Family Guide to Conservatorship and Involuntary Treatment

Establishing an LPS Conservatorship in California
(Sometimes called a Murphy Conservatorship)

A Lanterman Petris Short (LPS) Conservatorship is the legal term used in California which gives one adult (conservator) the responsibility for overseeing the comprehensive medical treatment for an adult (conservatee) who has a serious mental illness. A mental health (LPS) conservatorship makes one adult (called the conservator) responsible for a mentally ill adult (called the conservatee). These conservatorships are only for adults with mental illnesses listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

The most common illnesses are serious, biological brain disorders, like:

• Schizophrenia,
• Bi-Polar Disorder (Manic Depression),
• Schizo-affective Disorder,
• Clinical Depression, and
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

You many use the two forms as an example to compile information for the person who is to be conserved. Have this information ready to give to the hospital as soon as your loved one is hospitalized. Give a copy of their history and their symptoms to the doctor, the public guardian and the hospital social worker. It is best to hand deliver these papers and have the doctor sign them to validate they have received this information. List the history of all the hospitalizations and/or incarcerations and homelessness which have taken place for your loved one. Keep it to one page and present it “like a resume."

Form 1. Mental Health History

Form 2. Symptoms and Characteristics

The following are examples of symptoms:

• Visual hallucinations
• Auditory hallucination
• Delusions (includes grandiose delusions)
• Belief in the delusions
• Disorganized speech
• Disorganized behavior
• Poor Hygiene
• Paranoid thinking
• Behaves in accordance to his/her paranoid thinking
• Unable to meet the needs of daily functioning
• Difficulty understanding and following directions
• Inability to maintain gainful employment
• Inability to recognize their illness and difficulties associated with the illness
• Gravely disabled

An LPS Conservatorship is a tool which gives the conservator the power to work with the doctor to achieve treatment for the individual beyond the standard of "stable." It helps the conservator in guiding the treatment team to get your loved one's life back as they knew it to be before they became ill.

An LPS Conservatorship is granted for one year term but can be renewed for another year. It is important to pay attention to the requirement given for renewal from the court and mark it on your calendar.

There are two types of LPS Conservatorship which the court can grant. The first is an LPS Conservatorship of the Person. A qualified psychiatrist initiates a petition to the public guardian's office, which in turns petitions the court for the conservatorship. The second is an LPS Conservatorship of the Estate. The public guardian directly petitions the court for this conservatorship. The doctor is not involved with this matter.

The usual process in seeking an LPS Conservatorship

First, the person who exhibits harm to self or others is placed on a 72 hour hold. This usually occurs by someone calling the police, who intern calls the crisis intervention team. The police make sure the person is contained so as not to harm anyone and the crisis intervention team evaluates the individual and makes a recommendation for a 72 hour hold. A person can be placed on a 72 hour hold by a qualified police officer, psychiatrist or mental health personnel.

In the hospital, the psychiatrist who evaluates the person, may initiate a 14 day hold to continue the treatment for stabilization. A 14 day hold must have a Probable Cause hearing within four working days. The Probable Cause hearing is generally held in the hospital. Many times, families are not aware of this hearing until after it has taken place. It is the psychiatrist who initiates the LPS Conservatorship request with the public guardian. The public guardian will visit and evaluate the patient and make a recommendation to the court to either proceed or dismiss the LPS Conservatorship case.

Only the county's designated conservatorship investigation officer may file the petition. The proceeding cannot be brought by a private citizen. Though practice varies from county to county, the conservatorship petition is usually brought by county counsel or the district attorney on behalf of the investigating officer. The requirements for the petition are generally the same as those under the Probate Code of California.