How to Fill Out the GC-314 Confidential Conservator Screening Form

The GC-314 Confidential Conservator Screening Form is a California Judicial Council form that anyone asking to be appointed a probate conservator must complete, sign under penalty of perjury, and file with the probate court alongside the GC-310 petition. It tells the judge who you are, whether you have a criminal or financial history that bears on fitness, and what prior fiduciary roles you’ve held. The form stays confidential and never appears in the public case file.¹

Where to Get the Form

Download GC-314 as a fillable PDF from the California Courts self-help site at courts.ca.gov.² A printed copy is also available at the probate clerk’s window in your local superior court. You can type into the PDF fields, but the form requires a wet signature under penalty of perjury, so print it before signing unless your court’s e-filing system accepts electronic signatures.

What to Gather Before You Start

The questions reach into corners of your life most people don’t carry in their heads. Pull this together first:

Your full legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, and driver’s license number with the issuing state.
How you know the proposed conservatee, how long you’ve known them, and your relationship (spouse, domestic partner, relative, or unrelated).
Any money owed in either direction between you and the proposed conservatee, and any creditor of theirs you represent.
Any felony conviction, including ones later expunged.
Any charge, arrest, or conviction for theft, embezzlement, fraud, misrepresentation, elder abuse, or neglect, with no time limit.
Any restraining or protective order filed against you in the last ten years.
Any bankruptcy petition you filed in the last ten years.
Whether you’re required to register as a sex offender under California Penal Code section 290, and whether anyone living in your home has that obligation.
Every prior appointment as a conservator, guardian, executor, or other fiduciary, and whether you were ever removed or resigned.
Your Professional Fiduciaries Bureau license status, if you hold one.

If any of those items will produce a yes answer on the form, draft a short written explanation now. You’ll attach it later.

Working Through the Form

The caption at the top asks for the court name, the proposed conservatee’s name, and the case number. If you’re filing everything at once and don’t have a case number yet, leave that line blank. The clerk assigns it on acceptance.

Items 1 Through 5: Who You Are and How You’re Connected

Item 1 collects your personal identifiers. Item 2 asks the relationship and how long you’ve known the proposed conservatee. Item 3 asks whether the conservatee, their spouse or domestic partner, or a parent nominated you. Items 4 and 5 cover marital and domestic-partnership status. If you’re the conservatee’s spouse, disclose any divorce, legal separation, or annulment filing. If you’re a current or former domestic partner, say whether the partnership has been or will be terminated.³

Items 6 and 7: Money

Item 6 asks about debts flowing either direction between you and the proposed conservatee, and whether you represent any of their creditors. The court weighs this carefully because a financial stake in the conservatee’s money creates a conflict. Item 7 asks whether you’ve filed bankruptcy in the last ten years. A past bankruptcy doesn’t automatically disqualify you, but the court will want to understand what happened before putting you in charge of someone else’s estate.³

Items 8 Through 13: Criminal and Safety History

The court scrutinizes this block most closely. Each item isolates a specific concern:

Item 8: felony convictions, including any that have been expunged.
Item 9: charges, arrests, or convictions for embezzlement, theft, or any other crime involving taking property.
Item 10: charges, arrests, or convictions for fraud, conspiracy, or misrepresentation.
Item 11: charges, arrests, or convictions for any form of elder abuse or neglect.
Item 12: restraining or protective orders filed against you in the last ten years.
Item 13: whether you must register as a sex offender under Penal Code section 290.

Items 8 through 11 have no time limit. You must disclose charges, arrests, and convictions regardless of how long ago they occurred, and that includes arrests that never led to prosecution. Items 7 and 12 are the ones capped at ten years.

Items 14 Through 16: Fiduciary History and Conflicts

Item 14 asks about prior service as a conservator, executor, or other fiduciary. Item 15 asks whether you were ever removed or resigned. A voluntary resignation to care for a family member reads very differently from a court-ordered removal for mismanagement, so be specific. Item 16 covers any adverse interest that could interfere with your ability to serve faithfully, such as a pending lawsuit against the conservatee or a conflicting business relationship.³

Items 17 Through 20: Professional Status and Household

Items 17 and 18 apply to licensed professional fiduciaries, meaning people who take conservator or guardian appointments as a business. If you’re a family member or friend, check the boxes stating you are not a professional fiduciary and not licensed by the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau. Item 19 asks whether you’re a California nonprofit charitable corporation qualified under Probate Code section 2104. Item 20 asks whether anyone living in your home must register as a sex offender. Then sign and date the declaration under penalty of perjury.³

Attachments for Every “I Have” Answer

A checked “I have” box without an explanation is almost guaranteed to trigger a continuance. For every yes, prepare a separate page labeled with the matching item number (for example, “Attachment 14” for prior fiduciary appointments). Describe what happened, when, and the outcome. For a prior appointment, include the court, case number, and the role. For a criminal matter, state the charge, the date, the disposition, and any sentence completed. Honesty paired with context is what the court is looking for; disclosed issues with clear explanations are treated far more leniently than omissions the investigator later uncovers.³

Filing the Form

Submit the signed GC-314 to the probate clerk with your GC-310 petition and the rest of the packet. Most California superior courts accept filings in person at the clerk’s window or through an electronic filing portal. The clerk separates GC-314 from the public file and stores it so your Social Security number, criminal history, and other sensitive information stay out of the public record.¹

Expect a filing fee when you submit the petition. For an initial conservatorship of the person, estate, or both, the fee is typically around $1,085, which in many courts includes the probate investigation fee. Some courts set lower fees for certain nomination-based or subsequent petitions, and local surcharges vary, so confirm the current amount with your probate clerk. If you can’t afford the fee, file a fee waiver request (form FW-001) at the same time.

What the Court Does With It

Once the filing is processed, the court assigns an investigator to review your GC-314. The investigator uses your Social Security number and driver’s license number to run criminal and financial background checks, verifying what you disclosed and looking for anything you didn’t. The investigator typically interviews the proposed conservatee, sometimes interviews you, and files a written report with the judge.³

If the investigator turns up undisclosed criminal history, financial problems, or other red flags, the judge may require additional hearings, request supplemental information, or deny the petition outright. The investigator’s report carries significant weight in the final decision.

Common Mistakes That Delay the Case

Leaving a question blank instead of checking “I have not” is the most common error. The clerk and investigator can’t tell whether you skipped the item or forgot, and the form often comes back as incomplete. Forgetting an attachment for an “I have” response runs a close second. A bare checkmark next to a felony disclosure, with no explanation, will almost always trigger a continuance.

Disclosing only convictions while omitting arrests is another frequent mistake. Items 9 through 11 ask about charges and arrests in addition to convictions, so an arrest that didn’t lead to prosecution still has to be reported. Finally, confirm that the name and identifiers on GC-314 match what appears on your GC-310 petition exactly. Mismatched names or Social Security numbers create confusion during the background check and can slow the entire case.

1
Judicial Branch of California. Rule 7.1050 Conservator Forms
2
California Courts. Confidential Conservator Screening Form (GC-314)
3
Judicial Council of California. GC-314 Confidential Conservator Screening Form