Conservatorship is the management of a minor's or incapacitated adult's assets or estate. It does not limit an individual's freedom like a guardianship and the conservator has no decision-making authority over their conservatee.

The majority of cases in Missouri, the Public Administrator will be both guardian and conservator for an individual. When a Public Administrator is conservator only it indicates that the individual lacks the ability to manage their finances and/or their assets can no longer be managed by the family without conflict. This does not mean that the Public Administrators actively look for these cases, but rather the family has hired attorneys to settle their disputes.

Every year the Public Administrator must generate and turn in a report to Probate Court. This is known as an annual settlement and it shows the conservatee's financial status and how their assets were distributed throughout the year. Failure in completing this report may result in the termination of the conservatorship. The ability do to so rests solely with the judge.