California conservatorship accounting: GC-400 and GC-405

A Summary of Account on form GC-400(SUM)/GC-405(SUM), then the schedules behind each line: property on hand at the start, additional property from supplemental inventories, receipts (Schedule A), gains and losses on sales (B and D), disbursements (C), distributions to the conservatee or ward, other charges and credits, property on hand at the end (E), changes in form of assets (F) and liabilities (G). Total charges on line 7 must equal total credits on line 14.

Standard is the rule. Rule 7.575(d) allows the simplified GC-405 account only when the estate has no income-generating real property, no interest in a trade or business, an appraised value under $500,000 not counting the personal residence, and the court has not asked for a standard account. If the simplified receipts or disbursements schedule would run past five pages, that schedule goes on the standard forms. The page runs this test on your entries.

For a standard account, rule 7.575(e)(6) makes every form except the Summary of Account optional, if your own schedules use the same categories, give the same information and follow the same general format. The schedules printed here follow the forms' columns and titles for that reason. The Summary itself must be on form GC-400(SUM)/GC-405(SUM), so copy lines 1a to 14 onto it. A simplified account must use the GC-405 forms, so copy the figures onto them. Check your court's local rules, and ask your attorney if you have one.

The value an asset is carried at in the account: its appraised value on the Inventory and Appraisal, or the purchase price for an asset bought after appointment. A sale is a gain or a loss against it, using the gross sale price. Returns of principal reduce it. Market values are shown beside it at the end of every account, and at the start of every account after the first.

Probate Code 2620(a): the first account covers the year from the date of appointment (the date of the order, not the date the Letters were issued), and later accounts are due at least every two years, unless the court orders otherwise. Attach the account statements for the closing date and, for the first account, for the date just before appointment.

Probate Code 2620(b) splits the final account in two: one for the period ending on the date of death and a separate one for the period after it. The page flags a death inside the period and can split your entries at that date.

Probate Code 2628 lets the court waive it when the net estate, not counting the residence, is under $15,000 at the start and the end of the period, monthly income other than public benefits is under $2,000, and income not kept was spent for the conservatee or ward. From January 1, 2027 the limits are $30,000 and $3,200 (Assembly Bill 2090 of 2026). You ask the court on form GC-410, Request and Order for Waiver of Accounting, and anyone interested can still ask for an account. The page shows a hint when your figures look small enough.

You can, but you may prefer the court's portal. The Orange County Superior Court runs its own Conservatorship Accountability Portal (CAP) at capportal.occourts.org, which walks a conservator through the accounting and submits it to the court. It was built for self-represented conservators, and in October 2025 the court announced that it is opening the portal to attorneys as well. The court does not say the portal is required.

Only in this browser on this device, saved as you type. Download a backup file now and then: it opens on another computer, or here if the browser's data is ever cleared. Nothing is sent to the court from here.