Guardianship vs Conservatorship: What 15 State Laws Call Each

When this comes up: no power of attorney, or one the bank will not take

The reader here is usually an adult child or spouse. A parent can no longer handle the house, the retirement accounts and the brokerage account, and there is no valid power of attorney, or the bank will not honor the one that exists. The remaining route is a court petition to appoint someone to manage the money. What the court calls that person, whether it asks for a bond, and what the process costs depend on the state, and procedures also vary by county. If the house is the main asset, our guide to probate of real estate covers what happens after a death, which is a separate proceeding.

What 15 state codes call each role

The table lists 15 jurisdictions. The others are not listed because their official code could not be read on November 12, 2026. “Not read” in a cell means the section we saved does not show that point, not that the state lacks the rule.

Who manages the money, who decides personal matters, and the bond rule, in 15 jurisdictions (official texts read November 12, 2026)

Source: official statute and bill texts of each jurisdiction, read November 12, 2026 (URLs in the CSV). Maine's page was last extracted by the revisor on October 5, 2026. Virginia's definitions page carries two versions, marked “Contingent effective date; see Acts 2026, cc. 992 and 1081, cl. 3”, so check which one is in force for your filing date.

Some patterns from the codes themselves:

• The line between the two words is the property line. Washington's chapter defines a conservator as someone “appointed by a court to make decisions with respect to the property or financial affairs of an individual subject to conservatorship” and a guardian as someone appointed “to make decisions with respect to the personal affairs of an individual”. Kansas's 2025 act repeats both sentences word for word.
• Missouri and South Carolina say the same thing in older words. Missouri's conservator has “the care and custody of the estate” and its guardian “the care and custody of the person”; South Carolina's conservator manages “the estate of a protected person” and its guardian decides health, education, maintenance and support.
• Florida and New York use one word for both jobs. Florida defines a guardian as someone appointed “to act on behalf of a ward’s person or property, or both”, and a bond is tied to being “a guardian of the property”. New York's Article 81 covers appointment of a guardian for personal needs or property management.
• Connecticut splits the roles but uses one word. Its definitions section has a “conservator of the estate” and a “conservator of the person”.
• Who gets picked. Montana lists, after someone already appointed in another state, an individual the protected person nominates, the spouse and an adult child, in that order, and lets the court pass over a higher priority “for good cause”.

Kansas and Washington: the 2017 uniform act in force

The Uniform Law Commission approved its guardianship act in 2017, and it is named in the Washington code itself: RCW 11.130.005 says the chapter “may be cited as the uniform guardianship, conservatorship, and other protective arrangements act.” Kansas adopted it in 2025 House Bill 2359, whose section 24 says the new sections “may be cited as the Kansas uniform guardianship, conservatorship and other protective arrangements act”, and whose section 168 makes the act effective from January 1, 2026. The Kansas Revisor's page for the old K.S.A. 59-3050 now shows it repealed as of the same date. Maine's article 5 is titled the Maine Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship and Protective Proceedings Act, without “other protective arrangements”. The Uniform Law Commission's own pages load by script, so we could not read its enactment list; we rely only on the short titles above.

Bond: who must post one, and how the amount is set

A bond is a surety's undertaking, in Arizona's words “conditioned on faithful discharge of all duties according to law”. The codes we read differ on whether it is the default:

• Arizona (14-5411): the court “shall require a conservator to furnish a bond”, in the amount of the estate in the conservator's control plus one year's estimated income, less court-controlled securities and land the conservator lacks power to sell without court authorization. Bank and trust-company conservators are exempt.
• Kansas (section 97): the court “shall require a conservator to furnish a bond with a surety, or require an alternative asset-protection arrangement”, and may waive it only if it finds neither is necessary. The default amount is the estate plus one year's income, less property deposited under a court-order arrangement and less real property.
• Florida (744.351): a guardian of the property must file a bond; the court fixes the penal sum, which “must be in an amount not less than” the ward's cash on hand and on deposit, plus bearer notes and bonds and readily priced intangible property. Financial institutions and public guardians are exempt.
• South Carolina (62-5-409): “Except upon a finding of good cause, the court shall require a conservator to furnish a bond”.
• Connecticut (45a-650): if the court appoints a conservator of the estate, it “shall require a probate bond”.
• California (2320): every guardian or conservator gives a bond approved by the court before letters issue, “except as otherwise provided by statute”.
• New York (81.25): before the guardian acts, “the court may require or dispense with the filing of a bond.”

None of the sections we saved puts a dollar figure on the bond premium, so this page does not estimate one.

What it costs: one filing schedule, and pay set as “reasonable”

Florida's clerk fee statute, section 28.2401, lists “Fee for formal administration, guardianship, ancillary, curatorship, or conservatorship proceedings” at $395, “Fee for guardianship proceedings of person only” at $230 and “Fee for petition for determination of incompetency” at $230, as maximums the clerk may impose, with a separate $4 service charge on guardianship petitions. We did not save fee schedules for other states, so no other filing fee appears here.

For the conservator's own pay and the lawyer's fees, the two codes we read set no percentage. California's section 2640(c) has the court allow compensation it finds “just and reasonable” for the guardian or conservator and “reasonable” for the attorney; South Carolina's 62-5-412 says “reasonable compensation from the protected person's estate, as determined by the court.” For executor fee schedules, which are different, see our executor and trustee fees by state page.

A $600,000 estate in three codes (our arithmetic). Take an estate of a $420,000 house and $180,000 in cash and brokerage accounts.

The bond amounts assume the court uses the default formula and that income is not yet estimated; a court can raise, lower or waive them, and no premium is included.

Reports to the court each year

The money manager's job does not end at appointment. Kansas's section 105 has the conservator file a report on administering the estate “annually unless the court otherwise directs”, and section 80 has an adult's guardian report at least annually with an accounting of funds. South Carolina's 62-5-416 says a conservator “shall report to the court regarding his administration of the estate annually”, with an accounting of receipts and disbursements and a list of assets and where they are held. We did not read the reporting sections of the other states.

Alternatives the statutes themselves list

Several of these codes tell the court to look at other options first, and they define them. Kansas defines a “less restrictive alternative” as an approach that “restricts fewer rights of the individual” than appointing a guardian or conservator, and says it “includes supported decision making, appropriate technological assistance, appointment of a representative payee and appointment of an agent by the individual, including appointment under a power of attorney for healthcare or power of attorney for finances.” Washington's RCW 11.130.010(15) has the same list. South Carolina defines it as support and assistance that maximizes the person's “capacity for self-determination and autonomy in lieu of a guardianship or conservatorship.”

“Supported decision making” is defined in Kansas, in Washington (RCW 11.130.010(38)) and in Minnesota (524.5-102, subdivision 16a) as help “from one or more persons of an individual's choosing” in understanding and making decisions. Virginia's definitions section refers to a “supported decision-making agreement” defined in Code 37.2-314.3. Whether any of these is still available once capacity is already lost is a question for a lawyer in your state. A trust can also hold the house and accounts; see revocable vs irrevocable trusts for real estate.

What a reader can do with this

• Find the word your court uses before you search. In Florida and New York the filing is a guardianship; in Arizona or Kansas it is a conservatorship for the money.
• Ask the clerk what the bond will be set on. In Kansas real property is subtracted from the default amount; in Arizona land is subtracted only where the conservator's power to sell it is limited.
• Check whether the bank will accept a power of attorney first. If a valid one exists, a petition may not be needed; the alternatives above are listed in the statutes as what the court considers.
• Keep a list of the accounts and where they are held. The codes above ask for annual reports and an accounting.
• Who to ask. Filing the petition is a legal matter for an attorney licensed in the state where the person lives. What it means for the house, the retirement accounts and the investments, and how to pay for care, is the part a financial adviser can weigh with you.

More for a family handling someone else's money: what a living trust costs against statutory probate fees; how executors get letters testamentary, with court fees; small estate affidavit limits by state; how long probate takes, from the creditor claim statutes; TOD and POD accounts, including non-traded REIT and BDC shares; financial power of attorney rules in 13 states.

FAQ

Sources: Arizona Revised Statutes 14-5301, 14-5401, 14-5411 (azleg.gov); California Probate Code 2320, 2640 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov); Connecticut General Statutes chapter 802h (cga.ct.gov); Code of the District of Columbia 21-2041 (code.dccouncil.gov); Florida Statutes 28.2401, 744.102, 744.351 (leg.state.fl.us); Kansas 2025 House Bill 2359 and K.S.A. 59-3050 (kslegislature.gov, ksrevisor.org); Maine Revised Statutes Title 18-C article 5 (legislature.maine.gov); Minnesota Statutes 524.5-102 (revisor.mn.gov); Revised Statutes of Missouri 475.010 (revisor.mo.gov); Montana Code Annotated 72-5-410 (leg.mt.gov); New York Mental Hygiene Law 81.25 (nysenate.gov); South Carolina Code title 62 chapter 5 (scstatehouse.gov); Code of Virginia 64.2-2000 (law.lis.virginia.gov); Revised Code of Washington 11.130.005, 11.130.010 (app.leg.wa.gov); West Virginia Code chapter 44A (code.wvlegislature.gov). All read November 12, 2026. Procedures vary by county; this is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.