Public Guardian Conservator & LPS

What is a Conservatorship?

A conservatorship is a legal arrangement in which an adult oversees the personal care or financial matters of another adult considered incapable of managing alone.

The incapacitated person is the “conservatee.” The person who takes over is the “conservator.” A California conservatorship is established, overseen and terminated by the Superior Court. Conservatorships are only appropriate when an individual has no suitable person and/or no legal arrangement, such as a Power of Attorney or Trustee, in place to act for the individual when they become incapacitated or require involuntary mental health treatment. Conservatorship is an extreme remedy and a last resort alternative.

In Alameda County, the Public Guardian-Conservator manages Probate and Mental Health conservatorships for residents who have been adjudicated by the Superior Court to either lack capacity to manage finances and/or health care, or to be gravely disabled due to mental illness or substance abuse.

• Co-located with Adult Protective Services (APS), the Public Guardian-Conservator works in partnership with APS to protect individuals who are victims of financial abuse or exploitation and who are unable to protect themselves. Whenever possible, the Public Guardian-Conservator will work with County Counsel to use civil remedies to recover misappropriated funds.

• This office also collaborates with the District Attorney’s office in the prosecution of felony elder abuse offenders and on the establishment of LPS-Murphy conservatorships. The Public Guardian-Conservator works closely in partnership with County Behavioral Health Care Services as well.

 Probate Conservatorships

Adults with cognitive impairment or developmental disabilities can have protection issues that prohibit them from providing for their own care, money management, or defense against abusers. When this happens, conservators can be appointed by the Court to care for, and make decisions regarding the basic and complex needs of these vulnerable adults.

A conservatorship may be of the person, the estate, or the person and estate. Additional powers may be sought for medical decision-making and dementia authority.

1. Referrals for Probate Conservatorships 

Anyone can initiate a referral to the Public Guardian-Conservator’s Office for a probate conservatorship investigation. Referrals are appropriate when there is concern that individuals are unable to manage money or health care decisions have no legal arrangement in place and/or no one in the family to take over. 

The Office of the Public Guardian-Conservator is staffed with Deputy Public Guardian-Conservator-Investigators (Deputies) who investigate and confirm the need for our involvement. If there is no alternative remedy, a Deputy will petition the Superior Court requesting appointment as conservator. The Public Guardian may also be appointed if a private conservator is removed by the court.

2. Management of Conservatorships 

Deputies manage the caseloads of established conservatorships and trusts.

Some of the duties include:

• Identifying and marshalling the conservatee's income and assets
• Creating a budget for expenditures
• Paying bills from estate funds
• Monitoring the quality of care received by conservatees residing in their own home or in supervised settings such as residential care facilities, nursing homes, psychiatric settings and hospitals.
• Providing reports and accountings to the Superior Court to verify care provided.

The Public Guardian operates under the authority and direction of the California Probate Code and the Alameda County Superior Court to provide conservatorship services.

The Public Guardian is the Guardian of last resort…there are 14 other potential guardians that must be determined by the Superior Court as not suitable before we are assigned as conservators.

Lanterman Petris Short (LPS) Mental Health Conservatorships

The Public Guardian-Conservator provides Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) conservatorships for Alameda County residents who are gravely disabled (unable to provide for their food, clothing or shelter) due to a mental health diagnosis and who have been found by the Court unable or unwilling to accept voluntary treatment.

Referrals for an LPS conservatorship are made by a mental health professional from an approved locked acute psychiatric facility.

Referrals for Murphy conservatorships may only be made by the Criminal Court Division of the Superior Court.

LPS conservatorships may include estate authority.

1. Murphy Conservatorships 

Murphy conservatorships, a type of LPS conservatorship, are appropriate when criminal defendants, as a result of mental illness, are deemed incompetent to participate in felony proceedings against them but require ongoing mental health treatment due to grave disability, dangerousness and for public safety.

2. Community Conservatorships 

The Community Conservatorship Program is an innovative program built upon a collaboration between the Alameda County Public Guardian-Conservator (LPS Unit), the Public Defender, the Superior Court, Alameda County Behavioral Health, County Counsel and the acute and subacute care facilities of Alameda County.

The program provides a supportive community based system for LPS conservatees to access services designed to guide and direct them towards stabilization while living in the community. The target population for the program are adult residents of Alameda County who, through clinical assessment, both meet LPS criteria for grave disability and could safely stabilize within the community with intensive wraparound services in place.

The innovative and unique Alameda County Community Conservatorship program is a partnership between the Social Services Agency, the Public Defender’s Office and Alameda County Behavioral Health aimed at providing wrap around services to individuals in the community with all of the supports they need for success.