Conservator Duties and Powers in Idaho

Part of my Idaho Guardianship & Conservatorship Overview.

By Ronald W. Brilliant, Attorney at Law · Licensed in Idaho, Nevada & California · Last reviewed: September 2026 against the Idaho Code as posted by the Idaho Legislature (July 1, 2026)

In This TopicIdaho Guardianship & ConservatorshipTopic 5 of 8: Conservator Duties

An Idaho conservator manages the property and financial affairs of a protected person, meaning a minor or other person for whom a conservator has been appointed or another protective order has been made (Idaho Code § 15-5-101(c)). This page explains the conservator’s legal standard of care, reports, powers, and limits, and how a conservatorship ends. It matters to anyone serving as conservator and to family members who want to follow how the estate is handled.

In using his or her powers, a conservator must act as a fiduciary (a person trusted to act for another’s benefit) and observe the standards of care that apply to trustees under Idaho Code § 15-7-302 (Idaho Code § 15-5-417). For how a conservator is appointed, see Conservatorship in Idaho.

The Conservator Holds Title as Trustee

Appointment vests in the conservator title as trustee to all property of the protected person, now held or later acquired, including property held for the person by custodians or attorneys in fact (Idaho Code § 15-5-420(a)). If the order covers only part of the property, the result is a limited conservatorship (§ 15-5-420(a)).

Until the appointment ends, the conservator has the same power over title to the estate’s property that an absolute owner would have, but holds that power in trust for the protected person (Idaho Code § 15-5-420(c)). This power may be exercised without notice, hearing, or court order (§ 15-5-420(c)).

The appointment is not a transfer or alienation under general provisions of any statute, regulation, insurance policy, pension plan, contract, will or trust that restricts or penalizes transfers by the protected person (Idaho Code § 15-5-420(b)). However, people may still make specific provisions about a conservator in a contract or other instrument (§ 15-5-420(b)).

Letters of conservatorship are evidence that the protected person’s assets, or the part specified, have been transferred to the conservator (Idaho Code § 15-5-421). Letters and termination orders may be recorded with the county recorder in any county where affected property is located, and recording gives notice of their contents to all persons (§ 15-5-421).

Inventory, Financial Plan, and Accountings

Filing	When	Idaho Code
Inventory	Within 90 days of appointment	§ 15-5-419(1)
Financial plan (if not complete in the petition, or if the petitioner was not the conservator)	As part of the 90-day inventory	§ 15-5-404(c)
Modified financial plan	With the next report, if the plan changes between reports	§ 15-5-404(c)
Accounting	At least annually	§ 15-5-419(1)
Final accounting	At the end of the appointment	§ 15-5-419(1)

All inventories and accountings must be under oath or affirmation and comply with Idaho Supreme Court rules (Idaho Code § 15-5-419(1)). Those rules are not part of the Idaho Code and are not described here. The court may also require a physical check of the estate in the conservator’s control, made in any manner the court specifies (§ 15-5-419(1)).

The financial plan must cover all of the protected person’s assets, income, expenses, debts and other financial concerns (Idaho Code § 15-5-404(c)). It must be given to the court, all interested persons, anyone who has filed a request for notice, and others the court directs (§ 15-5-404(c)).

Penalties for Misconduct

The court may fine a conservator up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) if the conservator makes a substantial misstatement in required inventories or reports, is guilty of gross impropriety in handling the protected person’s property, or willfully fails to file a required report after written notice and a two (2) month grace period (Idaho Code § 15-5-419(2)).

The court may also appoint a guardian ad litem for the protected person, order an investigation, order restitution of misappropriated funds, and impose a surcharge (a personal charge) on the conservator for damages, costs and other sums (Idaho Code § 15-5-419(2)). These sums must be paid by the conservator, not the protected person’s estate (§ 15-5-419(2)). The court may enter judgment against the conservator and against any bond (§ 15-5-419(2)).

Powers Without Court Approval

A conservator has all of the powers the conservatorship statutes confer, plus any additional powers Idaho law gives trustees (Idaho Code § 15-5-424(1)). A conservator may invest and reinvest estate funds as a trustee would, without court authorization or confirmation (Idaho Code § 15-5-424(2)).

Acting reasonably to accomplish the purpose of the appointment, a conservator may also do the following without court authorization or confirmation (Idaho Code § 15-5-424(3)):

• Collect, hold and retain estate assets, including land in another state, and receive additions to the estate (§ 15-5-424(3)(a)-(b));
• Continue or participate in operating a business (§ 15-5-424(3)(c));
• Deposit estate funds in a bank, buy or sell estate assets for cash or on credit, and manage, improve, repair, lease, or develop property (§ 15-5-424(3)(f)-(j));
• Enter mineral and natural resource leases, grant or take options, and vote and manage securities (§ 15-5-424(3)(k)-(p));
• Insure estate assets, and insure the conservator against liability to third persons (§ 15-5-424(3)(q));
• Borrow money, and advance money for the estate or the protected person, with a lien on the estate for those advances (§ 15-5-424(3)(r));
• Pay, contest, or settle claims, and pay taxes, the conservator’s compensation, and administration expenses (§ 15-5-424(3)(s)-(t));
• Employ attorneys, auditors, investment advisors or agents (§ 15-5-424(3)(w));
• Prosecute or defend actions to protect estate assets and the conservator, and sign documents needed to exercise these powers (§ 15-5-424(3)(x)-(y)); and
• Take control of, conduct, continue or terminate the protected person’s social networking, microblogging, short message service, or e-mail accounts (§ 15-5-424(3)(z)).

If a conservator holds a security in a nominee’s name, the conservator is liable for any act of the nominee regarding that stock (Idaho Code § 15-5-424(3)(p)).

A conservator of the estate of an unmarried minor under eighteen (18), for whom no one has parental rights, also has the duties and powers of a guardian of a minor until the minor turns eighteen (18) or marries (Idaho Code § 15-5-424(1)). This does not prevent appointment of a guardian (§ 15-5-424(1)); see Guardianship of Minors in Idaho.

Spending for the Protected Person

A conservator may spend or distribute estate income or principal, without court authorization, for the support, education, care or benefit of the protected person and his or her dependents (Idaho Code § 15-5-425(a)). The conservator must spend sums reasonably necessary for these purposes with due regard to (§ 15-5-425(a)(2)):

• The size of the estate, the probable length of the conservatorship, and the likelihood that the protected person may someday be fully able to manage his or her own affairs;
• The accustomed standard of living of the protected person and household members; and
• Other funds or sources used for the protected person’s support.

The conservator must consider recommendations from a parent or guardian about the appropriate standard of support, education and benefit (Idaho Code § 15-5-425(a)(1)). The conservator may not be surcharged for payments made on those recommendations to people actually furnishing support, education or care, unless the conservator knows the parent or guardian is personally benefiting financially or the recommendations are clearly not in the protected person’s best interests (§ 15-5-425(a)(1)).

The conservator may also spend estate funds to support persons legally dependent on the protected person, and other household members who cannot support themselves and need support (Idaho Code § 15-5-425(a)(3)). Payments may go to any person, including the protected person as reimbursement, or in advance for services when advance payment is customary or reasonably necessary (§ 15-5-425(a)(4)). The conservator must follow the court’s principle of encouraging maximum self-reliance and independence (Idaho Code §§ 15-5-425(a)(5), 15-5-408(a)).

Gifts. If the estate is ample for these purposes, a conservator for a protected person other than a minor may make gifts to charity and other objects the protected person might have been expected to make (Idaho Code § 15-5-425(b)). Total gifts for any year may not exceed twenty percent (20%) of the estate’s income (§ 15-5-425(b)).

Working With a Guardian

When a ward has both a guardian and a conservator, the guardian must pay the conservator any of the ward’s estate beyond current expenses for support, care, and education, and must account to the conservator for funds spent (Idaho Code § 15-5-312(1)(f)). The guardian may receive reasonable sums for services and room and board as agreed with the conservator, and may ask the conservator to pay third persons for the ward’s care (§ 15-5-312(2)). See Guardian Duties and Powers in Idaho.

Limits and Protections

Preserving the Estate Plan

In investing and in selecting assets for distribution, the conservator and the court should take into account and preserve, insofar as possible, any known estate plan of the protected person (Idaho Code § 15-5-427). This includes a will, a revocable trust the person created, and any contract, transfer or joint ownership arrangement that pays or transfers benefits at death (§ 15-5-427). The conservator may examine the protected person’s will (§ 15-5-427).

Conflicts of Interest

Any sale or encumbrance to the conservator, his or her spouse, agent or attorney, or a corporation or trust in which the conservator has a substantial beneficial interest, is voidable (can be undone) unless the court approves it after notice to interested persons and others as the court directs (Idaho Code § 15-5-422). The same rule applies to any transaction affected by a substantial conflict of interest (§ 15-5-422).

Changing the Conservator’s Powers

The court may give a conservator additional powers that the court itself could exercise under Idaho Code § 15-5-408 (Idaho Code § 15-5-426). The court may limit the conservator’s powers at the time of appointment or later, and may relieve the conservator of any limit at any time (§ 15-5-426). Any limit on a power under §§ 15-5-424 or 15-5-425 must be endorsed on the conservator’s letters (§ 15-5-426).

People Who Deal With a Conservator

A person who in good faith assists or deals with a conservator for value is protected as if the conservator properly exercised the power, except in transactions that require a court order under Idaho Code § 15-5-408 (Idaho Code § 15-5-423). Knowingly dealing with a conservator does not, by itself, require a person to inquire into the conservator’s power or its proper use, but restrictions endorsed on the letters are effective against third persons (§ 15-5-423).

Paying Claims Against the Protected Person

A conservator must pay from the estate all just claims against the estate and the protected person, whether they arose before or after the conservatorship, upon presentation and allowance (Idaho Code § 15-5-428(a)). A claimant presents a claim by delivering or mailing a written statement to the conservator, or by filing one with the court clerk and sending a copy to the conservator (§ 15-5-428(a)).

A presented claim is allowed unless the conservator mails a written disallowance to the claimant within sixty (60) days after presentation (Idaho Code § 15-5-428(a)). Presenting a claim tolls (pauses) any statute of limitations on it until thirty (30) days after disallowance (§ 15-5-428(a)). A claimant who has not been paid may petition the court before the claim is barred by the applicable statute of limitations (Idaho Code § 15-5-428(b)).

If the estate is likely to run out before all existing claims are paid, preference goes to prior claims for the care, maintenance and education of the protected person or dependents, and to existing claims for administration expenses (Idaho Code § 15-5-428(c)).

Personal Liability of the Conservator

Unless the contract provides otherwise, a conservator is not personally liable on a contract properly made in the fiduciary capacity, unless the conservator fails to reveal that capacity and identify the estate in the contract (Idaho Code § 15-5-429(a)). A conservator is personally liable for obligations from owning or controlling estate property, or for torts during administration, only if personally at fault (§ 15-5-429(b)).

Compensation, Instructions, and Removal

If not otherwise paid, a conservator is entitled to reasonable compensation from the estate for services and expenses (Idaho Code § 15-5-414). A conservator may petition the appointing court for instructions about his or her fiduciary responsibility (Idaho Code § 15-5-416(b)).

Any person interested in the protected person’s welfare may petition for an order requiring an accounting, directing distribution, changing the bond, removing the conservator and appointing a temporary or successor conservator, or other relief (Idaho Code § 15-5-416(a)). The court may remove a conservator for good cause after notice and hearing, or accept a resignation (Idaho Code § 15-5-415). A successor conservator takes over the title and powers of the predecessor (§ 15-5-415).

Ending the Conservatorship

The protected person, his or her personal representative, the conservator, or any other interested person may petition to terminate the conservatorship (Idaho Code § 15-5-430). A protected person seeking termination has the same rights and procedure as in an original proceeding (§ 15-5-430). After notice and hearing, the court may terminate if the minority or disability has ceased, or if it would be in the protected person’s best interests to establish the conservatorship in another jurisdiction (§ 15-5-430).

On termination, title to the estate’s assets passes to the former protected person or his or her successor, subject to provision for administration expenses (Idaho Code § 15-5-430). When a minor who was not also found disabled reaches majority, or when the conservator is satisfied that an adult’s disability has ceased, the conservator must pay all prior claims and administration expenses and then distribute all funds and property to the former protected person as soon as possible (Idaho Code § 15-5-425(c)-(d)). A minor’s conservatorship may continue to age twenty-one (21) if the court’s order so states (Idaho Code § 15-5-433).

If the Protected Person Dies

The conservator must deliver any will of the protected person in his or her possession to the court for safekeeping, tell the executor or a beneficiary named in it, and retain the estate for delivery to the personal representative or others entitled to it (Idaho Code § 15-5-425(e)). Until a personal representative is appointed or the conservator is given a personal representative’s powers, the person acting as conservator at the death has the duties and powers of a temporary conservator under Idaho Code § 15-5-407A, plus the powers in Idaho Code § 54-1142(1) (Idaho Code § 15-5-425(f)). Section 54-1142 is outside Title 15 and is not described here.

If forty (40) days after death no personal representative has been appointed and no application or petition is before the court, the conservator may apply for the powers and duties of a personal representative (Idaho Code § 15-5-425(e)). After notice, the court may grant them if there is no objection, which allows the conservator to administer and distribute the decedent’s estate (§ 15-5-425(e)). Probate is covered in the Idaho personal representative duties page.

Return to the Idaho Guardianship & Conservatorship overview for related topics, including interstate guardianships.

How I Can Help

I help Idaho conservators prepare inventories, financial plans, and annual accountings, understand which actions they can take on their own and which need court approval, and respond to claims or objections. I also assist family members and protected persons who have concerns about a conservator’s management or who want to end a conservatorship. Request a consultation to discuss your situation.

This page provides general information about Idaho guardianship, conservatorship and powers of attorney, based on the Idaho Code, and is not legal advice. Court rules and case law also affect these matters. Every situation is different; consult an attorney about yours. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.