A guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families hire helps a court decide who may legally make decisions for a child or an incapacitated adult. In Utah, that authority comes only from a district court order under Utah Code Title 75, Chapter 5, and the court must prefer the narrowest guardianship that still protects the person.
Last updated: August 2026
Key Takeaways
- Guardianship over an adult requires clear and convincing evidence of incapacity, and Utah Code 75-5-304 tells the judge to prefer a limited guardianship and grant a full one only when nothing less will do.
- Guardianship of a minor is a different statute with different tests. A child 14 or older gets to nominate their own guardian under 75-5-206, and the court must follow that choice unless it is contrary to the child’s best interests.
- Utah rewrote this area of law in 2025. Chapter 543 of the 2025 session added a statutory definition set and a separate track for adults with severe intellectual disability, Chapter 533 created supported decision-making agreements, and 75-5-303 was amended again in 2026.
- Guardianship is not the only option. A durable power of attorney, an advance health care directive, a special needs trust, or a supported decision-making agreement can each remove the need for a court case, and a judge is required to consider whether one of them is enough.
- Herriman sits in southwestern Salt Lake County, so a Herriman guardianship petition is filed in the Third Judicial District under Utah Code 78A-1-102.
- The job does not end at the hearing. A guardian owes annual reporting, and a court may impose a penalty of up to $5,000 under 75-5-312 for a substantial misstatement or a willful failure to file.
Guardianship Lawyer Herriman Utah: The Short Version
If you only read one section, read this one. The table below is the answer set that a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families call would give you in the first fifteen minutes of a consultation.
| Question | Short answer | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Who can file? | The allegedly incapacitated person, or any person interested in that person’s welfare | 75-5-303(1) |
| What must be proved for an adult? | Incapacity, by clear and convincing evidence, plus that the appointment is necessary or desirable | 75-5-304(1) |
| What must be proved for a minor? | Parental consent, terminated rights, or a parent unwilling or unable, plus best interests, by a preponderance | 75-5-204, 75-5-207(2) |
| Does the person get a lawyer? | Yes, appointed unless they already have one, with narrow exceptions | 75-5-303(2)(b) |
| Full or limited? | Limited is preferred, full only if no other alternative exists | 75-5-304(2)(a) |
| Where is a Herriman case filed? | Third Judicial District, Salt Lake County | 78A-1-102(1)(c) |
| How fast can it move in an emergency? | Emergency guardian without notice, capped at 30 days | 75-5-310(1) |
| What happens after appointment? | Annual status report, plus accounting duties keyed to a $50,000 estate threshold | 75-5-312(2) |
Everything below expands those eight answers. A guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah residents hire should be able to walk through this table from memory and then tell you which row your situation turns on.
What a Guardianship Lawyer Herriman Utah Families Hire Actually Does
Most people who search for a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah arrive at the question through a crisis rather than a plan. A parent in Herriman is diagnosed with dementia and the bank will no longer talk to the family. A grandchild moves in and the school will not enroll the child without proof of legal authority. A young adult with a developmental disability turns 18 and, overnight, the parents who have made every medical decision for eighteen years have no legal standing at all.
A guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah residents work with does four things in those situations. First, the lawyer figures out whether a guardianship is actually required, because in a large share of cases it is not. Second, if it is required, the lawyer scopes it, meaning the lawyer decides what powers to ask for and, just as importantly, what powers to leave alone. Third, the lawyer builds the evidentiary record the statute demands and moves the case through the Third District Court. Fourth, and this is the part families rarely anticipate, the lawyer sets the guardian up to survive the years of reporting duties that follow the order.
That last piece matters, and it is the reason a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families keep long term is worth more than one who disappears after the hearing. A guardianship order is not a trophy. It is an ongoing fiduciary appointment supervised by a judge, and Utah has been tightening that supervision steadily.
Utah law directs that a court “shall prefer a limited guardianship and may only grant a full guardianship if no other alternative exists,” and requires a specific finding that nothing less than full guardianship is adequate.
Read that provision carefully, because it inverts the assumption most families walk in with. The default is not “we take over.” The default is “we take over as little as possible.” A petition that asks for everything, with no explanation of why less would fail, invites the judge to send you back to redraft it.
Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Power of Attorney Compared
The first thing any guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families meet with has to untangle is vocabulary, because four different legal tools get used interchangeably in ordinary conversation.
Four different legal tools get lumped together in ordinary conversation, and confusing them wastes months. A guardian makes decisions about the person: where they live, what medical care they receive, what services they get. A conservator manages the estate: bank accounts, real property, benefits, investments. One person can hold both roles, but they are separate appointments with separate statutes and separate reports.
A power of attorney is different in kind. It is a private document the person signs while they still have capacity, and it requires no judge, no hearing, and no annual filing. A supported decision-making agreement, new to Utah in 2025, goes further in the other direction: the person keeps every legal right and simply gives named supporters standing to gather information and sit in on discussions.
| Tool | Who creates it | What it covers | Court involved | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guardianship | District court order | Personal, medical, residential decisions | Yes, plus ongoing reports | An adult already incapacitated, or a minor whose parents cannot act |
| Conservatorship | District court order | Money, property, benefits, investments | Yes, plus annual accountings | Assets that will be wasted or dissipated without management |
| Durable power of attorney | The individual, while competent | Whatever the document grants | No | Planning ahead, before capacity is lost |
| Advance health care directive | The individual, while competent | Health care decisions and end-of-life wishes | No | Naming a medical agent and recording treatment preferences |
| Supported decision-making agreement | The individual, voluntarily | Information access and decision support only | No | An adult who can still decide but needs help understanding options |
The practical rule of thumb is simple. If the person still has capacity, every one of the non-court tools is better, faster, and cheaper. If capacity is already gone, the private tools are no longer available, and the court is the only door left. That single fork is why incapacity planning done early is worth so much more than emergency litigation done late.
Does Your Herriman Situation Actually Need a Guardianship?
Before filing anything, a good guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families consult will pressure test the premise. Utah’s own courts publish a page on alternatives to guardianship, and the list is longer than most families expect.
A durable power of attorney. If the person still understands the nature and effect of the document, they can sign one today. Capacity is decision-specific, not global. A person who cannot manage a stock portfolio may still be entirely capable of choosing who they trust. This is the single most common missed opportunity, and it is why the question of whether it is too late for a power of attorney after a dementia diagnosis deserves an honest answer rather than an assumption.
A representative payee. If the only problem is that Social Security or VA benefits are being mismanaged, the agency itself can appoint a representative payee. No court case, no filing fee, no annual accounting to a judge.
A supported decision-making agreement. Utah Code 75-5-702 describes the purpose plainly: to let a supporter help gather information, understand options, and communicate decisions, but expressly “not to substitute as the decision maker.” The statute goes further and provides that a court “may not consider an individual’s execution of a supported decision-making agreement as evidence of the individual’s incapacity.” That protection matters, because it removes the fear that accepting help will be used against the person later.
A trust. Where the concern is assets rather than daily decisions, a revocable trust with a competent successor trustee, or a special needs trust for a beneficiary receiving means-tested benefits, can solve the whole problem without a conservatorship. See our discussion of Medicaid asset protection and long-term care planning for how those pieces fit together.
A parental delegation. Utah Code 75-5-103 lets a parent or guardian delegate care, custody, and property powers by a properly executed power of attorney for up to six months. It cannot delegate consent to marriage or to adoption of a minor ward. For a summer with grandparents, a semester away, or a military deployment, this is often all that is needed.
A guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families trust will walk this list before drafting a petition. Each of these is a real answer, not a stalling tactic. Filing a guardianship petition that the facts do not support costs money, exposes the family to a contested hearing, and, under Utah Code 75-5-303(2)(c), can leave the petitioner personally paying the attorney fees and court costs if the court determines the petition was without merit.
Guardianship of a Minor: What a Guardianship Lawyer Herriman Utah Parents Hire Will Check
A guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah parents hire for a minor works from an entirely different part of the statute. Guardianship of a child under 18 runs on Part 2 of the chapter, and it is far more forgiving than the adult track. There is no incapacity finding, no court visitor, and no clear and convincing standard. The court applies a preponderance of the evidence test and asks whether the appointment serves the child’s welfare and best interests.
Under 75-5-204, a court may appoint a guardian for an unemancipated minor in three situations: each parent acknowledges understanding the legal effect and consents, all parental rights have been terminated, or each parent is unwilling or unable to exercise parental rights for any reason. That third path is the one that carries most grandparent and kinship cases in Salt Lake County.
Several details catch families off guard:
- The child’s own choice carries weight. If the minor is 14 or older, 75-5-206(2) says the court shall appoint the person the minor nominates unless that appointment would be contrary to the child’s best interests.
- The school district is a party to the notice. Under 75-5-207(1)(e), notice goes to the school district where the petitioner resides, and a district representative may participate in the hearing. This surprises nearly every petitioner.
- Notice also goes to whoever has had the child. The person with principal care and custody during the 60 days before the petition must be notified, along with any living parent and any guardian named in the will or written instrument of the last parent to die.
- A parent’s written nomination outranks the court’s own pick. A guardian appointed by will under 75-5-202 or by written instrument under 75-5-202.5 has priority, unless that person fails to accept within 30 days after notice of the proceeding.
- Temporary appointments are capped. The authority of a temporary guardian of a minor may not last longer than six months.
- It ends on its own. Under 75-5-210, the appointment terminates on the minor’s death, adoption, marriage, or attainment of majority, though it does not erase liability for prior acts or the duty to account.
A guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah grandparents hire will usually spend the first meeting on that 60-day notice question alone. Venue itself is straightforward. Under 75-5-205, guardianship proceedings for a minor are brought where the minor resides or is present. For a Herriman child, that is Salt Lake County.
One more distinction worth naming, because it is the single most common misconception: guardianship is not adoption. Guardianship leaves the parent-child legal relationship intact and can be modified or terminated; adoption permanently severs it. We compare the two directly in guardianship versus adoption in Utah, and an adoption lawyer in Herriman handles the other side of that fork.
What “Incapacitated” Means Before a Judge Will Act
No single question decides more adult cases, and it is the first thing a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families consult will test against the record you actually have.
For adults, everything a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families hire does turns on a single defined term. Utah Code 75-1-201(25) defines “incapacitated” as an adult whose ability to do the following is functionally impaired to the extent that the individual lacks the ability, even with appropriate technological assistance, to meet the essential requirements for financial protection or physical health, safety, or self-care:
- receive and evaluate information; or
- make and communicate decisions; or
- provide for necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, health care, or safety.
Three features of that definition decide most cases. It is functional, not diagnostic, so a diagnosis alone proves nothing. It is measured with assistive technology in place, so a communication device, a hearing aid, or a medication schedule that restores function defeats the petition. And it is tied to essential requirements, not to good judgment, so a person who makes choices the family dislikes is not thereby incapacitated.
The court may appoint a health care provider to examine the person’s functional capabilities and limitations and file a written report using evidence-based screening tools. Critically, 75-5-303(4)(c) forbids that provider from basing the assessment “solely or predominately on the opinion of the person seeking appointment as guardian.” A letter from a physician who only ever spoke to the petitioning daughter is weak evidence, and an experienced guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families retain will fix that gap before filing rather than after.
The Adult Guardianship Process Step by Step
Here is the sequence a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah clients retain will run, in order.
Utah’s process is prescribed in detail, which is both the burden and the protection a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families rely on works within. Skipping a step does not speed things up; it produces a continuance.
- Gather functional evidence. Statements from people who know the person, and an evaluation from a physician, psychologist, or other qualified provider, addressed to function rather than diagnosis.
- File the petition. Any allegedly incapacitated person, or any person interested in their welfare, may petition. The filing package includes a probate cover sheet, the petition, a schedule of everyone who must be notified, notices of hearing and rights, proposed findings and order, the acceptance of appointment, and a private information record.
- Counsel is appointed. Unless the person already has their own attorney, the court appoints one, and the cost is paid by the allegedly incapacitated person unless that person and their parents are indigent. There is a narrow exception in 75-5-303(6)(e) that applies only when a tight list of conditions is met, including an estate of $20,000 or less and no volunteer attorney available within 60 days.
- Notice goes out. Under 75-5-309, the respondent, spouse, parents, and adult children get notice, as does anyone serving as guardian or conservator or having care and custody, and Adult Protective Services if a referral has been made. The respondent, spouse, and parents in Utah must be served personally. Everyone else is served under 75-1-401, which sets a 10-day minimum before the hearing.
- A court visitor or evaluation may be ordered. The court may appoint a court visitor, defined in the 2025 amendments as an individual trained in law, nursing, or social work with no personal interest in the proceeding, to interview the proposed guardian, visit the residence, and report in writing.
- The respondent attends. The statute says the allegedly incapacitated person shall be present and see or hear all evidence. Presence can only be waived if counsel represents them, a court visitor investigates at the petitioner’s expense, and the court finds no reasonable accommodation would allow participation.
- The hearing. The respondent may present evidence, cross-examine the court-appointed provider and the visitor, and demand a jury. The burden on the petitioner is clear and convincing evidence.
- Findings and letters. If the court grants the petition, it enters findings, signs an order defining the powers granted, and issues letters of guardianship. For a limited guardianship, the limitations must be stated in the order and normally in the letters as well.
A guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah petitioners retain will handle steps two through eight. The Utah courts publish an adult guardianship flowchart and a full step-by-step self-help page. Both are useful. Neither substitutes for someone who has stood in front of the judge.
What Utah Changed in 2025 and 2026
Ask any prospective guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families are interviewing about these amendments. A blank look is diagnostic.
This is the part where stale articles mislead people, so it is worth being specific. Utah’s guardianship chapter was reworked heavily in the 2025 general session and touched again in 2026.
| Change | Where it lives | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| A new chapter-wide definitions section | 75-5-101.1, enacted by Chapter 543, 2025 | Defines full guardianship, limited guardianship, legal decision-making, joint legal decision-making, letters of guardianship, court visitor, and specialized care professional |
| Expanded rights for the person | 75-5-301.5 | For guardianships granted on or after May 7, 2025, a longer list of rights applies, including the right to counsel after appointment and to have a court review any request for payment by a guardian |
| A separate track for severe intellectual disability | Part 6, 75-5-601 and following | Applies only where a physician or psychologist letter indicates a lifelong severe intellectual disability, and displaces Part 3 for those cases |
| Supported decision-making agreements | Part 7, 75-5-704, enacted by Chapter 533, 2025 | Creates a statutory least-restrictive alternative, and bars a court from treating the agreement as evidence of incapacity |
| Health care decision notice | 75-5-304(4), amended by Chapter 338, 2025 | When health care powers are granted, the order must name any interested person the guardian must notify of significant care or treatment |
| Procedural amendments | 75-5-303, amended by Chapter 265, 2026 | Refines the appointment procedure, including the narrow conditions under which counsel is not required |
The practical consequence for anyone hiring a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah side of the valley is that forms, orders, and letters drafted from a pre-2025 template can be wrong on their face. If the order does not name the notice recipient required by 75-5-304(4), or the letters of limited guardianship do not state the limitations, expect the clerk or the judge to bounce it back.
Emergency and Temporary Guardianship When You Cannot Wait
This is the call a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families make at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon, and Utah gives two distinct answers to it.
Sometimes there is no time for a full hearing. A parent is hospitalized, a discharge planner needs a decision by Friday, and no power of attorney exists. Utah has two separate mechanisms, and they are easy to confuse.
Emergency guardianship under 75-5-310 is available where an incapacitated person has no guardian and an emergency exists, or where an appointed guardian is not effectively performing and the person’s welfare requires immediate action. The court may act without notice, and the appointment is capped at 30 days pending notice and hearing. If an interested person asks after an emergency appointment, the court must hold a hearing within 14 days.
Temporary guardianship under 75-5-310.5 comes after notice and hearing, on a finding of good cause. A temporary guardian has all the powers and duties of a permanent guardian, may not permit the ward to be removed from the state, and suspends the authority of any previously appointed permanent guardian while it is in force.
The Utah courts maintain a dedicated page on emergency guardianship for an adult. If the emergency involves suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation, that is a separate and immediate call. Utah Code 26B-6-205 requires any person who has reason to believe a vulnerable adult is being abused, neglected, or exploited to notify Adult Protective Services or the nearest law enforcement office. The statewide APS intake line is 1-800-371-7897, and 911 for an emergency in progress.
The 17-and-a-Half Rule a Guardianship Lawyer Herriman Utah Parents Should Never Miss
This is the deadline families miss most often, and it is entirely avoidable. When a child with a significant disability turns 18, the parents’ legal authority evaporates. The school stops sharing records. The doctor stops taking calls. The bank freezes the account.
Utah Code 75-5-317 anticipates that cliff. A person eligible to serve as guardian of an incapacitated person may start proceedings for a minor who is at least 17 years, six months old and alleged to be incapacitated, and may ask that the guardianship order take effect immediately on the day the minor turns 18.
The petition must include a written evaluation by a physician or psychologist covering the diagnosis, a comprehensive assessment of functional impairments, an explanation of how those impairments prevent the person from receiving or evaluating information or communicating informed decisions, and an analysis of the tasks of daily living. If that evaluation was done within six months before filing, the petitioner may ask the court to accept it in place of ordering a fresh one, and the court may grant that request.
A guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families see about a transition-age student should be raising this at the individualized education program meeting, not after graduation. Filing at 17 years and 6 months means the order can be in place on the birthday. Filing at 18 years and 2 months means months of legal limbo at exactly the moment services are transitioning. Utah’s courts publish separate guidance on guardianship of an adult child, and the filing fee for that case type is unusually low, discussed below.
Guardianship for an Adult With a Severe Intellectual Disability
This is the newest track in the chapter, and a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families work with needs to know when it applies and when it does not.
Part 6 of the chapter, enacted in 2025, creates a distinct route. Under 75-5-601, an “individual with a severe intellectual disability” means an adult who has lifelong functional limitations to the extent that the adult is incapacitated and who has received a diagnosis from a physician or psychologist of a severe intellectual disability that has existed since the adult was a minor. The definition expressly excludes an adult who had capacity at one time or may regain it.
That exclusion is the whole point. Part 6 is not a shortcut for dementia cases, brain injury cases, or mental illness cases. Those remain on the Part 3 track. Under 75-5-602, Part 6 applies only where a signed physician or psychologist letter or report indicates severe intellectual disability, and where it applies, Part 3 generally does not.
A separate expedited path exists in 75-5-316 for residents of the Utah State Developmental Center, where “limited guardianship” is defined narrowly as consent for medical care and participation in approval of the ward’s individualized program plan, and where the filing fee is waived. Families in this situation should also read our guidance on guardianship and special needs adults and on special needs trusts, since the benefits side of the plan usually needs attention at the same moment.
Who the Court Will Appoint, and in What Order
Families routinely assume the person who files gets appointed. A guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah petitioners hire will check the statutory priority list before anyone files anything.
Utah does not simply pick the family member who filed first. 75-5-311 puts the incapacitated person’s own most recent written nomination at the top, ahead of every relative, unless that nominee is disqualified or the court finds other good cause. The statute even supplies the form language for a Nomination of Guardian by an Adult.
| Priority | Who | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Top | The person’s own most recent written, signed nomination made before incapacity | Court shall follow it absent disqualification or good cause |
| 1 | Someone nominated by the person by other means | Only if the person was 14 or older and had sufficient mental capacity when nominating |
| 2 | Spouse | |
| 3 | Adult child | |
| 4 | Parent, including a person nominated by a deceased parent’s will or signed writing | |
| 5 | A relative the person has lived with for more than six months before the petition | |
| 6 | A person nominated by whoever is caring for the person or paying benefits | |
| 7 | A specialized care professional | Subject to conflict-of-interest restrictions in the statute |
Two takeaways follow, and a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families consult early will press both. First, a one-page nomination signed today by a Herriman resident who still has capacity is worth more than any argument their children will make later. Second, when siblings disagree about who should serve, the fight is usually resolved by statutory priority plus a good-cause showing, not by who cares most. Our page on who to name as power of attorney in Utah walks through the same selection judgment in the private-document context.
What a Guardian Must Actually Do After the Order
The hearing is the beginning, not the end. 75-5-312 loads the appointment with continuing duties, and a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah clients keep on call earns the fee in this phase as much as at the hearing.
- Encourage participation. The guardian must encourage the ward, to the extent practicable, to participate in decisions, exercise self-determination, act on their own behalf, and develop or regain capacity, and must consider the ward’s expressed desires, preferences, and personal values.
- Notify before moving the ward. Unless emergency conditions exist, the guardian must file notice of intent to move the ward and serve it on all interested persons at least 10 days before the move.
- Notify on hospitalization and death. Immediate notice is required to persons who request it of a hospital admission of three or more days or entry into hospice, of the ward’s death, and of arrangements for disposition of remains. Notice to all interested persons is required if the guardian reasonably believes death is likely within the next 10 days.
- Account annually. If no conservator has been appointed, an estate over $50,000 excluding the ward’s residence requires an annual report with a full accounting; an estate under that threshold requires an informal annual report mailed to the court. Either way, an annual report on the ward’s status, physical and mental condition, residence, and household is required.
- Do not self-deal. The guardian may not use estate funds for room and board furnished by the guardian or the guardian’s spouse, parent, or child unless the court approves the charge on notice.
- Follow national standards. The statute requires compliance with National Guardianship Association standards to the extent applicable.
A Utah court may impose a penalty of up to $5,000 on a guardian who makes a substantial misstatement on annual report filings, is guilty of gross impropriety in handling the ward’s property, or willfully fails to file a required report after written notice and a two-month grace period, and may order restitution of misappropriated funds.
Rights the Person Keeps, Even Under a Guardianship
Guardianship is not a transfer of personhood, and a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah wards and their relatives contact will say so first. 75-5-301.5 lists rights that survive appointment, and for guardianships granted on or after May 7, 2025, the list is longer. It includes the right to counsel at any time after appointment, to have a relative, physician, physician assistant, or other interested person raise concerns at any hearing, to receive copies of everything filed, to ask questions and complain to the court about the guardian, to be granted the greatest degree of freedom consistent with the reasons for the guardianship, to services at a reasonable rate of compensation, and to have the court review any payment request to avoid excessive, unnecessary, or duplicative billing.
One right generates more disputes than all the others combined, and it is the reason a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah relatives call is often hired by the family member on the outside rather than the guardian. Under 75-5-312.5, a guardian may not restrict or prohibit an adult ward’s association with a relative or qualified acquaintance absent a court order. “Relative” is defined broadly to include a spouse, parent, step-parent, child, step-child, sibling, step-sibling, half-sibling, grandparent, grandchild, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, or first cousin. “Qualified acquaintance” covers a person with a significant mutual friendship and also clergy in the ward’s religion or congregation. If the ward cannot express consent to a visit, consent is presumed from evidence of a prior relationship.
A guardian who wants to limit contact must petition, either as part of the initial proceeding or afterward, and a guardian found to have filed such a petition frivolously or in bad faith is subject to removal under 75-5-307(2)(e). Families locked out of a parent’s care home should understand that Utah law is on the side of contact, not against it.
Conservatorship: When the Problem Is the Money
A guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families call about a parent’s bank account is often really being asked for a conservatorship, which is a different appointment under a different part of the chapter.
When the real issue is a bank account, a house, a settlement, or an inheritance rather than daily care, the tool is a conservatorship or another protective order under Part 4. 75-5-401 lets the court act for a minor who owns money or property needing management, and for an adult who both is unable to manage property and affairs effectively for reasons such as mental illness, mental deficiency, physical illness or disability, chronic use of drugs, chronic intoxication, confinement, detention by a foreign power, or disappearance, and has property that will be wasted or dissipated without management or needs funds for support.
Note the conjunction, because a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families hire will read it closely. Inability alone is not enough. There must be property at risk or a support need. A person with no assets and no income beyond a benefits check rarely needs a conservator, which is exactly the situation a representative payee solves.
Priority for appointment under 75-5-410 tracks the guardianship priorities, again putting the protected person’s own signed nomination near the top. The court may also require a bond, and under 75-5-105 a guardian who comes into possession of a ward’s funds may be required to post one on the same terms as a conservator. Our overview of probate conservatorship and the difference between guardianship of the person versus the estate covers this split in more detail.
What a Guardianship Lawyer Herriman Utah Case Costs
Court filing fees are public and fixed. Attorney fees are not, and they vary with whether the case is contested. Here is what the Utah state courts publish, effective May 6, 2026:
| Item | Fee | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Original petition not otherwise governed by another subsection | $375.00 | The general district court petition fee |
| Guardianship of an Adult Disabled Child | $35.00 | The reduced fee that makes the 17-and-a-half filing so worthwhile |
| Expedited limited guardianship, Utah State Developmental Center resident | Waived | Under 75-5-316(2) |
| Annual accounting, estate valued at $50,000 or less | $15.00 | Tiered by estate value |
| Annual accounting, estate over $50,000 up to $75,000 | $30.00 | |
| Annual accounting, estate over $75,000 up to $112,000 | $50.00 | |
| Certified copy | $4.00 per document | Letters of guardianship are usually requested certified |
Those are the fixed numbers. What a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families engage charges on top of them depends almost entirely on whether anyone objects. Fees are published on the Utah courts filing fee schedule and fee waivers are available for those who qualify. Beyond the filing fee, budget for the court-appointed attorney for the respondent, since 75-5-303(2)(b) puts that cost on the allegedly incapacitated person unless they and their parents are indigent, and for a court visitor if one is appointed. When a petitioner or the petitioner’s nominee is appointed, 75-5-303(2)(d) entitles the petitioner to receive reasonable attorney fees and court costs from the incapacitated person.
The reverse also holds. If the court determines the petition was without merit, the attorney fees and court costs are paid by the person who filed it. That asymmetry is the single strongest financial argument for getting the evaluation right before filing rather than hoping it holds up at the hearing.
Contested Guardianships, Removal, and Ending the Case
Roughly the hardest work a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families retain will ever do happens here, after the original order is already in place.
Guardianship litigation between siblings is common and painful, and it is where a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families choose carefully earns the fee. The grounds for removal under 75-5-307(2) are specific: appointment obtained by fraud, deceit, or gross misrepresentation; failure to perform the duties in 75-5-312; inability to perform due to incapacity or illness; failure to use reasonable care and diligence managing the estate; a frivolous or bad-faith association petition; interests that have become adverse with a risk of unfaithful performance; or removal simply being in the ward’s best interest.
Termination runs on a separate statute. Under 75-5-306, the ward or any interested person may petition for an order that the ward is no longer incapacitated. Two provisions in that section deserve emphasis. A request may be made by informal letter to the court, which is a deliberately low bar. And any person who knowingly interferes with such a request may be sanctioned. A court adjudicating capacity may specify a minimum period, not exceeding one year, during which no new petition can be filed without leave.
For guardianship of a minor, removal and resignation run through 75-5-212, and any person interested in the ward’s welfare, or the ward if 14 or older, may petition. In both tracks, a resignation does not end the guardianship until the court approves it, and termination never erases liability for prior acts or the duty to account.
Where the dispute is really about an inheritance rather than about care, the fight often belongs in a different forum entirely. See family feuds and probate and contesting a will in Utah.
Where a Guardianship Lawyer Herriman Utah Files the Case
Herriman is a city in southwestern Salt Lake County, in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. Its population was 55,144 at the 2020 census, up from just 1,523 in 2000, which moved it from the 111th-largest incorporated place in Utah to the 14th largest. It incorporated in 1999 and is classified as a third-class city under state law.
Herriman grew from the 111th-largest incorporated place in Utah in 2000 to the 14th-largest in 2020, with the population rising from 1,523 to 55,144.
That growth curve is why demand for a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families can actually reach keeps climbing in the southwest valley. A city that quadrupled and then quadrupled again is now aging into the exact demographics that produce adult guardianship petitions, while simultaneously carrying a large population of young families raising children with disabilities who will turn 18.
Because Herriman sits in Salt Lake County, the case belongs in the Third Judicial District. Utah Code 78A-1-102(1)(c) places Salt Lake, Summit, and Tooele Counties in the Third District. Guardianship and conservatorship matters are filed as probate actions in district court, which is why the filing package opens with a probate cover sheet.
How to Choose a Guardianship Lawyer Herriman Utah Families Can Rely On
Credentials matter less than three specific habits, and you can test all three in a single consultation with any guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah has to offer.
Does the lawyer try to talk you out of it first? A guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families should want is one who starts by asking whether a power of attorney, a representative payee, a trust, or a supported decision-making agreement would do the job. If the first meeting goes straight to filing, the lawyer is not applying 75-5-304.
Does the lawyer scope the powers narrowly? Ask what specific powers will be requested and what powers will be left with the person. If the answer is “full guardianship” without a reason, the petition is already fighting the statute.
Does the lawyer explain the aftermath? Annual reports, accounting thresholds, notice duties before moving the ward, the association rules in 75-5-312.5, and the $5,000 penalty exposure should all come up before you sign anything. A guardian who is blindsided by these two years later is a guardian who was badly advised.
A guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families end up glad they hired will answer all three without being pushed. Ask also about the practical logistics that decide timelines: who obtains the functional evaluation, who serves the respondent personally, who prepares the schedule of interested persons, and who handles the pre-appointment materials the Utah courts require. The court publishes a guardianship and conservatorship pre-appointment resource, and the guardianship and conservatorship self-help hub collects the rest.
Ten Mistakes That Sink Herriman Guardianship Petitions
Every one of these is something a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families hire should catch before the petition is signed, not after the judge reads it.
- A diagnosis letter instead of a functional evaluation. The statute asks what the person can and cannot do, with technology, in the essential areas. A one-line note saying “patient has Alzheimer’s disease” does not answer that.
- An evaluation built on the petitioner’s account. 75-5-303(4)(c)(ii) forbids exactly this, and opposing counsel will find it.
- Asking for full guardianship by reflex. Without a specific finding that nothing less is adequate, the order is vulnerable.
- Missing an interested person. Spouse, parents, adult children, anyone with care and custody, and APS where a referral exists. Missing one resets the hearing.
- Serving by mail when personal service was required. The respondent, and the spouse and parents if found in Utah, must be served personally.
- Filing after the 18th birthday. The 17-and-a-half window in 75-5-317 exists precisely so the order lands on the birthday.
- Letters that do not state the limitations. For a limited guardianship, the limitations belong in the order and normally in the letters, or third parties will not know what the guardian may do.
- Cutting off family contact. Restricting association without a court order violates 75-5-312.5 and is grounds for removal.
- Ignoring the annual report. Two months after written notice from the court, a willful failure to file becomes a penalty question.
- Treating guardianship as permanent. A ward may petition to end it by informal letter, and interfering with that request is sanctionable.
Watch: What Happens If You Become Incapacitated Without a Plan
Before you call a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah or anywhere else, watch this. The video below covers the same fork this article keeps returning to, which is that everything is easier and cheaper before capacity is lost.
Related Legal Help in Herriman and Across Salt Lake County
A guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah residents contact about one problem almost always uncovers two more. These pages cover the adjacent work.
Guardianship rarely arrives alone. The same family meeting usually surfaces a will that was never signed, a house that needs to be retitled, or a business that has no succession plan. These pages cover the adjacent work.
Estate planning and incapacity
- Estate Planning Lawyer Herriman Utah
- Incapacity Planning
- Elder Law
- Salt Lake Elder Law Attorney
- Durable Power of Attorney
- Health Care Directive
- Utah Wills
- Utah Lawyer For Wills
- Utah Attorney For Wills
- Utah Trust Lawyer
- Utah Trust Attorney
- Utah Irrevocable Trusts
- Utah Trust Assets
- Utah Trust Property
- Estate Planning Lawyers Near Me
- Estate Planning To Minimize Probate
Probate and estate administration
- Probate Attorney Herriman Utah
- Estate Administration Herriman Utah
- Probate Attorney Near Me
- Utah Personal Representative
- Utah Personal Representative Duties
- Intestate Succession Without A Will
Family, disability, and adoption
- Family Law Attorney Herriman Utah
- Herriman UT Family Law Attorney
- Divorce Lawyer Herriman Utah
- Adopting A Child With Special Needs
- Adoption Assistance In Utah
- Guardianship For Aging Parents
- Prenup Lawyer Herriman Utah
- Herriman UT Prenuptial Agreement
Other Herriman practice areas
- Business Lawyer Herriman Utah
- Contract Lawyer Herriman Utah
- Corporate Attorney Herriman Utah
- Strategic Business Attorney Herriman Utah
- Business Succession Lawyer Herriman Utah
- Business Acquisitions Lawyer Herriman Utah
- Real Estate Lawyer Herriman Utah
- Commercial Real Estate Lawyer Herriman Utah
- Construction Lawyer Herriman Utah
- Intellectual Property Lawyer Herriman Utah
- Tax Lawyer Herriman Utah
- Criminal Defense Herriman Utah
- Car Accident Attorney Herriman Utah
- Truck Accident Lawyer Herriman Utah
Guardianship help in nearby cities
- Riverton
- Bluffdale
- South Jordan
- West Jordan
- Draper
- Sandy
- Murray
- Taylorsville
- West Valley City
- Magna
- Salt Lake City
- South Salt Lake
- White City
- Eagle Mountain
- Lehi
- Saratoga Springs
- Alpine
- Tooele
- Park City
- Guardianship Lawyer (statewide)
The full library sits in the guardianship law category.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a guardianship case take in Herriman, Utah?
A guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families hire will usually quote six to twelve weeks for an uncontested adult case. An uncontested adult guardianship commonly runs six to twelve weeks from filing, driven by the hearing calendar, the 10-day minimum notice under Utah Code 75-1-401, and the time needed for a functional evaluation. A contested case, or one requiring a court visitor investigation, takes longer.
Can I get guardianship of my parent without going to court in Utah?
No. Guardianship authority comes only from a district court order under Title 75, Chapter 5. If your parent still has capacity, a durable power of attorney and an advance health care directive achieve most of the same practical result with no court case at all.
What is the difference between a guardian and a conservator in Utah?
A guardian makes decisions about the person, including residence, medical care, and services. A conservator manages the estate, meaning money, property, and benefits. They are separate appointments under separate statutes, and one person may hold both.
Does my parent have a right to a lawyer in a guardianship case?
Yes. Under Utah Code 75-5-303(2)(b), unless the allegedly incapacitated person already has counsel of their own choice, the court appoints an attorney. The cost is paid by that person unless they and their parents are indigent, subject to a narrow exception in the statute.
Can a guardian in Utah stop family members from visiting the ward?
Generally no. Utah Code 75-5-312.5 bars a guardian from restricting an adult ward’s association with a relative or qualified acquaintance absent a court order, and consent to a visit is presumed from a prior relationship if the ward cannot express it. Filing such a petition frivolously is grounds for removal.
What does it cost to file a guardianship in Utah?
Under the fee schedule effective May 6, 2026, an original petition not otherwise governed by another subsection is $375, while a Guardianship of an Adult Disabled Child is $35. Annual accountings run $15 to $50 depending on estate value, and certified copies are $4 per document.
When should I start guardianship for my child with a disability?
At 17 years, six months. Utah Code 75-5-317 allows a petition at that age with a request that the order take effect on the day the minor turns 18, which avoids a gap in decision-making authority right as school and adult services transition.
Can a guardianship be undone in Utah?
Yes. Under Utah Code 75-5-306, the ward or any interested person may petition for an order that the ward is no longer incapacitated, and the request may be made by informal letter to the court. A person who knowingly interferes with that request may be sanctioned.
If you are looking for a guardianship lawyer Herriman Utah families have already worked with, start with the sequence rather than the speed. A short conversation usually tells you whether a court case is even necessary.
Schedule a consultation or call (801) 613-1472.
This article is general information about Utah law, not legal advice, and it is current as of August 2026. Statutes change. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Jeremy Eveland
17 North State Street
Lindon UT 84042
(801) 613-1472
Jeremy Eveland
8833 S Redwood Road
West Jordan UT 84088
(801) 613-1472
