Below are frequently asked questions broken down by theme. Have a question but don’t see it here? Please reach out to the Association’s Executive Office at info@capapgpc.org and one of our team members will be more than happy to answer your questions.

General Questions

The Public Guardian or Public Conservator (PG | PC) conducts the official County investigation into conservatorship matters. The PG | PC also acts as the legally appointed guardian or conservator for persons found by Superior Court to be unable to properly care for themselves or their finances or who are unable to resist undue influence or fraud. Clients served by the PG | PC usually suffer from severe mental illness or are older, frail, dependent and vulnerable adults. Primary Duties include:

  • Serving as the conservator of the person only, estate only or both person and estate depending on the needs of the individual
  • Conservator of the Person: The Conservator arranges for the client’s care and protection, determines where the client will live and makes appropriate arrangements for health care, housekeeping, transportation and recreation
  • Conservator of the Estate: The Conservator manages the client’s finances, locates and takes control of the assets, collects income due, pays bills, invests the client’s money and protects known assets
  • Providing case management services including placement services
  • Providing estate management including applying and maintaining appropriate public benefits, paying bills, providing personal needs funds and acting as the representative payee
  • Ensuring the conservatee receives appropriate mental health and physical health services
  • Providing real and personal property management, including safeguarding of assets and valuables and seeking court authority for sale of assets when necessary to provide for the needs of the conservatee

The Public Administrator (PA) investigates and may administer the estates of persons who die with no will or without an appropriate person willing or able to act as administrator. Primary Duties include:

  • Protecting the decedent’s property from waste, loss or theft
  • Making appropriate burial arrangements
  • Conducting thorough investigations to locate all assets
  • Ensuring that the estate is administered according to the decedent’s wishes
  • Paying decedent bills and taxes
  • Locating persons entitled to inherit from the estate

For the current list of regional chairs, please click here.

If you are a member, you can log in to the member portal and register online. If you are not a member, you can visit our Annual Conference page and click on the Register Now button.

If you are interested in participating as a vendor at our annual conference, please send an email directly to info@capapgpc.org with details on your services and booth space size needed. One of our team members will follow up with you within three (3) business days of receipt with pricing and additional information.

If you are a member, and the email we have on file for you in Member365 is correct, it may mean you need to look at your Spam filters or have your IT department ‘whitelist’ us. For more information on next steps, please click here.

No, in order to become certified through the association, you must be a member.

To become a member of the Association you must:

  1. Be employed in a Public Administrator’s, Public Guardian’s, or Public Conservator’s office in one of the 58 counties in the State of California
  2. Receive approval from the Principal member of the Association representing the County agency you are employed with

Dues are due at the beginning of the fiscal year, July 1st. The amount of the dues is dependent upon your membership level. Please view the our Membership Pricing page for further information.

County fees support the work being done by the Association allowing us to broaden our influence and improve services in a variety of ways including:

  1. Expanding our presence and influence on relevant issues and needs that face PA | PG | PC professionals within California
  2. Advocating for PA | PG | PC programs to help maintain or improve state funding for these vital services
  3. Coordinating training standards and assisting individual counties in obtaining necessary training to meet ever-changing state mandates thus reducing the burden and liabilities on counties to fulfill these expectations
  4. Providing essential technical guidance to individual counties to navigate difficult cases and
  5. Continuing to foster key partnerships with other like-minded organizations and state entities to help move our mission forward

For a breakdown of county fees please click here (PDF).

Non-payment of an individual’s membership will place them in Inactive status and certification will be withheld for that member in abeyance pursuant to Probate Code §1456.2; 2923 and 7605 until such payment has been received.

PLEASE NOTE: Should members pay their dues, but the County Program Fee has not been paid for that county, then Principal, Associate, and Affiliate members will not be considered Certified and will not be able to attend trainings for credit or have access to membership resources. Once all current and late fees due are paid in full, Principal, Associate and Affiliate Members can be reinstated as Certified, provided all other requirements are met.

Unfortunately, all memberships are non-transferrable. This can impact our members in a variety of ways including:

  1. Transferring to Another County or Program: Should a member transfer to another county and/or program they are required to get a new membership within the new county irrelevant of whether they had an active membership with their prior county program. Please Note: The Association does allow all members to transfer their earned lifetime credits from one county program to another as long as that transfer happens within a year of their membership being archived from their old county program. All transferred memberships are required to start a new 4-year certification window with their new County membership
  2. Promotions to a New Role: Should a member promote to a new position requiring a change in membership type within their current county (i.e. from a line staff role to supervisor or manager), they are required to pay for the new membership tier irrelevant of whether they had another active membership tier
  3. Staff Turnover: Memberships are not transferable from one staff member to another. Any new staff member must apply for a new membership under their own name

Certification Issues

Information on the different types of classes offered and prices can be found under What We Do – Training & Certification found here.

To have a training approved for accreditation by CA PA|PG|PC you must complete our accreditation application found here. Applications must be submitted 30 days in advance of the scheduled training date.

To access your certification information, log in to the Association’s Member portal. Once logged in, go to Certification > Certification Activities from the main toolbar. The new window will outline whether you are certified or not as well as list all the activities you have taken throughout your membership with the Association.

Need a Transcript? You can download an unofficial transcript from the member portal by selecting My Account > My Certificates from the main toolbar. From the My Certificates tab select Certification and then click the green Print button. For official transcripts with the Association’s seal you must contact the Association’s Executive Office at info@capapgpc.org.