A conservatorship account is a financial account in which a person or institution has been appointed by a court to manage and preserve the assets of an individual which are held in the account. In a conservatorship account the “beneficiary” retains ownership of all of the assets; in trusts, ownership of the property is transferred to the trust SI 01120.201G.

Additionally, the conservator usually does not have a fiduciary duty to the beneficiary because the funds are blocked and requests for access must be approved by the court. In the vast majority of cases, a conservatorship account will not be a legal instrument or device similar to a trust and the state specific rules for conservatorship accounts will be applied.

If a determination is made that an individual has a conservatorship account that is a legal instrument or device similar to a trust, per the criteria in SI 01120.201G, the conservatorship account will be analyzed under the trust rules to determine if it meets a trust exception per SI 01120.200D.2. through SI 01120.201D.2., and SI 01120.203B.

Conservatorship accounts (blocked accounts) resulting from personal injury awards are non-countable resources for minors in New York where all of the following characteristics are satisfied:

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  the funds were awarded in compensation for a personal injury,

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  the child resides in New York State,

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  the child’s access to the funds is blocked, and,

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  the funds are being held for the child by one or more guardians pursuant to an order of a New York court until the child turns 18 years old.

If all these characteristics are satisfied, the funds are irrebuttably a non-countable resource.

If the funds in a conservatorship account did not result from a personal injury award, assume absent evidence to the contrary, that the account is available for the minor's support and maintenance and is therefore a countable resource. We need not consider these under the trust rules since they would be considered resources under regular SSI resource counting rules.

If the individual is age 18 or over the account is presumed to be a countable resource, absent evidence to the contrary. This is true even if the funds result from a personal injury award and/or were non-countable prior to age 18 because they resulted from a personal injury award.

Conservatorship accounts (blocked accounts) resulting from personal injury awards are presumed to be non-countable resources for minors in New Jersey unless there is evidence to the contrary. Evidence to the contrary shall be found to exist if the court has approved a petition to access the account for support and maintenance, such as food, clothing, or shelter. Where no petition to the court has been made, or where the court has granted a petition for purposes other than support and maintenance, the conservatorship account will retain the presumption that the funds are non-countable resources.

If the funds in a conservatorship account did not result from a personal injury award, assume absent evidence to the contrary, that the account is available for the minor's support and maintenance; it is therefore a countable resource. We need not consider these under the trust rules since they would be counted as resources under regular SSI resource counting rules.

If the individual is age 18 or over the account is presumed to be a countable resource, absent evidence to the contrary. This is true even if the funds result from a personal injury award and/or were excludable prior to age 18 because they resulted from a personal injury award.

Conservatorship (blocked) accounts are not resources to a minor (an individual under the age of 21) who is not emancipated.

A minor can be emancipated in four ways:

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  by reaching the age of majority (21);

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  by obtaining the consent of the custodial parent or parents (only if the child is at least 18 years old);

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  by obtaining the consent of a judge (only if the child is at least 18 years old and is an orphan); or

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  by marriage.

Conservatorship (blocked) accounts are not resources to a minor under age 18. If the individual is under age 18 and married, permission from the parent(s), or guardian is required to access monetary awards. In that situation contact the New York Regional Office, Center for Programs Support.

If the individual is age 21 or emancipated as described in SI NY01140.215D.1, the account is presumed to be a countable resource, absent evidence to the contrary. This is true even if the funds were excludable prior to age 21 or emancipation.