For most of your child’s life, you have made the decisions. You signed the school forms, spoke with the doctors, and managed the benefits. Then your child turns 18, and in the eyes of the law, everything changes overnight — even when nothing has changed about who your child is or how much support they need.
On the morning of the 18th birthday, California law presumes that your son or daughter is a legal adult, fully able to make their own decisions, regardless of disability. The hospital may stop talking to you. The school may look to your child, not you, to sign the plan. If your child has a significant intellectual or developmental disability, a limited conservatorship is one legal tool that can let you keep helping. But it is not the only tool, it is not automatic, and it is not the right fit for every family.
This guide walks through what a limited conservatorship actually is, the less-restrictive alternatives California courts require families to consider first, when to start, what the process costs, and where to get free help.
Plain-language note: This article is legal information, not legal advice about your family’s specific situation. Laws change and every case is different. For advice, talk with a probate attorney or a free resource like Disability Rights California or your Regional Center.
First, a key distinction: guardianship is for children, conservatorship is for adults
Guardianship
FOR MINORS — UNDER 18A court gives an adult legal responsibility for a child whose parents cannot care for them. It ends automatically when the child turns 18.
Conservatorship
FOR ADULTS — 18 AND OLDERA court appoints someone to help an adult who cannot fully manage their own health, personal care, or finances. This is the tool for a child who is aging into adulthood.
These two words are often used interchangeably, but in California they are not the same thing. A guardianship is for a minor — someone under 18. A conservatorship is for an adult — someone 18 or older who cannot fully care for themselves or their finances. Both are handled through the Probate Court, but they are separate processes.
This is why timing matters so much. While your child is a minor, you already have legal authority as their parent. That authority ends automatically at 18. A conservatorship cannot legally take effect until your child’s 18th birthday — but the paperwork, court review, and Regional Center assessment take months, so the planning has to start well before then.
What is a limited conservatorship?
A conservatorship is a court process in which a judge decides whether an adult can care for their own health, food, clothing, shelter, finances, and personal needs — and, if not, appoints another person (the conservator) to make certain decisions for them. The person receiving help is the conservatee.
California has several kinds of conservatorship. A limited conservatorship is a specific type designed for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The word “limited” is the important part: the law’s stated goal is for the person to be as independent and self-reliant as possible. A judge only grants the specific powers your family can show are actually needed, and your child keeps every right the judge does not specifically hand to the conservator.
This is very different from the full or “general” conservatorships often seen in the news, which are used for adults who cannot care for themselves at all. A limited conservatorship starts from the assumption that your child can do many things, and asks the court to fill in only the gaps.
The seven powers a judge can grant
Under California Probate Code section 2351.5, a limited conservator can be given up to seven specific powers. A judge grants only the ones your family requests and can justify. Your child keeps decision-making in every area the court does not assign. The seven possible powers are the right to:
Up to seven specific powers
Probate Code § 2351.5 — a judge grants only the ones your family can show are needed.
A thoughtful petition asks for only what the person genuinely needs. Requesting all seven powers “just in case” runs against the whole purpose of a limited conservatorship, and a court investigator and Regional Center will review whether each requested power is warranted.
What your child keeps — and what a conservator can never do
Even under a limited conservatorship, your child retains important rights unless a judge specifically removes them. These include the right to control their own wages or salary, to make or change a will, to receive personal mail, to be represented by an attorney, and — unless a judge specifically orders otherwise — the right to vote and the right to marry.
A limited conservator can never:
- Take the conservatee’s wages or salary from a job
- Consent to harmful or experimental medical treatment
- Force medication over the person’s objection
- Have the person sterilized
- Commit the person to a mental health institution
- Consent to electro-convulsive (shock) therapy or to psychosurgery
- Exercise any power the court did not specifically order
The conservator also carries an ongoing duty to help the conservatee make their own decisions wherever possible, to keep them informed, and to support their growing independence over time.
A limited conservator can never
- Take the person’s wages or salary
- Consent to harmful medical treatment
- Force medication over their objection
- Have the person sterilized
- Commit the person to an institution
- Approve shock therapy or psychosurgery
- Use any power the court did not order
Consider the less-restrictive alternatives first — the law requires it
A conservatorship removes rights. That is a serious step, and for many young adults with disabilities it is more than their situation actually calls for. The tools below can often provide the help a family needs — sometimes making a conservatorship unnecessary, and sometimes covering the gap while a family decides. Many families use a combination of them.
Supported Decision-Making
Your child stays the legal decision-maker and picks trusted people to help them understand choices.
Power of Attorney
Give a trusted person authority for health, finances, or both. Can be limited and ended anytime.
Advance Directive & HIPAA
Name who helps with medical decisions and let doctors legally share information with you.
Special Needs Trust
A trustee manages money without risking SSI or Medi-Cal eligibility.
Representative Payee
A person Social Security approves to receive and manage SSI or benefit checks.
Supports in the IPP / IEP
Build decision-making help into the Regional Center plan or school IEP.
Supported Decision-Making (SDM)
Supported Decision-Making is how most adults already make choices: they talk things over with trusted friends, family, and professionals, and then decide for themselves. With SDM, your child stays the legal decision-maker and chooses supporters to help them understand options in specific areas — money, health, housing, work. It can be informal, or written into a formal SDM agreement. Importantly, having an SDM agreement does not take away your child’s right to act independently, and it cannot be used as evidence that they are unable to make their own decisions.
Powers of attorney
A durable power of attorney lets your child give a trusted person legal authority to help with decisions — you can set one up for health care, for finances, or for both. A financial power of attorney must be notarized. Your child can limit it to certain decisions and can end it at any time.
Advance Health Care Directive and HIPAA authorization
An Advance Health Care Directive lets your child name who should help with medical decisions and state their wishes; it needs either two witnesses or a notary. A signed HIPAA release lets doctors share medical information with you, which solves one of the most common frustrations parents hit the day their child turns 18.
Special Needs Trust and representative payee
A Special Needs Trust lets a trustee manage money for your child without jeopardizing means-tested benefits like SSI and Medi-Cal. For Social Security or SSI checks, your child can have a representative payee — a person Social Security approves to receive and manage those benefits. Neither requires going to court.
Written supports through the IPP or IEP
Many decision-making supports can be built into your child’s Regional Center Individual Program Plan (IPP) or their school Individualized Education Program (IEP), including help with money, housing choices, relationships, and self-advocacy training. Your child can also assign educational decision-making authority to someone they trust without a conservatorship.
When should parents start? Before the 18th birthday
A working timeline
~6 months before 18
Talk with your Regional Center coordinator and weigh whether a conservatorship or an alternative fits.
~4 months before 18
If pursuing it, file the petition, notify required people, and begin the investigation and Regional Center assessment.
The 18th birthday
The earliest a conservatorship can legally take effect — not before.
At / shortly after 18
Court hearing; if granted, the conservator receives Letters of Conservatorship.
Here is the timing that surprises most families: a conservatorship cannot legally begin until your child turns 18, but the process to get one takes months. So the planning starts earlier.
A common recommendation is to begin roughly four to six months before the 18th birthday. That leaves time to file the petition, notify everyone the law requires, complete the court investigation and the Regional Center assessment, and get a hearing date — so that if a conservatorship is granted, it can be in place at or shortly after your child turns 18. This timing is a practical guideline, not a legal deadline; the exact lead time varies by county and by how busy the court is.
A good first step: Well before the 18th birthday, talk with your Regional Center service coordinator. They know your child, they play a formal role in the court process, and they can help your family honestly weigh whether a conservatorship or a less-restrictive alternative is the better fit.
How the process works: five steps
The California Courts describe establishing a limited conservatorship as five major steps:
- Gather what you need. Collect the required information and documents about your child, their disability, and their needs.
- File the forms. The proposed conservator files a petition with the Probate Court and pays the fee (or applies for a fee waiver).
- Notify the required people. Your child must personally receive a copy of the petition at least 15 days before the hearing, and copies go to certain relatives and to the Regional Center.
- Investigation and Regional Center assessment. A court investigator meets with your child to explain the case and learn their wishes. With your child’s consent, the Regional Center assesses them and sends the court a report on their disability, needs, and which powers are appropriate. That report must reach your child and their attorney at least 5 days before the hearing.
- Court hearing. Your child has the right to attend, to have an attorney (the court will appoint one if needed), to object, and even to request a jury trial. The judge decides whether a conservatorship is needed and, if so, which of the seven powers to grant.
If a conservatorship is granted, the conservator receives Letters of Conservatorship — the official document that proves their authority to schools, doctors, and agencies. A court investigator also checks in periodically (generally each year) to ask whether the conservatorship is still needed and whether your child wants to change or end it.
What it costs — and help with fees
$435+
Court filing costs to start (plus a county investigation fee)
Fee waiver
May cover filing & investigation costs if your child cannot afford them
Varies
Attorney fees are separate and depend on county and complexity
Court costs to start a limited conservatorship begin at $435, plus a separate fee for the court investigation that is set by your county. If your child cannot afford the fees, you can apply for a fee waiver; the court looks at your child’s income and ability to pay, and a waiver can cover the filing fee and investigation costs.
Many families also hire a probate attorney. Attorney fees are separate from court costs and vary widely depending on the county and whether the case is contested; law firms commonly cite several thousand dollars for a straightforward, uncontested case, though this is an estimate rather than a fixed rate. Some families qualify for free or low-cost legal help, and Disability Rights California and the Office of Clients’ Rights Advocacy can point you to resources.
How to decide what your family actually needs
There is no single right answer. The honest question is not “should we get a conservatorship?” but “what specific decisions will my child need help with, and what is the least-restrictive way to provide that help?” A few questions worth talking through with people you trust:
- Which decisions does my child make well on their own, and which ones create real risk?
- Could a power of attorney, HIPAA release, SDM agreement, or representative payee cover the gap?
- If we ask for a conservatorship, which of the seven powers do we truly need — and which can we leave with our child?
- What does my child want, and how do we keep their voice at the center of this?
Where to get free help
You do not have to figure this out alone. These organizations help California families for free:
- Your Regional Center — your service coordinator can explain options and plays a formal role in the court process.
- Disability Rights California — 1-800-776-5746 (TTY 1-800-719-5798). Information on your rights and on alternatives to conservatorship.
- Office of Clients’ Rights Advocacy (OCRA) — Northern CA: 1-800-390-7032; Southern CA: 1-866-833-6712.
- California Courts Self-Help Guide — selfhelp.courts.ca.gov, for step-by-step instructions and the required forms.
A limited conservatorship can be the right tool when a young adult needs real, ongoing decision-making support — but it removes rights, so California law asks families to reach for the least-restrictive option that works. Start the conversation early, involve your Regional Center, keep your child at the center of it, and choose the approach that protects your child while honoring who they are.
