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MPC 853, the Account

Massachusetts’s account for a conservator. It shows each asset at book value and at market value.

By Fidura staff. Last reviewed .

Who files
The conservator
The same form serves personal representatives and trustees.
When it’s due
One year after appointment, then every year
Unless the court orders otherwise. G.L. c. 190B §5-418(a) (opens in a new tab) MPC 730 (opens in a new tab)
Where
The Probate and Family Court division that appointed you
With a Petition for Allowance of Account, MPC 857.
The form
Form MPC 853
The court’s copy (PDF) (opens in a new tab)

Your first account must be presented for allowance within 15 months of the decree appointing you, unless the court orders otherwise. MPC 730 (opens in a new tab)

What you need

Have your last account or the inventory, the year’s statements, and records for every receipt and payment. Page 2 asks what services the protected person received and whether the conservatorship should continue. §5-418(c) (opens in a new tab)

MPC 853a, the Account Without Schedules, is the first two pages alone. Use it when you attach schedules A, B and C of your own. The court’s copy (PDF) (opens in a new tab)

The example follows Lucille Pemberton, an invented protected person whose conservator was appointed 03/12/2024. This is her second annual account, covering 03/12/2025 to 03/11/2026.

Schedule A less Schedule B is the balance on hand

Schedule A is what you started with and took in. Schedule B is what went out. Schedule C shows where the balance sits, at book value: each asset at the value it came in at. G.L. c. 206 §2 (opens in a new tab)

Lucille Pemberton, invented protected person · Schedule A less Schedule B
Balance of prior account$311,740.15
Receipts and income22,302.40
Gain on sale415.00
Schedule A$334,457.55
Schedule B, payments22,136.85
Schedule C, balance on hand at book value$312,320.70

Where the figures came from

Schedule A
Balance of prior account$311,740.15
Social Security, $1,462.00 × 1217,544.00
Pension, $388.50 × 124,662.00
Savings interest96.40
Gain on fund sale415.00
Schedule A$334,457.55
Schedule B
Home care agency, $1,250.00 × 1215,000.00
Property tax3,812.60
Homeowner’s insurance1,346.00
Pharmacy588.25
Bond premium240.00
Attorney, first account1,150.00
Schedule B$22,136.85
Schedule C, book value
Checking6,724.30
Savings14,596.40
Mutual fund, 100 shares at $60.006,000.00
House285,000.00
Book value$312,320.70

The sale

Lucille’s fund shares came in at $60.00 each. Her conservator sold 50 for $3,415.00. Those shares were already in the prior balance at $3,000.00, so only the $415.00 gain goes on Schedule A. A loss would go on Schedule B.

Market value beside book value

Schedule C also has a market value column. The fund was worth $71.20 a share at year end and the house $310,000.00, so market value totals $338,440.70. Only book value ties to A less B.

Take market value at the end of the period, or on a date no more than six months before it. State how you valued the house, such as an appraisal or the assessed value. Rule 72A (opens in a new tab)

Getting it allowed

File the account with a Petition for Allowance of Account, MPC 857, and the fees. If every interested person signs an assent, the court may allow it without further notice. Otherwise the court issues a citation, which you serve on each of them. If the protected person receives VA benefits, the VA is served too. Rule 72 (opens in a new tab)

If no one but you speaks for the protected person, the court appoints a guardian ad litem to review the account. §5-418(d) (opens in a new tab)

The account’s fee turns on Schedule A’s value for each year covered. Lucille’s $334,457.55 falls in the band up to $500,000, so the fee is $150. The petition adds $75 and a $15 surcharge, and a citation $15. Probate and Family Court filing fees (opens in a new tab)

Once allowed, and after the time to appeal passes, the account settles your liability for what it shows. §5-418(a) (opens in a new tab) MPC 857 (PDF) (opens in a new tab)

The final account

The same form, with Final ticked on the cover. Nothing is left on hand, so Schedule A less Schedule B is zero. It goes with a Petition for Order of Complete Settlement, MPC 860, which lists who receives what.

If the protected person dies, you distribute the estate to their successors. The final account and the petition for discharge are due within 30 days after that distribution. G.L. c. 190B §5-429(e) (opens in a new tab)

Common mistakes

Sale proceeds counted as receipts

The prior balance already holds what you sold. Only the gain goes on Schedule A, or the loss on B.

Market value in the balance

Next year’s first line is this year’s Schedule C book value. Market value goes in its own column and ties to nothing.

Leaving out the house

A conservator’s account includes real estate. On the first account, Schedule A starts from the inventory’s personal property and real estate together.

“Cash” or “miscellaneous” as a category

You may group like payments on Schedule B, but the form doesn’t accept “cash” or “miscellaneous” as a group. Name the payee and the purpose.

Entries without numbers

Number every entry in order within its schedule. Rule 72A (opens in a new tab)

Sources

Also for Massachusetts: MPC 854, Inventory

We make Fidura, guardianship accounting software built on a reconciled register for each ward. See the product

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