Updated September 28, 2026
A conservator can sell the conservatee's apartment building, but the sale usually has to clear the same court that appointed the conservator in the first place — and that single fact changes almost every step of the transaction. A conservatorship exists because a court decided the owner can no longer manage their own affairs. The court does not hand that authority to the conservator and walk away; it keeps supervising, and a sale of real property is one of the moments it supervises most closely.
This looks similar on the surface to selling a building held in a trust — someone other than the original owner signs — but the authority works differently. A trustee's power usually comes from the trust document itself. A conservator's power to sell real property typically has to be confirmed by the court for each transaction, or at minimum reported to it, which adds a layer no trust sale has.
The court has to authorize the sale, not just the conservator. Depending on the type of conservatorship and what powers the court granted, the conservator may need a specific court order to sell the building, supported by evidence that the sale is in the conservatee's best interest.
The price gets independent scrutiny. Courts protecting a conservatee's interests generally want to see that the price reflects fair market value — often through an independent appraisal or a broker's marketing process — rather than accepting the conservator's word for it.
Notice may go to interested parties. Family members, other potential heirs, or court-appointed advocates for the conservatee may have a right to know about and weigh in on a proposed sale, which is not something a normal seller has to manage.
The timeline runs on the court's calendar, not the buyer's. A buyer who wants to close in thirty days may be disappointed to learn that a hearing date, not the escrow schedule, is the long pole in the transaction.
A serious buyer's counsel will ask for the letters of conservatorship (the document establishing the conservator's authority), confirmation of what powers the court granted, and evidence the sale has been or will be authorized. Title companies are conservative here for a reason — an unauthorized sale can be challenged later, which is exactly the risk title insurance is supposed to eliminate. Expect escrow to take longer than a standard sale simply because more documentation has to be gathered and verified first.
Get an appraisal or a documented marketing process before you go to court. A conservator who can show a genuine marketing effort and multiple offers gets through approval faster than one who shows up with a single unsolicited offer.
Loop in the conservatorship attorney early, not after a buyer is found. They generally know what the specific court expects, and involving them before signing anything prevents a deal from falling apart at the court step.
Prepare the building's records as thoroughly as any other sale. A conservatorship sale still has to survive ordinary buyer diligence on top of court scrutiny — it doesn't get a pass on either one.
Build in calendar time for the hearing. A buyer who understands upfront that the closing date depends on a court date is a buyer who won't walk when the date moves. A buyer who is surprised by it might.
The sale itself — pricing the building, marketing it, negotiating with buyers — works the same way it does for any LA multifamily seller. What's different is the layer of court oversight sitting on top of it, and that layer exists to protect the conservatee, not to slow the family down for its own sake. Families who work with it, by building the court approval into the timeline from day one and using a broker who has priced the building honestly enough to survive scrutiny, get through it without drama. Families who try to route around the court, or who pick the first offer without a real marketing process, are the ones who end up back in front of a judge explaining themselves.
This is squarely a matter for an attorney experienced in conservatorship proceedings, not a broker's judgment call — talk to one before you sign a purchase agreement, because the required authority and process vary by the specific conservatorship and the powers the court has already granted.
A conservatorship does not take the building off the market. It puts a second set of eyes on the price, and a second signature — the court's — on the decision to sell. Sellers who treat that oversight as a partner in getting the transaction right, rather than an obstacle to work around, tend to get through it faster than the ones who fight it.
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Does the conservator need a new appraisal, or can they use an old one?
Courts generally want a current valuation. An appraisal or broker opinion of value that is many months old, especially in a market that has moved, is unlikely to satisfy a judge that the price reflects today's market.
Can family members object to the sale?
Depending on the conservatorship, interested parties may have standing to raise concerns with the court about price or process. This is one more reason a documented, defensible marketing process matters — it answers the objection before it's raised.
Is this different from selling a building the conservatee inherited?
Yes. Pricing an inherited building is a valuation question. A conservatorship sale adds a legal-authority and court-approval layer on top of whatever valuation questions already exist.
Michael Sterman is Senior Managing Director Investments at Marcus & Millichap.
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