Judging from the fact that Yoshikado was appointed to a government post in the Department of the Imperial Household, it is thought that he was alive when the forces of Yoshitomo occupied the Imperial Palace temporarily during the Heiji War, installed to the government position at the time, and died when the Genji clan was defeated soon after the event (Source: "Seiwa-Genji no Zen Kakei" [The Whole Family Tree of Seiwa-Genji] by Takayuki OKUTOMI).
ただ宮内丞の官職に任じられていることから、平治の乱で一時的に義朝軍が内裏を占拠した際には存命しており、その際に任官したのではないか、そして直後の源氏軍敗北の中において戦死したのではないか、などと推測されている（出典・奥富敬之著「清和源氏の全家系」）。