Guardianship vs Conservatorship Maine: Which One You Need

The Core Distinction

Maine draws a sharp legal line between guardianship and conservatorship under Title 18-C, Article 5 of the Probate Code. They are separate appointments, granted separately, covering different domains of the parent's life.

Guardianship gives authority over the parent's person — their physical health, safety, housing, and medical decisions. A guardian decides where the parent lives, consents to medical treatment, and manages day-to-day personal care.

Conservatorship gives authority over the parent's estate — their bank accounts, investments, real property, income, and financial obligations. A conservator pays bills, manages investments, files taxes, and applies for benefits like MaineCare.

In some states, "conservatorship" covers both domains. Not in Maine. Here, getting authority over a parent's medical care does not give you access to their bank account, and vice versa.

When You Need Both

Most families caring for an aging parent with advanced cognitive decline need both appointments. The parent can't make medical decisions (guardianship territory) and also can't manage their finances (conservatorship territory). Filing separately for each costs $90 + $10 surcharge per petition — $200 total.

Maine offers a more efficient option: the Joined Petition (Form PP-205) for $115 + $10 surcharge, which requests both appointments in a single filing. This saves $75 in filing fees and consolidates the court process into one hearing with one visitor investigation.

When You Might Need Only One

A guardianship-only petition makes sense when the parent's finances are already handled — maybe a spouse manages all accounts, or the parent's only income is Social Security (which requires a separate Representative Payee appointment through the SSA regardless). The family needs medical decision-making authority, not financial control.

A conservatorship-only petition applies when the parent's healthcare decisions are covered — perhaps they executed an advance health care directive naming a healthcare agent before losing capacity — but they never signed a financial power of attorney. The family can make medical decisions but can't access the parent's bank account to pay for care.

How the Court Decides

The probate judge evaluates each domain independently, even in a joined petition. The PP-505 physician's report must specifically address which functional areas are impaired — a doctor who writes "the patient has dementia" without explaining how that impairment affects financial decision-making versus personal care decisions gives the judge nothing to work with.

Maine law requires the court to grant the least restrictive form of authority necessary. This means:

• Limited guardianship — The court may grant authority over medical decisions but leave the parent in control of housing choices.
• Limited conservatorship — The court may authorize the conservator to manage bank accounts but leave the parent in control of personal property.
• Full guardianship/conservatorship — Granted when the court finds that limited authority would not meet the parent's identified needs.

The petitioner must also explain why Supported Decision-Making (SDM) — where the parent retains decision-making authority with structured help — wouldn't suffice. The court takes this requirement seriously.

The Bond Difference

Guardianship typically doesn't require a surety bond because the guardian isn't handling money. Conservatorship typically does. The court typically requires the conservator to post a bond protecting the estate's liquid assets, with annual premiums running 0.5%–1.0% of the estate value.

For a parent with $100,000 in savings, that's $500–$1,000 per year in bond premiums alone — an ongoing cost of conservatorship that guardianship doesn't trigger.

Ongoing Reporting

Both appointments carry annual reporting obligations:

• Guardian: Interim and Annual Report (Form PP-209) documenting the parent's condition, living situation, and care plan.
• Conservator: Asset inventory (Form PP-406) within 90 days of appointment, then annual financial accounts (Form PP-407) and conservator's report (Form PP-412) documenting every transaction.

Missing these filings can result in the court modifying or terminating the appointment — so the administrative burden of holding both roles is significant.

The Maine Power of Attorney & Guardianship Kit breaks down both the guardianship and conservatorship tracks, including which forms to file, what the court visitor evaluates, and the ongoing reporting calendar.

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