At present, there are approximately 50 million people over age 65 in America and that number will climb for the next several decades.
Modern medicine and lifestyle choices, such as exercise and eating anti-aging foods, can help stave off the ravages of age. Unfortunately, some people will succumb to some kind of mental incapacity.
Those with mental incapacitation need a person to manage their finances, benefits, and even medical decisions. Making those decisions requires that you possess some legal authority to do so.
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A power of attorney or conservatorship can grant you that authority. While power of attorney is a fairly common situation, many people may ask: “What is a conservator?”
Keep reading and we’ll explain conservatorship and how to pick between it and a power of attorney.
Power of Attorney
A power of attorney is essentially a legal document that a person gives you that lets you make decisions for them. No one can give you a power of attorney if they aren’t of sound mind.
A power of attorney typically falls into one of three categories:
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- General
- Limited
- Health
A general power of attorney gives you broad decision-making powers, such as selling property or moving money around in their accounts. A limited power of attorney typically lets you carry out a specific activity, like selling a vehicle. A health power of attorney lets you make medical decisions.
Most power of attorney documents lose power when someone becomes mentally incapacitated. Granting someone decision making power after mental incapacitation requires a special power of attorney called a durable power of attorney.
What Is a Conservator?
A conservator is someone that the court appoints to make decisions for someone who is mentally incapacitated. It requires a petition to the court in order to become a conservator.
You can only petition after a doctor or doctors declare someone mentally incapacitated. In most cases, you’ll want a conservatorship attorney to help you with the paperwork and court hearing.
As with the power of attorney, a conservatorship can fall into either the general or limited category. A general conservatorship grants you broad decision-making power of a person’s affairs. A limited conservatorship, typically financial, gives you final say over a small area of a person’s affairs.
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Power of Attorney vs Conservatorship
There is no choice between a power of attorney and conservatorship in most cases. A power of attorney requires someone of sound mind give it to you. A conservatorship can only happen after mental incapacitation of some kind.
A possible exception might happen if someone in the early stages of dementia gave power of attorney to someone before getting declared mentally incapacitated.
Parting Thoughts
The answer to the question, what is a conservator, is a sad one. It’s a person forced into the position of petitioning a court for control over someone else’s affairs.
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Securing a power of attorney ahead of time, if possible, is probably the preferable choice for most people.
Of course, you must contend with your partner’s parents for a long time before the question of conservatorships or power of attorney become relevant. Check out our post on dealing with your partner’s parents for some key tips.