What is a conservatorship and can it be avoided?
Perhaps even more important than avoiding probate, a revocable living trust can avoid a conservatorship proceeding (sometimes called a living probate) in the event the trustmaker becomes incapacitated. Ordinarily, if a person becomes incompetent, a court must appoint a conservator to handle the persons assets on his or her behalf. The conservator must then account to the court every year or so, and the whole conservatorship process ends up being costly and time consuming and almost always worth avoiding. On the other hand, if the incompetent persons assets had been held in trust, the successor trustee could have stepped inwithout court actionand picked up administration of the trust where the trustmaker left off. Conservatorships can also be avoided by ways of powers of attorney.
