Probate Conservatorships in California l Estate Planning

News & Blog Jul 07, 2022 NOELLE MINTO, ESQ.

Hi. So today I’m going to give a brief overview of what a conservatorship is here in California. Conservatorships became a particularly hot button item in the news in 2021 because of Britney Spears and her efforts to terminate her own conservatorship. But what a conservatorship is still generally misunderstood.

Well in California, there are two types of conservatorships provided for under the Probate Code. One is a conservatorship of the person, the other is a conservatorship of the estate. So what’s the difference between the two? Well, a conservatorship of the person relates to the conservatee’s healthcare, wellbeing. The conservator of the person is responsible for ensuring that the conservatee has fresh clothing, a roof over their head, food, and medical care. Frequently, individuals that require a conservator of the person are unable to provide informed consent to medical procedures. And those types of decisions then become decisions for the conservator of the person.

Conversely, the second type of conservatorship is the conservatorship of the estate. Conservators of an individual’s estate are responsible for financial decisions. They will take care of the conserved person’s bank accounts. They will make their investment decisions. They will pay their bills. If the conserved person owns a business, the conservator of the estate will invariably take control of that business and operate that business. So those are the distinctions between the two types of conservatorships in California.

One of the questions I frequently receive are, well does it have to be the same person? And the answer to that is no. Invariably, when we petition the Court to appoint conservators, we will seek to appoint one individual as the conservator of the person and another individual as the conservator of the estate.

NOELLE MINTO, ESQ.

Ms. Minto has been a business and estates transactional attorney based in California since 2003. Her practice is now located in Tustin, CA but represents individuals and entities based throughout the United States and abroad. Phone: (949) 253-0000, Email: info@mintocounselors.com

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NM Law is an excellent law firm to work with! Noelle and her team are very thorough and knowledgeable. They explained the estate planning process to us and kept us informed every step of the way. We…

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I have worked with Noelle on my Estate Planning and was very impressed by the way she handled my business. Noelle was extremely professional and available for all my questions. I would highly recommend anyone looking for…

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I have worked with many attorneys, and there are very few that I would ever recommend. Noelle and her team have gone above and beyond to help all of our clients that we have referred to her….

Robert Sousa
I was first referred to Noelle Minto by my family law attorney Mike Monarch to provide oversight on my husband’s Trust conforming with our Post Marital Agreement. Her outstanding legal insights helped me to feel secure that…

Sharon McCubbin
Noelle and Samantha and their team are amazing. They are extremely knowledgeable and professional (they are the best). They have and continue to support me and my family while dealing with my parents Will and Trust. Samantha…

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The N.W Law team in Tustin Ca was instrumental in achieving a just result in our family trust dispute. We had the privilege of being represented by Samantha Smith and her staff, during one of my saddest…

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Noelle Minto
As an attorney who has used two other wills & trusts lawyers prior to seeing Noelle, I have a pretty good idea of what to expect and what it should cost. I recommend Noelle to anyone who…

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Highly recommend NM Law. I recently worked with Noelle and her team on my family trust and the process could not have gone smoother. Very knowledgeable and professional. I have since recommended all of my family members…

Nathan Perkins
A very professional approach and action to fulfill our personal requirements

Waldo ortega
My husband and I decided to update our 12 year old trust. We initally had a call with Noelle, and were instantly very comfortable with her approach. Noelle was great to work with, very patient, was willing…

Cheri Ondatje
Vey helpful with good insight to take the proper steps with difficult situations and have my questions answered. Noelle and her team are professional and courteous and great to work with!

Corine Cojocaru
Samantha and the team are professional compassionate and get the job done. She articulates very well what needs to be done. Her and the firm do Probate and Trust at its finest to protect their clients. She…

Silvana Sarkis
I was referred to NM Law after dealing with a myriad of problems in settling a complicated Trust in Riverside County. At the initial meeting, Noelle Minto and Samantha Smith listened to the mess I was in…

Aleathea Rayburn
Love this firm. I’ve worked on a wide range of legal issues with NM law, and the attorneys here are top notch, reasonably priced, and a pleasure to work with. They truly care about each of their…

Colette
Ms. Minto, I want to thank you and your staff for the courtesy extended to us during our family’s pending emergency deadline. Mr. O’Grady spoke to my brother and gave us his best recommendation regarding my father’s…

Abraham Torres

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N.M LAW, APC | Probate Attorneys

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Corine Cojocaru

14:37 21 Feb 23

Vey helpful with good insight to take the proper steps with difficult situations and have my questions answered. Noelle and her team are professional and courteous and great to work with!

Silvana Sarkis

13:23 08 Jul 22

Samantha and the team are professional compassionate and get the job done. She articulates very well what needs to be done. Her and the firm do Probate and Trust at its finest to protect their clients. She is a valuable asset for me to source out to my clients as a strategic referral partner. Protecting family asset is essential and I recommend Samantha and her team for all your probate and trust needs.

Aleathea Rayburn

23:42 06 Jul 22

I was referred to NM Law after dealing with a myriad of problems in settling a complicated Trust in Riverside County. At the initial meeting, Noelle Minto and Samantha Smith listened to the mess I was in and answered the questions I had. They provided me with information regarding my duties as a Trustee, made me aware of important dates that were upcoming, important dates already missed, and devised a plan to settle the Trust while protecting me, personally. When I left the first meeting, I felt that I was in good hands.John Schroeder was brought on to work on my case with Samantha and they updated/collaborated with Noelle. Noelle, Samantha and John are all patient, direct and very personable. Their knowledge and professionalism are exceptional. NM Law was successful in achieving a Settlement Agreement under difficult circumstances amongst people with little trust in one another. Thankfully we did not have to bear the cost of going to trial, however, I have complete confidence that NM Law would have prevailed if we had.I highly recommend NM Law. I look forward to working with them again, but this time to plan my estate.

Colette

18:31 29 Jun 22

Love this firm. I’ve worked on a wide range of legal issues with NM law, and the attorneys here are top notch, reasonably priced, and a pleasure to work with. They truly care about each of their clients and they made me feel confident each step of the way. Truly professional. They resolved a range of issues with me through strong legal counsel and I will continue to work with them for years to come.

Abraham Torres

22:19 10 Jun 22

Ms. Minto,I want to thank you and your staff for the courtesy extended to us during our family's pending emergency deadline.Mr. O'Grady spoke to my brother and gave us his best recommendation regarding my father's estate.It is really hard to speak, and even harder to "plan" generational wealth with a parent in terms of assets, intentions, and mortality, but it is a necessary conversation to have, if only to lessen the unfairness of life that eventually catches up to all of us.Our family tried to bring justice to my father's death within this probate process and found no justice, this system must be changed, so that a fairness is inherit within this system and not just a scam—lots of hard lessons to be learned from a broken probate process.In either case, thank you again for giving our family the attention and direction we sought. The adage is true, not all lawyers are the same. Looking forward to working with your office in the near future, as we don't want to repeat this experience with our Mom.Gracias,Abraham

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Monique S.

06:21 08 Mar 23

NM Law is an excellent law firm to work with! Noelle and her team are very thorough and knowledgeable. They explained the estate planning process to us and kept us informed every step of the way.We highly recommend NM Law for your estate planning needs.

Robert Sousa

22:15 21 Feb 23

I have worked with many attorneys, and there are very few that I would ever recommend. Noelle and her team have gone above and beyond to help all of our clients that we have referred to her. There is no one else that I would recommend for estate planning in the area.

Sharon McCubbin

03:58 28 Jan 23

I was first referred to Noelle Minto by my family law attorney Mike Monarch to provide oversight on my husband’s Trust conforming with our Post Marital Agreement. Her outstanding legal insights helped me to feel secure that both documents were in alignment. These interactions caused me to hire Noelle Minto to create a restatement of my own trust (1999) to be more relevant and reflect my current financial portfolio. Her professional guidance was outstanding. Noelle was always available, friendly, insightful, and mindful of my needs. I would even say highly intuitive. She certainly expanded my knowledge of wealth distribution. I also valued the Law firm’s entire team. Edward was delightful to work with as well. I highly recommend Noelle Minto and her knowledgeable legal team for their exceptional legal services on Family and individual Trusts. I will be making referrals to my friends in the future.

Greg Bishop

04:11 21 Nov 22

Noelle and Samantha and their team are amazing. They are extremely knowledgeable and professional (they are the best). They have and continue to support me and my family while dealing with my parents Will and Trust. Samantha is very patience with all my questions.I highly recommend NM Law.

Stefan Lang

18:08 21 Jun 22

My wife and I went to Noelle to update our 36 year old family trust. Since our trust was so old she rewrote our trust and wills in their entirety. We have a large family with kids, daughters-in-laws, and 13 grandkids. So it was a complex task. She spent plenty of time with us making sure every detail was exactly the way we wanted, and had some good ideas that we liked. And her assistant, Tatiana, was very helpful. Noelle did an excellent job and we are very pleased and confident that we now have everything in proper order.

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