Conservator of an Incapacitated Person

Minnesota Conservatorship Law

There is no legal distinction in Minnesota law between a conservator of a minor and a conservator of an incapacitated person. Minnesota law does not talk about incapacitated persons in conservatorship the same way as it does in guardianship, but there is similarity.

There are some practical differences. Incapacity purely because of age ends when the minor turns eighteen or is otherwise emancipated by the court. The conservatorship then ends, because the law assumes that the newly-adult individual suddenly is capable of managing his or her own affairs. Incapacitated status based on any other legal reason, on the other hand, only changes when the protected person or any other interested person can show (or rather his or her attorney can show) that the protected person is no longer in fact suffering from the condition or state of being that caused the incapacity.

If you have questions or are ready to hire an attorney, please contact me, a Minnesota conservatorship lawyer.

The conservatorship statutes in Minnesota provide the following two-part test for persons in need of conservators:

An individual who is unable to manage property and business affairs because of an impairment in the ability to receive and evaluate information or make decisions, even with the use of appropriate technological assistance, or because the individual is missing, detained, or unable to return to the United States; and who has property that will be wasted or dissipated unless management is provided or money is needed for the support, care, education, health, and welfare of the individual or of individuals who are entitled to the individual's support and that protection is necessary or desirable to obtain or provide money.

If a person is able neither to manage and make decisions about personal care nor about financial well-being, then both a conservator and a guardian, or a single joint guardian-conservator, might be required.