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Conservatorship is a legal concept in the United States of America. A guardian or a protector is appointed by a judge to manage the financial affairs and/or daily life of another due to physical or mental limitations, or old age. The conservator may be only of the "estate" (financial affairs), but may be also of the "person," wherein he/she takes charge of overseeing the daily activities, such as health care or living arrangements of the conservatee. Conservatorship is established either by court order (with regard to individuals) or via a statutory or regulatory authority (with regard to organizations). When referring to government control of private corporations such as Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae, conservatorship implies a more temporary control than does nationalization. In other legal terms, a conservatorship may refer to the legal responsibilities over a person who is mentally ill, including individuals who are psychotic, suicidal, demented, incapacitated, or in some other way unable to make legal, medical or financial decisions on behalf of themselves. Conservatorship is a legal term referring to the legal responsibilities of a conservator over the affairs of a person who has been deemed gravely disabled by the court and unable to meet his or her basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter. There are two types of conservatorships: Lanterman Petris-Short (Lanterman Petris Short act of 1967, referred to as LPS) and Probate conservatorships. They are governed by the state's individual laws. In California, they are governed by the California Probate Code, and Welfare and Institutions Codes. Some states or jurisdictions refer to it as a guardianship, or even a trustee, instead of a conservator. Conservatorships are generally put in place for severely mentally ill individuals who are gravely disabled, elderly individuals with Dementia or Alzheimer's Disease who lack mental capacity, or individuals with developmental disabilities who may or may not lack mental capacity. Mental capacity has to be determined by a medical physician or a psychiatrist experienced in the field and is documented and provided to the court as evidence. A person under conservatorship is a "conservatee," a term which can refer to an adult. A person under guardianship is a "ward," a term which can refer to a minor child. ==Limited Conservatorship and LPS Conservatorship== A "limited conservatorship" usually refers to the limited legal responsibilities of a conservator over the affairs of an individual who is developmentally disabled, but still capable of making important decisions for himself or herself. In these cases, the conservatee to whom the limited conservatorship applies can retain more control over his or her personal affairs than other conservatees can; for example, he or she may retain his or her right to decide where he or she may live. LPS conservatorships begin with a temporary 30 day conservatorship, and if the conservatee remains gravely disabled, the conservator is reappointed for a year; the LPS conservatorship can be renewed annually, or terminated if no longer needed. Probate conservatorships are referred to as "general conservatorships", and typically do not have a temporary period unless an urgent emergency exists that is creating risk to the person or their estate. Probate conservatorship do not automatically expire as LPS conservatorships do if they are not renewed by the conservator. In an LPS conservatorship, a court appointed conservator over the person is responsible for managing the conservatee's placement, medical decisions, and mental health treatment. A conservator over the estate is responsible for marshalling, protecting, and managing the conservatee's assets that remain in their estate. A conservator reports to the court that appointed them, and is monitored by the supervising judicial court in the county in which the conservatee permanently resides. An example of a conservator's duties includes: locating and marshalling assets such as property and money which belongs to the conservatee; using the assets to buy food for the conservatee, secure and pay for placement in a facility which would take care of the conservatee or treat a mental illness, pay bills for the conservatee, manage property by paying for property insurance, mortgage payments or rent, property clean-up, or pay for a property management company to rent the property. An example of a conservator or guardian's medical responsibilities would be the court granting medical authority to the conservator or guardian, and the conservator or guardian authorizing a physician to place a feeding tube to provide nourishment into the protected person's stomach if they are in medical need of it. It is not uncommon for one person to hold both offices and be referred to as the "guardian and conservator" of the conservatee, even though a conservator or guardian can be appointed over the person only, the estate only, or both. Generally, a conservator or guardian over the estate is only appointed if the conservatee has assets that need to be protected, marshalled, and managed. These terms may be found in use in U.P.C. jurisdictions, even though the U.P.C. uses the term "protected person" in either case. In most states, an outside party or agency must review the facts of the case and submit a report, usually required to be in writing, to the court before the court makes a decision on the request to establish a conservatorship or guardianship. Usually the outside party is a local County Mental Health representative called an investigator. They are often required to be experts in some appropriate field, such as social work, mental health, a medical field, or law. Procedures for conservatorship of an adult are often different from those for minors. LPS conservatorships usually begin in the County Mental Health system and are referred from acute psychiatric hospitals, where Probate conservatorships can result from any referral source if validated with property medical documentation. Mental Health consumers have the right to a Patient's Rights advocate, and are taken through a series of hearings while they are in the acute hospital before they reach the point of needing a conservator. The court may appoint an attorney to represent the proposed conservatee or ward. If the proposed conservatee or ward is unable to have an attorney-client relationship because of some impairment, the court may appoint a guardian-ad-litem (who is often also an attorney). A guardian-ad-litem does not take instruction from the client, but rather acts on their behalf and tells the court what they think is in the best interests of the proposed conservatee or ward, whether or not that is what the proposed conservatee wants. The conservatee has the right to be represented by an attorney, and if they cannot afford a private attorney, they are appointed a public defender that will represent them free of cost. In California a Lanterman Petris Short Conservatorship implemented to serve persons who are considered gravely disabled (i.e. unable to provide for own food, shelter, and clothing). LPS conservatorships begin with the patient's psychiatrist sending a request to the court for a temporary conservatorship. The court sends an investigator to determine whether said individual is gravely disabled. If found gravely disabled then the individual is placed under a temporary conservatorship or T-con. The patient is entitled to a hearing which will take place before the 30 day T-con expires. The T-con is effective for 30 days and expires after 30 days if no subsequent hearing takes place. If the patient loses the hearing he or she can request a writ of habeas corpus. If a request is sent then a hearing must take place to determine if the individual is gravely disabled or not. If won the T-con is dropped. If the patient continues to be considered gravely disabled, an application is filed for a Permanent conservatorship, P-con. An investigator is dispatched to determine whether the patient fits the criteria. The public conservator prepares a report and delivers it to the council for the proposed conservatee. A hearing takes place to establish permanent conservatorship. If the hearing finds the patient to be gravely disabled, permanent conservatorship is established for one year. The conservatee can petition for a rehearing, writ of habeas corpus, and/or appeal to challenge the conservatorship. He or she must appeal within the first two months of establishment of conservatorship. In regards to a writ of habeas corpus and rehearing, they can take place whenever. The conservator can request a rehearing a year after establishment of P-con. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Conservatorship」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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