal counsel and does not plan to retain counsel, whether or not that person lacks or appears to lack legal capacity, the court shall, at or before the time of the hearing, appoint the public defender or private counsel to represent the person in the following proceedings under this division: (1) A proceeding to establish or transfer a conservatorship or to appoint a proposed conservator.

Cal. Prob. Code § 1471(a)

The section lists further proceedings as well. Counsel's role "is that of a zealous, independent advocate representing the wishes of their client" (§ 1471(d)).

The court investigator

"Regardless of whether the proposed conservatee attends the hearing," the court investigator must interview the proposed conservatee personally, along with the other steps § 1826(a) lists, and must "report to the court in writing, at least five days before the hearing" (§ 1826(a)(1), (10)). This requirement does not apply if the proposed conservatee personally signed the petition, or nominated their own conservator, and attends the hearing (§ 1826(d)).

The hearing and the burden of proof

The court hears the case "according to the law and procedure relating to the trial of civil actions, including trial by jury if demanded by the proposed conservatee" (§ 1827). "The standard of proof for the appointment of a conservator pursuant to this section shall be clear and convincing evidence" (§ 1801(e)). For the estate side, "substantial inability may not be proved solely by isolated incidents of negligence or improvidence" (§ 1801(b)).

The least restrictive alternative finding

Section 1800.3 sets the requirement:

(b) A conservatorship of the person or of the estate shall not be granted by the court unless the court makes an express finding that the granting of the conservatorship is the least restrictive alternative needed for the protection of the conservatee. (c) In determining whether a conservatorship is the least restrictive alternative available, and whether to grant or deny a conservatorship petition, the court shall consider the person's abilities and capacities with current and possible supports, including, but not limited to, supported decisionmaking agreements, as defined in Section 21001 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, powers of attorney, designation of a health care surrogate as set forth in Section 4711, and advance health care directives.

Cal. Prob. Code § 1800.3

Who serves as conservator

A proposed conservatee with sufficient capacity to form an intelligent preference may nominate a conservator in the petition or in a signed writing, and the court must appoint that nominee unless it finds the appointment is not in the proposed conservatee's best interests (§ 1810).

"The selection of a conservator of the person or estate, or both, is solely in the discretion of the court," guided by "what appears to be for the best interests of the proposed conservatee," subject to §§ 1810, 1813 and 1813.1 (§ 1812(a)). Among persons the court considers equally qualified, the statutory order of preference begins with "the conservatee or proposed conservatee's stated preference," followed, in certain successor cases, by a prior conservator's preference, then the spouse or domestic partner, an adult child, a parent and a sibling (each, or a person that relative nominates), and then any other eligible person or entity (§ 1812(b)). A spouse who is a party to a pending legal separation, dissolution or nullity action against the proposed conservatee may be appointed only if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the appointment is in the proposed conservatee's best interests (§ 1813(a)).

What a California conservator can decide, and the rights the conservatee keeps

Care and custody. A conservator, "but not a limited conservator, has the care, custody, and control of" the conservatee. That control "shall not extend to personal rights retained by the conservatee, including, but not limited to, the right to receive visitors, telephone calls, and personal mail, unless specifically limited by court order" (§ 2351(a)).

Limited conservatorship. A limited conservator may be appointed only for a developmentally disabled adult, only as necessary and only to the extent of the person's proven mental and adaptive limitations; the limited conservatee is not presumed incompetent and keeps all legal and civil rights except those the order specifically grants to the limited conservator (§ 1801(d)). If the court becomes aware that a proposed conservatee has a developmental disability, it treats the case as a limited-conservatorship proceeding unless the proposed conservator seeks authority under § 2356.5 (§ 1800.3(d)), and it must immediately appoint the public defender or private counsel for an unrepresented proposed limited conservatee, who pays the cost if able (§ 1471(b)).

A limited conservator does not have the powers § 2351.5(b) lists, including the power "to fix the residence or specific dwelling of the limited conservatee," unless those powers "are specifically requested in the petition for appointment of a limited conservator and granted by the court in its order appointing the limited conservator" (§ 2351.5(b)).

Where the conservatee lives. The law presumes the conservatee should stay home:

(a) It shall be presumed that the personal residence of the conservatee at the time of commencement of the proceeding is the least restrictive appropriate residence for the conservatee. In any hearing to determine if removal of the conservatee from the conservatee's personal residence is appropriate, that presumption may be overcome by clear and convincing evidence.

Cal. Prob. Code § 2352.5(a)

Except in an emergency, a guardian or conservator who proposes to move the ward or conservatee out of the current residence must deliver notice of the intended move at least 15 days (ward) or 20 days (conservatee) beforehand to the persons entitled to notice, must file a notice of change of residence with the court within 30 days after a move, and needs the court's permission first for a move out of California (§ 2352(c), (e)).

No involuntary mental-health placement through a probate conservatorship. A conservatee may not be placed in a mental health treatment facility under Division 4 against the conservatee's will; involuntary placement goes through the Welfare and Institutions Code (§ 2356(a)).

A plain-language list of rights. "Within 30 days of the establishment of a conservatorship under this division, and annually thereafter, the superior court shall provide information to a conservatee under its jurisdiction, written in plain language, with a list of the conservatee's rights within the conservatorship" (§ 1835.5(a)).

Health care decisions. When a patient lacks capacity to make a health care decision, Probate Code § 4712(a) sets a descending order of decisionmakers: first a surrogate the patient selected under § 4711, then an agent under an advance health care directive or power of attorney for health care, then "the conservator or guardian of the patient having the authority to make health care decisions for the patient." Except as § 4715 provides, if none of those exists, a health care provider or the facility's designee may choose a surrogate, who may be the patient's spouse or domestic partner, adult child, parent, adult sibling, adult grandchild, or an adult relative or close personal friend (§ 4712(b)). A conservator has exclusive authority over health care decisions only if the conservatee has been adjudicated to lack the capacity to make them (§ 2355(a)).

Court investigator reviews

After appointment, the court investigator keeps checking. Under § 1850(a), subject to the rest of § 1850, the investigator visits the conservatee and reports to the court on the appropriateness of the conservatorship six months after the initial appointment, then one year after the appointment and annually after that, "including, when possible, discussing with the conservatee less restrictive alternatives to conservatorship as set forth in Section 1800.3."

Conservator of the estate: bond, inventory and accountings

• Bond. "Except as otherwise provided by statute, every person appointed as guardian or conservator shall, before letters are issued, give a bond approved by the court" (§ 2320(a)).
• Inventory and appraisal. "Within 90 days after appointment, or within any further time as the court for reasonable cause upon ex parte petition of the guardian or conservator may allow," the guardian or conservator must file an inventory and appraisal of the estate, made as of the date of appointment, and deliver it as § 2610(a) directs (§ 2610(a)).
• Accountings. "At the expiration of one year from the time of appointment and thereafter not less frequently than biennially, unless otherwise ordered by the court to be more frequent," the guardian or conservator must present an accounting of the estate to the court for settlement and allowance (§ 2620(a)).

Community property transactions. A separate chapter of the Probate Code, beginning at § 3100, governs a "transaction," defined as one "that involves community real or personal property, tangible or intangible, or an interest therein or a lien or encumbrance thereon," including the transactions listed in § 3102 (§ 3100(a)).

Temporary guardianship and conservatorship

Probate Code § 2250 governs temporary appointments. For a child, "if a temporary guardianship is granted ex parte and the hearing on the general guardianship petition is not to be held within 30 days of the granting of the temporary guardianship, the court shall set a hearing within 30 days to reconsider the temporary guardianship" (§ 2250(f)). A temporary guardian or conservator may be appointed, after a general petition is filed, on a petition stating facts that establish good cause, to serve until the court decides the general petition (§ 2250(a), (b)). Unless the court for good cause orders otherwise, notice of the hearing must be given at least five court days before it, including personal delivery to the proposed conservatee, or to a proposed ward 12 or older and the ward's parents (§ 2250(e)). A temporary appointee's powers end, except for rendering the account, when a guardian or conservator is appointed and qualified, or 30 days after the temporary appointment or any earlier time the order sets, whichever comes first, unless the court for good cause extends or shortens that time (§ 2257).

How a California conservatorship ends

A petition to terminate a conservatorship may be filed by the conservator, the conservatee, or "the spouse, or domestic partner, or any relative or friend of the conservatee or other interested person," and the petition "shall state facts showing that the conservatorship is no longer required" (§ 1861). The court decides the matter under civil trial procedure, "including trial by jury if demanded by the conservatee" (§ 1863(a)). Unless the court determines, on the record and by clear and convincing evidence, that the conservatee still meets the § 1801(a) or (b) criteria and that the conservatorship remains the least restrictive alternative needed for the conservatee's protection, the court must enter judgment terminating the conservatorship (§ 1863(c)). If the petition is uncontested and shows that both the conservator and the conservatee wish to end it and that it is no longer the least restrictive alternative, the court may terminate it without an evidentiary hearing (§ 1863(h)). Section 1863 does not apply to limited conservatorships (§ 1863(f)).

Alternatives to conservatorship in California

California requires alternatives to be weighed twice: in the petition (§ 1821(a)(1)(C)) and in the court's least-restrictive-alternative finding (§ 1800.3(b), (c)).

Supported decisionmaking agreements. Welfare and Institutions Code Division 11.5 (§§ 21000 to 21008), added by Stats. 2022, ch. 894 (AB 1663) effective January 1, 2023, recognizes these agreements. Key rules:

• A supported decisionmaking agreement is "a voluntary, written agreement, written in plain language accessible to the adult with a disability," and it "may be revoked orally or in writing at any time by either party" (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 21001(d)).
• It must be signed by the adult and each supporter "in the presence of two or more attesting and disinterested witnesses who are at least 18 years of age, or a notary public" (§ 21005(b)).
• Signing it "does not preclude the adult with the disability from acting independently" and "shall not be used by a court or other entity as evidence of incapacity" (§ 21003(b)).
• A person may not serve or continue as a supporter in the circumstances § 21002(b) lists, including when the adult has made an allegation against the supporter under the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act (§ 21002(b)(1)).
• The division does not apply to CARE court proceedings or to a CARE supporter appointed under the CARE Act (§ 21007).

Powers of attorney and advance health care directives. Both are signed while a person still has capacity, and § 1800.3(c) names them among the supports the court must consider. The signing rules are on our California power of attorney laws page. Free drafting tools are available for a California power of attorney and a California advance directive; a tool is not legal advice, and any document must be signed under the California rules on the power of attorney page.

Health care surrogate. A patient may designate a health care surrogate under Probate Code § 4711, and that surrogate stands first in the § 4712(a) order of health care decisionmakers.

Federal benefits. Federal programs make their own appointments: the Social Security Administration decides whether representative payment is in a beneficiary's interest and appoints the payee, and a legal guardian is one person it may choose rather than an automatic payee (20 C.F.R. § 404.2001(b)(2)); the guardianship hub covers the federal layer.

Moving to or from California with a conservatorship

Probate Code §§ 1980 to 2033 are the California Conservatorship Jurisdiction Act, which the Legislature describes as "a modified version of the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act" (§ 1980). It became operative January 1, 2016 (Stats. 2014, ch. 553, SB 940).

A conservatee's move out of state is tied to a court order under § 2352(c). That order must require the conservator, once the conservatee has resided in the other state for four months or a longer or shorter period the order specifies, to take one of the steps § 2352(d)(2) lists, which include returning the conservatee to California or petitioning to transfer the conservatorship to the other state under the article beginning at § 2001 and that state's corresponding law.

Recent changes to California guardianship law

• January 1, 2026: Stats. 2025, ch. 664 (AB 495) added the temporary-unavailability joint guardianship in Probate Code § 2105(g), amended § 1502 on when a parent's nomination takes effect, and amended Family Code §§ 6550 and 6552, the caregiver's authorization affidavit and its form, including the definition of "relative."
• January 1, 2025: Stats. 2024, ch. 955 (AB 2224) amended Probate Code § 1514, the guardianship appointment section.
• January 1, 2023: Stats. 2022, ch. 894 (AB 1663) amended §§ 1800.3 and 1812 and added the supported decisionmaking statute (Welf. & Inst. Code § 21000 et seq.). Stats. 2022, ch. 420 (AB 2960) amended § 1471, the counsel section.

California guardianship and conservatorship at a glance

Related California pages

• Guardianship laws by state
• California power of attorney laws
• California child custody laws
• California grandparents' rights
• California probate

This article provides general legal information about California guardianship and conservatorship law, not legal advice. These cases turn on their facts and on local court practice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in California or the superior court that would hear the case.

Last updated: October 20, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a guardian and a conservator in California?

California uses guardian for a minor and conservator for an adult. A guardian of the person or estate is appointed for a minor under Probate Code § 1514, and a conservator of the person, the estate, or both is appointed for an adult under §§ 1800.3 and 1801.

How do I get guardianship of my grandchild in California?

A relative or other person may petition on the child's behalf (Cal. Prob. Code § 1510(a)), and notice must be given at least 15 days before the hearing to persons including the child's parents and the child if 12 or older (§ 1511). The court may appoint a guardian if it appears necessary or convenient, applying the Family Code's custody rules to the guardian of the person (§ 1514). Over a parent's objection, those rules require a finding that parental custody would be detrimental to the child and that custody with the nonparent is required to serve the child's best interest (Cal. Fam. Code § 3041).

Can a grandparent care for a child in California without going to court?

A caregiver 18 or older may sign a caregiver's authorization affidavit to enroll the child in school and consent to school-related medical care, and a relative who completes items 1 to 8 gets the medical and dental authority guardians have (Cal. Fam. Code § 6550(a)). A parent's contrary decision supersedes the caregiver's unless it jeopardizes the child's life, health or safety, and the affidavit is invalid once a school or provider is told the child no longer lives with the caregiver (§ 6550(b), (f)).

What must be proved to get a conservatorship in California?

The grounds in Probate Code § 1801(a) or (b) must be shown by clear and convincing evidence (§ 1801(e)), the court must expressly find that the conservatorship is the least restrictive alternative needed to protect the conservatee (§ 1800.3(b)), and the other requirements of the chapter must be satisfied (§ 1800.3(a)).

Does the person get a lawyer in a California conservatorship case?

If the proposed conservatee is not represented and does not plan to retain counsel, the court must appoint the public defender or private counsel at or before the hearing (Cal. Prob. Code § 1471(a)). Counsel acts as a zealous, independent advocate for the client's wishes (§ 1471(d)).

Can a California conservator move the conservatee out of their home?

The conservatee's home at the start of the case is presumed the least restrictive appropriate residence, and in a hearing on removal that presumption may be overcome only by clear and convincing evidence (Cal. Prob. Code § 2352.5(a)). Except in an emergency, notice of a proposed move must be delivered at least 20 days beforehand, and a move out of California needs the court's permission first (§ 2352(c), (e)).

Can a parent with a terminal illness share guardianship in California?

Yes, within limits. If a custodial parent has a terminal condition shown by a licensed physician's declaration, the court may, in its discretion, appoint the parent and the parent's nominee as joint guardians of the person of the child (Cal. Prob. Code § 2105(f)). Since January 1, 2026, § 2105(g) allows the same for a parent temporarily unavailable for reasons specified in the nomination. Neither appointment may be made over a noncustodial parent's objection without a finding that the noncustodial parent's custody would be detrimental to the child (§ 2105(f), (g)(1)).

What is a supported decisionmaking agreement in California?

It is a voluntary, written, plain-language agreement between an adult with a disability and a supporter under Welfare and Institutions Code § 21001(d), signed before two disinterested adult witnesses or a notary (§ 21005(b)). It may be revoked at any time, and signing it may not be used as evidence of incapacity (§§ 21001(d), 21003(b)).

How is a California conservatorship ended?

The conservator, the conservatee, or a spouse, domestic partner, relative, friend or other interested person may petition, stating facts showing the conservatorship is no longer required (Cal. Prob. Code § 1861), and the conservatee may demand a jury (§ 1863(a)). Except in a limited conservatorship, the court must end it unless it finds by clear and convincing evidence that the conservatee still meets the grounds for a conservator and that the conservatorship remains the least restrictive alternative (§ 1863(c), (f)).

Is an LPS conservatorship the same as a probate conservatorship?

No. An LPS conservatorship under Welfare and Institutions Code § 5350 is for a person who is gravely disabled or impaired by chronic alcoholism, and involuntary mental-health placement goes through that code rather than a probate conservatorship (Cal. Prob. Code § 2356(a)).