Conservator

A person or entity appointed by a court to manage the property and financial affairs of another person (usually someone who is incompetent). For example, an adult daughter may be appointed as the conservator for her father who is suffering from advanced Alzheimer's disease. Sometimes called a guardian.

A Preserver, Protector.

Before the institution of the office of justices of the peace in England, the public order was maintained by officers who bore the name of conservators of the peace. All judges, justices, sheriffs and constables are conservators of the peace and are bound, ex officio, to be aiding and assisting in preserving older.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.