Parents of adults with serious mental illness ask this at the end of a long road: their son or daughter cannot keep housing or food or safety, refuses treatment, and cycles through holds. The answer is that the road to an LPS conservatorship does not start at the courthouse door, and it does not start with you.
The short answer: no — not directly. A Lanterman-Petris-Short conservatorship is recommended by a clinician and filed by the county. "When the professional person in charge of an agency providing comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing intensive treatment determines that a person in his or her care is gravely disabled as a result of mental disorder or impairment by chronic alcoholism and is unwilling to accept, or incapable of accepting, treatment voluntarily, he or she may recommend conservatorship to the officer providing conservatorship investigation …"¹ That officer "shall investigate all available alternatives to conservatorship, including, but not limited to, assisted outpatient treatment pursuant to Section 5346 and the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act program pursuant to Section 5978, as applicable, and shall recommend conservatorship to the court only if no suitable alternatives are available."² "If the officer providing conservatorship investigation concurs with the recommendation, he or she shall petition the superior court in the county of residence of the patient to establish conservatorship."¹ The test is grave disability: a condition in which a person, "as a result of a mental health disorder, a severe substance use disorder, or a co-occurring mental health disorder and a severe substance use disorder, is unable to provide for their basic personal needs for food, clothing, shelter, personal safety, or necessary medical care."³ And a person "is not 'gravely disabled' if that person can survive safely without involuntary detention with the help of responsible family, friends, or others who are both willing and able to help provide for the person's basic personal needs" — but "unless they specifically indicate in writing their willingness and ability to help, family, friends, or others shall not be considered willing or able to provide this help."⁴ What a family can do is put the facts in front of the treating professional and the county investigator, and decide, in writing, whether to offer that help.
Who starts it
Two doors, both clinical.
- From inside a facility. The professional in charge of "an agency providing comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing intensive treatment" — the psychiatric unit where the person is on a hold or certification — "may recommend conservatorship to the officer providing conservatorship investigation …"¹ What happens after the 72 hours →
- Without an admission. The same professional, "or the professional person in charge of providing mental health treatment at a county jail," may recommend conservatorship "without the person being an inpatient" if a professional "has examined and evaluated the person and determined that he or she is gravely disabled" and "has determined that future examination on an inpatient basis is not necessary …"¹ Section 5352 still carries the older phrase "mental disorder or impairment by chronic alcoholism"; the operative definition of "gravely disabled" is section 5008(h), which Senate Bill 43 widened to severe substance use disorders.³
The county's conservatorship investigator then does two things: investigates alternatives — the statute now names assisted outpatient treatment and CARE Court — and, if it concurs, files the petition.¹ ² A family member is not on either list. Two things a family can do on its own initiative are different proceedings: any individual may apply to the county for a court-ordered evaluation of a person believed to be gravely disabled, which can lead to a conservatorship investigation;¹⁰ and a relative may petition for a probate conservatorship, which is a separate process without the LPS involuntary-treatment powers.¹¹ Laura's Law: assisted outpatient treatment → · CARE Court and conservatorship →
The test: grave disability
Since Senate Bill 43, "gravely disabled" means "a condition in which a person, as a result of a mental health disorder, a severe substance use disorder, or a co-occurring mental health disorder and a severe substance use disorder, is unable to provide for their basic personal needs for food, clothing, shelter, personal safety, or necessary medical care."³ Two of those words are defined: "personal safety" is "the ability of one to survive safely in the community without involuntary detention or treatment," and "necessary medical care" is "care that a licensed health care practitioner … determines to be necessary to prevent serious deterioration of an existing physical medical condition that, if left untreated, is likely to result in serious bodily injury."³ A "severe substance use disorder" is one meeting the DSM's "severe" criteria.³ Counties could defer the expansion only until 1 January 2026; that window has closed.³ Intellectual disability alone does not qualify.³
The family-help rule
Section 5350(e) is the provision written for you. A person "is not 'gravely disabled' if that person can survive safely without involuntary detention with the help of responsible family, friends, or others who are both willing and able to help provide for the person's basic personal needs."⁴ The consequence is a choice families should make with open eyes: an offer of help, made in writing, can defeat the conservatorship if the court finds the person can survive safely with it. Silence has the opposite effect, by design: "unless they specifically indicate in writing their willingness and ability to help, family, friends, or others shall not be considered willing or able to provide this help," and the Legislature explained that this is "to avoid the necessity for, and the harmful effects of, requiring family, friends, and others to publicly state, and requiring the court to publicly find, that no one is willing or able to assist a person with a grave disability."⁴ You are not required to say in court that you cannot help; you are required to say in writing if you can.
The proceeding
- Temporary conservatorship. The court "may establish a temporary conservatorship for a period not to exceed 30 days" on the investigator's report or the recommending professional's affidavit, which must attest that alternatives "have been considered … and that appointment of a temporary conservator is recommended because no suitable alternatives to conservatorship are available."⁵ It "shall expire automatically after 30 days" unless the court has held the hearing on grave disability, and may be extended up to 180 days if the person demands a trial.⁵
- The right to a trial. "The person for whom conservatorship is sought shall have the right to demand a court or jury trial on the issue of whether the person is gravely disabled," which "shall commence within 10 days of the date of the demand," except that the court must continue the trial for up to 15 days if the proposed conservatee's counsel asks; "failure to commence the trial within that period of time is grounds for dismissal."⁴ The demand itself "shall be made within five days following the hearing on the conservatorship petition."⁴ The right applies again at every reestablishment.⁴ The statute does not state the standard of proof; that comes from case law.
- Who is appointed. Appointment "shall be subject to the list of priorities in Section 1812 of the Probate Code unless the officer providing conservatorship investigation recommends otherwise to the superior court."⁴ That list, among persons equally qualified, prefers the conservatee's own stated preference, then (where a successor is being chosen) the prior conservator's preference, then a spouse or domestic partner, then an adult child, then a parent, then a sibling, then anyone else eligible.⁶ A parent can be the conservator; a parent cannot make themselves one.
- Placement and powers. The conservator "shall place his or her conservatee … in the least restrictive alternative placement, as designated by the court," and "if the conservatee is not to be placed in his or her own home or the home of a relative, first priority shall be to placement in a suitable facility as close as possible to his or her home or the home of a relative."⁷ The conservator may, "if specified in the court order," require treatment "related specifically to remedying or preventing the recurrence of the conservatee's being gravely disabled," and routine medical treatment; surgery needs consent or a separate court order except in an emergency.⁷ Locked dementia care under a conservatorship →
- One year, then again. A conservatorship "shall automatically terminate one year after the appointment of the conservator"; the conservator "may petition the superior court for reappointment as conservator for a succeeding one-year period."⁸ The conservatee "may petition the superior court for a rehearing as to their status as a conservatee" at any time, then not more than every six months.⁹
What to do
- Put the history in writing for the treating team and the county investigator: the hospitalizations, the times food, shelter or medical care failed, the dangers. Investigators and courts look at history as well as the present. Family notification during a hold →
- Decide about the family-help rule before anyone asks. If you can and will provide for basic needs and are prepared to say so in writing, the person may not be gravely disabled;⁴ if you cannot, do not write it.
- Ask about the alternatives by name. The investigator must consider assisted outpatient treatment and CARE Court;² if those have already failed, say so with dates.
- Say whether you want to serve. The Probate Code list gives parents a place, after a spouse or adult child;⁶ tell the investigator.
- If you are the person named: you have the right to demand a court or jury trial; the demand must be made within five days after the hearing on the petition, and the trial must begin within 10 days of the demand.⁴ Can I vote under a conservatorship? →
Worked example
A mother's 26-year-old son with schizophrenia has been on four holds in a year, has lost two apartments, and was found last month without food and with an untreated infected wound. On the fourth hold the psychiatrist in charge of the unit determines he is gravely disabled — unable to provide for shelter and necessary medical care — and unwilling to accept treatment, and recommends conservatorship to the county investigator.¹ ³ The investigator reviews the mother's written history, considers assisted outpatient treatment and CARE Court and finds both have been tried,² and files the petition; a temporary conservatorship is granted for 30 days.¹ ⁵ The mother, who cannot house him safely, does not sign a statement that she can, so the family-help rule does not defeat the petition.⁴ Her son demands a jury trial; it must begin within 10 days.⁴ If a conservatorship is established, she may be appointed as conservator under the Probate Code priorities,⁶ must place him in the least restrictive setting the court designates,⁷ and must return to court in a year.⁸
Q&A
Q: Can I hire a lawyer and file the petition myself? A: The petition is filed by "the officer providing conservatorship investigation."¹ A lawyer can help you present the case to the treating professional and the investigator; the filing is theirs.
Q: Does refusing medication make my child gravely disabled? A: Not by itself. The test is inability "to provide for their basic personal needs for food, clothing, shelter, personal safety, or necessary medical care" as a result of a mental health disorder or severe substance use disorder.³
Q: My daughter has a severe alcohol use disorder but no other diagnosis. Does the definition reach her? A: Since Senate Bill 43, "a severe substance use disorder" alone can ground grave disability. Counties could defer that change only until 1 January 2026, so it now applies statewide.³
Q: What is the standard of proof at trial? A: The statute gives the right to a court or jury trial but does not state the standard;⁴ California case law supplies it. Ask the public defender assigned.
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Sources
Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §5352 — "When the professional person in charge of an agency providing comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing intensive treatment determines that a person in his or her care is gravely disabled as a result of mental disorder or impairment by chronic alcoholism and is unwilling to accept, or incapable of accepting, treatment voluntarily, he or she may recommend conservatorship to the officer providing conservatorship investigation of the county of residence of the person prior to his or her admission as a patient in such facility"; the recommendation "without the person being an inpatient in a facility providing comprehensive evaluation or intensive treatment, if both of the following conditions are met: (a) the professional person or another professional person designated by him or her has examined and evaluated the person and determined that he or she is gravely disabled; (b) … has determined that future examination on an inpatient basis is not necessary for a determination that the person is gravely disabled"; "If the officer providing conservatorship investigation concurs with the recommendation, he or she shall petition the superior court in the county of residence of the patient to establish conservatorship" (amended by SB 931, Stats. 2018, Ch. 458) — law.justia.com (2025 California Code), california.public.law.
Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §5354(a) — "The officer providing conservatorship investigation shall investigate all available alternatives to conservatorship, including, but not limited to, assisted outpatient treatment pursuant to Section 5346 and the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act program pursuant to Section 5978, as applicable, and shall recommend conservatorship to the court only if no suitable alternatives are available" — california.public.law.
Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §5008 — (h)(1)(A) "A condition in which a person, as a result of a mental health disorder, a severe substance use disorder, or a co-occurring mental health disorder and a severe substance use disorder, is unable to provide for their basic personal needs for food, clothing, shelter, personal safety, or necessary medical care"; (h)(3) "The term 'gravely disabled' does not include persons with intellectual disabilities by reason of that disability alone"; (h)(4) "A county, by adoption of a resolution of its governing body, may elect to defer implementation of the changes made to this section by Senate Bill 43 of the 2023–24 Regular Session of the Legislature until January 1, 2026"; (o) "'Severe substance use disorder' means a diagnosed substance-related disorder that meets the diagnostic criteria of 'severe' as defined in the most current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders"; (p) "'Personal safety' means the ability of one to survive safely in the community without involuntary detention or treatment pursuant to this part"; (q) "'Necessary medical care' means care that a licensed health care practitioner, while operating within the scope of their practice, determines to be necessary to prevent serious deterioration of an existing physical medical condition that, if left untreated, is likely to result in serious bodily injury as defined in Section 15610.67" — california.public.law.
Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §5350 — (b)(1) "Appointment of a conservator under this part … shall be subject to the list of priorities in Section 1812 of the Probate Code unless the officer providing conservatorship investigation recommends otherwise to the superior court"; (d)(1) "The person for whom conservatorship is sought shall have the right to demand a court or jury trial on the issue of whether the person is gravely disabled"; (d)(2) "The court or jury trial shall commence within 10 days of the date of the demand, except that the court shall continue the trial date for a period not to exceed 15 days upon the request of counsel for the proposed conservatee. Failure to commence the trial within that period of time is grounds for dismissal of the conservatorship proceedings"; (d)(1) also: "Demand for court or jury trial shall be made within five days following the hearing on the conservatorship petition"; (d)(3) "This right shall also apply in subsequent proceedings to reestablish conservatorship"; (e)(1) "Notwithstanding subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (h) of Section 5008, a person is not 'gravely disabled' if that person can survive safely without involuntary detention with the help of responsible family, friends, or others who are both willing and able to help provide for the person's basic personal needs"; (e)(2) "However, unless they specifically indicate in writing their willingness and ability to help, family, friends, or others shall not be considered willing or able to provide this help"; (e)(3) "The purpose of this subdivision is to avoid the necessity for, and the harmful effects of, requiring family, friends, and others to publicly state, and requiring the court to publicly find, that no one is willing or able to assist a person with a grave disability" — california.public.law.
Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §5352.1 — "The court may establish a temporary conservatorship for a period not to exceed 30 days and appoint a temporary conservator, on the basis of the comprehensive report of the officer providing conservatorship investigation filed pursuant to Section 5354, or on the basis of an affidavit of the professional person who recommended conservatorship"; the affidavit "shall include an attestation by the professional person that all available alternatives to conservatorship, including, but not limited to, assisted outpatient treatment pursuant to Section 5346 and the CARE Act proceedings pursuant to Section 5978, as applicable, have been considered … and that appointment of a temporary conservator is recommended because no suitable alternatives to conservatorship are available"; "a temporary conservatorship shall expire automatically after 30 days, unless prior to that date the court conducts a hearing on the issue of whether or not the proposed conservatee is gravely disabled"; "If the proposed conservatee demands a court or jury trial …, the court may extend the temporary conservatorship until the date of the disposition of the issue by the court or jury trial, provided that the extension does not exceed 180 days" — california.public.law.
Cal. Probate Code §1812 — (a) selection "is solely in the discretion of the court and, in making the selection, the court is to be guided by what appears to be for the best interests of the proposed conservatee"; (b) "of persons equally qualified in the opinion of the court to appointment as conservator of the person or estate or both, preference is to be given in the following order: (1) The conservatee or proposed conservatee's stated preference … (2) The prior conservator's preference, if known, if the selection of a successor conservator is being made … (3) The spouse or domestic partner of the proposed conservatee … (4) An adult child of the proposed conservatee … (5) A parent of the proposed conservatee … (6) A sibling of the proposed conservatee … (7) Any other person or entity eligible for appointment as a conservator under this code or, if there is no person or entity willing to act as a conservator, under the Welfare and Institutions Code" — california.public.law.
Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §5358 — (a)(1)(A) placement "in the least restrictive alternative placement, as designated by the court"; (a)(2) the types of placement; (b) "A conservator shall also have the right, if specified in the court order, to require his or her conservatee to receive treatment related specifically to remedying or preventing the recurrence of the conservatee's being gravely disabled, or to require his or her conservatee to receive routine medical treatment unrelated to remedying or preventing the recurrence of the conservatee's being gravely disabled. Except in emergency cases in which the conservatee faces loss of life or serious bodily injury, no surgery shall be performed upon the conservatee without the conservatee's prior consent or a court order obtained pursuant to Section 5358.2 specifically authorizing that surgery"; (c)(1) "if the conservatee is not to be placed in his or her own home or the home of a relative, first priority shall be to placement in a suitable facility as close as possible to his or her home or the home of a relative" — california.public.law.
Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §5361 — (a) "Conservatorship initiated pursuant to this chapter shall automatically terminate one year after the appointment of the conservator by the superior court"; (b) "If, upon the termination of an initial or a succeeding period of conservatorship, the conservator determines that conservatorship is still required, the conservator may petition the superior court for reappointment as conservator for a succeeding one-year period" — california.public.law.
Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §5364(a) — "At any time, the conservatee may petition the superior court for a rehearing as to their status as a conservatee. However, after the filing of the first petition for rehearing pursuant to this section, no further petition for rehearing shall be submitted for a period of six months" — california.public.law.
Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §5201 — "Any individual may apply to the person or agency designated by the county for a petition alleging that there is in the county a person who is, as a result of mental disorder a danger to others, or to himself, or is gravely disabled, and requesting that an evaluation of the person's condition be made"; and §5354(b), under which such an evaluation may lead to a conservatorship investigation — california.public.law, california.public.law.
Cal. Probate Code §1820(a) — a petition for appointment of a probate conservator may be filed by, among others, "A relative of the proposed conservatee" — california.public.law. Welfare & Institutions Code §5350(c) refers to a probate conservatorship of the person that may exist "concurrent with and superior" to the LPS one.
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