Who Checks On A Conservator? How Connecticut Expanded Conservatorship Audits On October 1, 2026

A son in Hamden calls about his mother. Two years ago the Probate Court appointed a cousin as conservator of her estate. Since then the son has not seen a bank statement, her house in Fair Haven sits empty with no word on who is paying the taxes, and the cousin says everything is handled. Does anyone check?

Yes. The Probate Court overseeing the conservatorship already requires an inventory and, except for some small estates, periodic accounts. An interested party can ask the court to require annual accounts. Since October 1, 2026, Connecticut law also lets the Probate Court Administrator, a state office, audit how a conservator of the estate manages the money, not only an account the conservator has already filed. Audits are selective and depend on available funding. Being chosen is not a finding of wrongdoing.

What A Conservator Of The Estate Already Owes

Under C.G.S. § 45a-644, a conservator of the estate is a person or entity the Probate Court appoints to supervise the finances of someone the court has found unable to manage their own affairs, or of someone who asked the court for that help. A conservator of the person, by contrast, supervises personal affairs.

In an involuntary case, the court may appoint a conservator of the estate only on clear and convincing evidence that the person cannot manage their affairs and that a conservator is the least restrictive way to help, under C.G.S. § 45a-650.

In that case, the same statute also requires a probate bond for a conservator of the estate. Under C.G.S. § 45a-139, a probate bond is security for the conservator's faithful management of, and accounting for, the money and other property. The court may waive a bond for small or restricted estates under § 45a-139(c), and under § 45a-645(c), a person's own advance written designation of a conservator can excuse it. The court file shows whether a bond was required and in what amount.

Once appointed, the conservator takes on duties that come mostly from C.G.S. § 45a-655. Within two months of appointment, the conservator must file an inventory under penalty of false statement. The inventory must value the person's property interests at fair market value as of the appointment date, including their interest in joint accounts and other jointly held property. The conservator then manages the estate and applies the income and, if necessary, the principal to the conserved person's support and debts. The statute also requires the conservator to be guided by the standards of practice the Probate Court Administrator has adopted and to use the least restrictive means of intervention.

A conservator generally must file an account at least once every three years under C.G.S. § 45a-177, and more often if the court requires, but certain small estates are excused unless the court orders an account. Under § 45a-655(c), the court may require an annual account, and if an interested party asks, it must. When the court requires annual accounts under that subsection, it must hold a hearing on each one, with notice to everyone entitled to notice under § 45a-649.

For the son in Hamden, that means the cousin's silence is not the end of it. A court file already exists. The inventory, due within two months of the appointment, should list his mother's house at its value on that date, and any account the cousin files should list any tax payments on it.

What Changed For Conservator Audits On October 1, 2026

Before October 1, 2026, C.G.S. § 45a-181 allowed the Probate Court Administrator to have "an account" of a conservator of the estate audited.

Section 7 of Public Act 26-87, one of the new Connecticut laws that took effect October 1, 2026, rewrote it. The Administrator, within available appropriations, may now have "a conservator of the estate" audited and may select "any conservatorship of the estate." The new section sets out each step:

• Selection. The Administrator may choose a conservatorship at random or on other criteria the Administrator considers effective in deterring and detecting misconduct by a conservator. An account the Probate Court has already approved cannot be selected.
• Notice. The Administrator assigns an auditor from the Administrator's list and notifies the Probate Court. Everyone on that list must be a certified public accountant or public accountant licensed by the State Board of Accountancy, under C.G.S. § 45a-175(f). The court then notifies all parties by first-class mail and postpones any scheduled hearing on an account until the audit is done.
• Cooperation. A conservator whose financial management or account is under audit must cooperate and give the auditor access to all records relating to the conservatorship. If the conservator does not, the auditor reports the failure in writing to the court and the parties, and the court may order compliance and may remove the conservator.
• Timing. The auditor must report to the court within 90 days of receiving the assignment. The court may extend that deadline at the auditor's request if it finds more time is necessary.
• Hearing. The court sends all parties notice of a hearing on how the conservator has managed the conserved person's financial affairs, or on the account, with a copy of the audit report. The report is admissible, and any interested party can require the auditor, if available, to appear as a witness and answer questions. The court then decides the account and the rights of the conservator and the parties.
• Cost. The Administrator pays for the audit from the Probate Court Administration Fund.

The auditor's access is not new: the auditor could already see all of the conservator's records and still can. What is new is that an audit no longer depends on an account pending before the court, and the hearing that follows can address how the conservator has managed the financial affairs, not only the account. For a conservator, that means the records behind every account should be ready for review at any time.

What The Probate Court Can Order

An audit does not by itself remove a conservator or order money repaid. Those decisions belong to the Probate Court. What the audit produces is a report by a licensed accountant, sent to the court and to every party, so a relative who is a party and has struggled to get information will see what the auditor found.

When the Probate Court decides an account, C.G.S. § 45a-175(g) directs it to determine the rights of the conservator and of the parties interested in the account. Under subsection (h), the court has the same powers a Superior Court judge has at law and in equity in these matters. What the court orders depends on what the evidence shows. It can approve the account as filed, disallow particular items, or order the conservator to repay the estate.

Under C.G.S. § 45a-242, the court may remove a fiduciary, a term that includes a conservator of the estate, after notice and a hearing. It can act on its own motion or on the petition of any interested person or the surety on the conservator's probate bond. The grounds include neglecting the conservator's duties or wasting the estate. They also include unfitness or a persistent failure to administer the estate effectively, when the court finds removal best serves the beneficiaries. The court may then appoint a replacement conservator.

What A Worried Relative Can Do Now

You do not have to wait for the Administrator to select the case. An interested party can take these steps, and the first one is finding out where you stand in the case:

1. Check whether you are on the notice list. If you are a child of the conserved person and have heard nothing about hearings on accounts, ask the Probate Court clerk whether the court has you on its list of parties entitled to notice.
2. Ask the court to require an annual account. The court must require one if an interested party asks, under § 45a-655(c).
3. Go to the hearing and ask questions. Put your objections in writing before the hearing, and tie each one to a specific item in the account.
4. Ask the court to consider appointing an auditor. The decision is the court's. Under § 45a-175(f), it may appoint an auditor from the same list, on its own motion, to examine an account when it finds that necessary and in the estate's best interests, but not where the conservator or a co-conservator is a corporation with trust powers. If it does, it may charge the audit's cost to the conservator, the estate or any party in interest, which can include the relative who asked.
5. Petition for removal if the facts support it. Any interested person can petition under § 45a-242. Removal requires proof of one of the statutory grounds, such as those above, not just disagreement.

New Notice Timing For Families Filing For Conservatorship

Public Act 26-87 also changed notice timing in involuntary conservatorship cases. The person the application concerns is still served in person, and so is a spouse who is not the applicant, unless the spouse cannot reasonably be served, in which case the court orders notice by mail or publication. Under § 45a-649, as amended by § 5 of the act, notice to everyone else entitled to it must now go out at least ten days before the hearing, where the old rule required only that it go out within 30 days after the court received the application. The hearing is still generally held within 30 days after the court receives the application unless the court continues it for cause, so a family about to file should build those ten days into the timeline.

If You Are The Conservator

The new audit power applies to family conservators and professional conservators alike. Keep the conserved person's money in accounts separate from your own. Keep receipts and a running record of every deposit and payment. File the inventory and each account on time.

Read the standards of practice. Under § 45a-655(f), failing to follow them is not a breach of your duty by itself, but it is evidence the court may consider when deciding whether you breached one. If an auditor calls, cooperate fully. A conservator who does not may be ordered to comply and may be removed.

If you are worried about how a relative's conservator is handling their money, or you have been appointed and want to get the accounting right, our New Haven probate attorneys can review the file and explain your options. Contact our office for a free consultation.