Conservators are like trustees of a trust and are fiduciaries, who must receive, invest, manage and disburse property in the interests of the protected person. Conservators will not be appointed in every case in which a minor or incapacitated person has property that must be managed. A conservator is likely to be appointed only when there is sufficient quantity and quality of property to warrant the creation of a court-supervised conservatorship. There are other alternatives that will work in many cases, such as agents under durable or springing powers of attorney and trustees of trusts, including custodial trusts as provided for in the Uniform Custodial Trust Act. If there is an appointed guardian of the person, and no conservator, the guardian must assume obligations to receive and expend assets for the benefit of the ward, in the absence of any other arrangement for dealing with property.
Every effort is made to provide a respondent with a fair and impartial proceeding.
A guardian or conservator obtains only the powers over the ward or protected person that are the least restrictive possible. The objective is to provide maximum personal freedom from authority for the ward or protected person. These powers are generally exercised under the jurisdiction of a court which has appointed a guardian or conservator, but with only very limited direct supervision by the court. There have always been two great problems with guardianships and conservatorships. One problem is abuse of authority by a guardian or conservator.