Whether you need a guardianship lawyer depends less on how complicated your family is than on which of Utah’s four proceedings you are in. A parent filing for a disabled adult child pays a $35 filing fee and may not need counsel on the other side of the case at all. A contested adult guardianship involves a court-appointed attorney for the person you are petitioning about, a functional evaluation, a court visitor, and a right to trial by jury. Those are different problems with different budgets.
Last updated: September 2026
Key Takeaways
- The court filing fee is $375, or $35 when the prospective ward is your own biological or adoptive child.
- In an adult case the court appoints an attorney for the person you are petitioning about, paid from their assets.
- A petition the court finds without merit shifts the attorney fees and court costs to the petitioner.
- If you or your nominee is appointed, you are entitled to reasonable fees and costs from the incapacitated person.
- Some matters are expressly available without a lawyer, including a fee-waived expedited limited guardianship.
- A short-term arrangement for a child needs a power of attorney, not a case.
- Representation is available in the cities listed below and everywhere else in Utah.
- Jeremy Eveland builds Utah estate plans for $1,500 (will-based) or $3,500 (trust-based), quoted before work begins.
When You Need a Guardianship Lawyer
Four situations genuinely call for a guardianship lawyer.
- An adult case that anyone might contest. Section 75-5-303 builds an adversarial proceeding: the allegedly incapacitated person gets court-appointed counsel, the right to be present and hear all the evidence about their condition, the right to cross-examine the court’s health care provider and court visitor, and a right to trial by jury.
- Anything involving property. A conservatorship carries a bond unless excused, a sworn inventory within 90 days, annual accountings, and a rule in Section 75-5-419(3) under which an approved accounting adjudicates liability for what it covers.
- A minor case where a school district may object. Section 75-5-207(1)(e) requires notice to the district where the petitioner resides, and Section 75-5-206(3)(b) lets the court deny a guardianship whose primary purpose is avoiding nonresident tuition.
- A guardian who is already failing. Section 75-5-310.5(3) suspends an incumbent guardian’s authority while a temporary guardian serves, which is how a bad guardian is sidelined before a removal trial rather than after.
When You Probably Do Not Need a Guardianship Lawyer
Three routes exist precisely so a guardianship lawyer is not required.
- A short, planned absence involving a child. Section 75-5-103 lets a parent or guardian delegate any power over care, custody, or property by a properly executed power of attorney for up to six months, excluding only consent to marriage and adoption. No filing fee, no hearing.
- A Utah State Developmental Center resident. Section 75-5-316 provides an expedited limited guardianship available pro se, using the forms the section describes, and “any fee for filing a petition for a limited guardianship shall be waived.”
- A single transaction. Section 75-5-409 lets a court authorize, direct, or ratify one sale, lease, contract, or trust without appointing anyone at all.
What a Guardianship Lawyer Does at Each Stage
Most of the cost of a guardianship lawyer lands in the middle three stages, not in the drafting.
| Stage | The work | Governing section |
|---|---|---|
| Before filing | Confirm a proceeding is even needed, and which of the four tracks applies | 75-5-304(1)(b), 75-5-401(3), 75-5-409 |
| Petition | Plead a gateway or incapacity, venue, the relief sought, and why nothing less will work | 75-5-204, 75-5-303, 75-5-304(2) |
| Notice | Personal service on the right people, on a Judicial Council approved plain-language form, with proof filed | 75-5-309, 75-5-207(1), 75-1-401 |
| Evidence and hearing | The functional evaluation, the court visitor, presence of the ward, cross-examination, findings | 75-5-303(4) to (6) |
| After appointment | Letters, bond if ordered, annual reporting, moves, association issues, termination | 75-5-312, 75-5-312.5, 75-5-306 |
Notice is where petitions die. Section 75-5-309(3) requires personal service on the allegedly incapacitated person and on their spouse and parents if they can be found in Utah, and Subsection (2) requires the notice to be “in plain language and large type” on a form with final approval of the Judicial Council, listing the person’s rights, with a copy of the petition attached. Section 75-1-401 adds 10 days’ mailed or personal notice plus clerk posting in three public places for the 10 consecutive days before the hearing, with proof filed on or before the hearing. A guardianship lawyer who treats that as clerical work will lose a hearing date to it.
Which of the Four Proceedings You Are In
Utah runs four separate tracks under Title 75, Chapter 5, and a guardianship lawyer should tell you which one applies in the first meeting. Part 2 covers a guardian of a minor, on a preponderance of the evidence. Part 3 covers a guardian of an incapacitated adult, on clear and convincing evidence. Part 4 covers a conservator of the estate, which under Section 75-5-408(2) has no effect on the person’s legal capacity at all. Part 6, enacted in 2025, covers an adult with a severe intellectual disability that has existed since childhood, and Section 75-5-604(3)(b) makes that hearing remote by default.
A fifth option is not a proceeding. Sections 75-5-701 through 75-5-709, also enacted in 2025, create supported decision-making agreements, where a supporter helps a person decide without taking any authority, and Section 75-5-708(4) forbids a court from treating one as evidence of incapacity.
What a Guardianship Lawyer and the Case Cost
Filing fees come from Section 78A-2-301. The general civil filing fee is $375. Subsection (1)(b)(vii) sets it at $35 “if the petition is for guardianship and the prospective ward is the biological or adoptive child of the petitioner.” An appeal costs $240 under Subsection (1)(h).
The cost families do not budget for is the other side’s lawyer. Section 75-5-303(2)(b) requires the court to appoint an attorney for the allegedly incapacitated person unless they have their own, “the cost of which shall be paid by the allegedly incapacitated person, unless the allegedly incapacitated person and the allegedly incapacitated person’s parents are indigent.”
Then the outcome decides the rest. Section 75-5-303(2)(c) provides that a petition the court determines is without merit means the petitioner pays the attorney fees and court costs. Section 75-5-303(2)(d) entitles a petitioner whose nominee is appointed to reasonable attorney fees and court costs from the incapacitated person. Section 75-5-414 applies the same rule in a conservatorship and adds that any visitor, lawyer, physician, conservator, or special conservator appointed in a protective proceeding is entitled to reasonable compensation from the estate.
How to Choose a Guardianship Lawyer
Four questions separate a case run well from one run expensively.
- Do they ask about documents first? Section 75-5-304(1)(b) requires the court to find that appointment is “necessary or desirable as a means of providing continuing care and supervision.” An existing power of attorney and advance health care directive usually answer that, and a lawyer who does not ask is not analyzing it.
- Will they seek a limited order? Section 75-5-304(2)(a) requires the court to prefer one and to make a specific finding before granting full authority. Petitions drafted for everything get continued.
- Do they ask the evaluator for a domain-by-domain report? Section 75-5-303(4)(b) directs the health care provider to assess capabilities and limitations across three specific domains using evidence-based screening tools, and Subsection (4)(c)(ii) forbids resting the assessment mainly on the proposed guardian’s opinion.
- Do they explain the ongoing duties before you accept? Annual accountings, 10 days’ notice before moving a ward, the prohibition on restricting family contact, and penalties to $5,000 payable personally are all in Section 75-5-312.
What Happens After Appointment
A guardianship lawyer’s work does not end at the order, because the order is the beginning of a supervised fiduciary role. Section 75-5-312 requires care and residence decisions that give consideration to the ward’s preference, 10 days’ filed and served notice before a move absent an emergency, immediate notice of a hospitalization of three or more days or of death, an annual accounting above and below the $50,000 threshold excluding the residence, and compliance with National Guardianship Association standards. Section 75-5-312(7)(d) exempts a guardian who is the ward’s parent from the annual report provisions.
Section 75-5-312.5 forbids restricting an adult ward’s association with a relative or qualified acquaintance without a court order, puts the burden of proof on the guardian, and allows mandatory attorney fees plus a sanction up to $1,000 for bad faith, which may not be paid from the ward’s estate.
The full picture is on the guardianship overview and in the Utah guardianship guide. The property side is in the Utah conservatorship guide. If permanence rather than authority is the goal, compare guardianship and adoption. For an aging parent, start with elder law, and for the documents that prevent a case, the Utah estate planning guide and the advance health care directive guide.
Find a Guardianship Lawyer in Your City
Guardianship and conservatorship petitions are filed in the district court where the person resides or is present, under Sections 75-5-205 and 75-5-302. These pages cover the practice in each community:
- Beaver
- Blanding
- Bountiful
- Cedar City
- Delta
- Draper
- Elk Ridge
- Enoch
- Ephraim
- Erda
- Farmington
- Farr West
- Fillmore
- Fruit Heights
- Gunnison
- Harrisville
- Heber
- Herriman
- Hildale
- Hyde Park
- Kamas
- Kanab
- La Verkin
- Layton
- Lehi
- Logan
- Maeser
- Magna
- Manti
- Mapleton
- Midway
- Millcreek
- Moab
- Monticello
- Morgan
- Mount Pleasant
- Mountain Green
- Murray
- Naples
- Nephi
- Nibley
- North Logan
- North Ogden
- Ogden
- Orem
- Parowan
- Perry
- Plain City
- Providence
- Provo
- Richfield
- Richmond
- Riverton
- Salem
- Salina
- Salt Lake City
- Sandy
- Santa Clara
- Saratoga Springs
- Silver Summit
- Snyderville
- South Jordan
- South Salt Lake
- South Weber
- St. George
- Summit Park
- Sunset
- Taylorsville
- Vineyard
- Washington
- Wellsville
- West Bountiful
- West Jordan
- West Valley City
- White City
Representation is available statewide, including in communities not listed above. Offices are in Lindon and West Jordan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a guardianship lawyer in Utah?
Not in every case. Section 75-5-316 expressly allows a pro se, fee-waived expedited limited guardianship for a Utah State Developmental Center resident, and Section 75-5-103 lets a parent delegate authority over a child for six months with no case at all. A contested adult guardianship is a different matter.
What does it cost to file?
$375 under Section 78A-2-301(1)(a), or $35 under Subsection (1)(b)(vii) when the prospective ward is your own biological or adoptive child. An appeal is $240 under Subsection (1)(h).
Does the other person get their own lawyer?
In an adult case, yes. Section 75-5-303(2)(b) requires the court to appoint one unless they have counsel of their own choice, paid by that person unless they and their parents are indigent.
Can I recover my attorney fees?
If you or your nominee is appointed, Section 75-5-303(2)(d) entitles you to reasonable attorney fees and court costs from the incapacitated person. Section 75-5-414 does the same in a conservatorship.
What if the court denies my petition?
Section 75-5-303(2)(c) provides that where the court determines a petition is without merit, the attorney fees and court costs are paid by the person who filed it.
Where is the case filed?
In the district court where the minor or the allegedly incapacitated person resides or is present, under Sections 75-5-205 and 75-5-302. For a conservatorship, Section 75-5-403 also allows any county where a nonresident has property.
How fast can I get authority in an emergency?
Section 75-5-310 allows an emergency guardian to be appointed without notice for up to 30 days, with a hearing within 14 days on an interested person’s request.
Do you handle cases outside these cities?
Yes. The pages above cover specific communities, but representation is available throughout Utah from offices in Lindon and West Jordan.
Before hiring anyone, it is worth one conversation about whether a signed document does the job instead. If a petition is genuinely needed, it should be drafted to survive the fee-shifting rule rather than trigger it.
Schedule a consultation or call (801) 613-1472. Offices in Lindon and West Jordan, Utah.
This article is general information about Utah law, not legal advice for your situation. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Statutory provisions are current as of the date above.