Updated August 14, 2026. Quick answer: Massachusetts charges nothing to file the petition, and the periodic accounting is not less than annually. Everything on this page is quoted from the jurisdiction’s own statute or an official court schedule, and where Massachusetts publishes no figure this page says so rather than printing an estimate. What drives the rest of the bill — lawyers, an investigation, a capacity evaluation — is on what guardianship costs.
What Massachusetts fixes by statute
| Item | What the text says | Where it says it |
|---|---|---|
| Petition filing fee | No fee for filing a petition for the appointment of a guardian; $240 for a petition for the appointment of a conservator or for a single transaction. G.L. c.262 s.40 lists the appointment of a guardian in its express no-fee proviso. | Mass. G.L. c.262, s.40 |
| Bond | Both fiduciaries must file a bond. Guardian of an incapacitated person: a surety is required unless the court determines waiver is in the incapacitated person’s best interest (s.5-307(b)). conservator: a surety is required except that the court may waive sureties for good cause shown by the conservator (s.5-410(a)); no sureties are required where the conservator has priority under s.5-409(a)(1) and the nominating person expressly waives (s.5-410(b)). | Mass. G.L. c.190B, ss.5-307(a)-(b), 5-410(a)-(b) |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | Counsel is appointed on request of the person (or someone on their behalf) or whenever the court determines their interests are or may be inadequately represented. If the person has adequate resources their counsel is compensated from the estate unless the court orders the petitioner to pay; counsel for an indigent person is compensated by the Commonwealth or the petitioner as the court orders. | Mass. G.L. c.190B, ss.5-106(a), 5-413 |
| Periodic accounting or report | Conservator accounts to the court not less than annually unless the court directs otherwise (s.5-418(a)). The account filing fee is graduated by gross value and charged per year covered: $1,000 or less, no fee; over $1,000 to $10,000, $75 (total capped at $170 regardless of period); $10,000-$100,000, $100/yr; $100,000-$500,000, $150/yr; $500,000-$1M, $200/yr; $1M-$2M, $400/yr; $2M-$5M, $750/yr; $5M-$7.5M, $1,500/yr; $7.5M-$10M, $2,500/yr; over $10M, $3,500/yr. A petition for allowance of an account, or an amended/substituted account, is $75. | Mass. G.L. c.190B, s.5-418(a); c.262, s.40 |
What the proceeding is called here. Guardianship (of the person) and conservatorship (of the estate) are separate proceedings under the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code, G.L. c.190B art. V. They carry different filing fees – the difference is the state’s headline finding.
The filing fee
No fee for filing a petition for the appointment of a guardian; $240 for a petition for the appointment of a conservator or for a single transaction. G.L. c.262 s.40 lists the appointment of a guardian in its express no-fee proviso.
It is not one number. The statute states it as: Guardian petition = $0; conservator petition = $240
for the filing of a petition for the appointment of a conservator or for single transaction, $240
Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, no fee shall be charged for … the appointment of a guardian, the resignation or termination of a guardian or conservator … to expand, modify or limit the powers of a guardian
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: Mass. G.L. c.262, s.40.
The bond
Both fiduciaries must file a bond. Guardian of an incapacitated person: a surety is required unless the court determines waiver is in the incapacitated person’s best interest (s.5-307(b)). conservator: a surety is required except that the court may waive sureties for good cause shown by the conservator (s.5-410(a)); no sureties are required where the conservator has priority under s.5-409(a)(1) and the nominating person expressly waives (s.5-410(b)).
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: Mass. G.L. c.190B, ss.5-307(a)-(b), 5-410(a)-(b).
Who pays the premium is not answered. A surety bond carries a recurring premium and it is usually the largest ongoing cost of a guardianship of the estate. Massachusetts states no express rule on who bears it in the chapter read for this page, and no figure for what one costs is published anywhere this project could verify. That is a gap in the law and in the published record, not a gap we have filled with a guess.
Guardian ad litem and attorney fees
Counsel is appointed on request of the person (or someone on their behalf) or whenever the court determines their interests are or may be inadequately represented. If the person has adequate resources their counsel is compensated from the estate unless the court orders the petitioner to pay; counsel for an indigent person is compensated by the Commonwealth or the petitioner as the court orders.
If not otherwise compensated for services rendered, any guardian ad litem, attorney, physician, licensed psychologist, clinical team, guardian, special guardian, temporary guardian, conservator, temporary conservator or special conservator appointed in a protective proceeding and any attorney whose services resulted in a protective order or in an order that was beneficial to a protected person’s estate is entitled to reasonable compensation from the estate.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: Mass. G.L. c.190B, s.5-106(a), s.5-413.
How often you have to account
Not less than annually. Do not carry that assumption across a state line: the interval is set by each state separately, several are biennial or triennial, and your own appointing court can order more often than the statutory minimum. The document that governs you is your order.
Conservator accounts to the court not less than annually unless the court directs otherwise (s.5-418(a)). The account filing fee is graduated by gross value and charged per year covered: $1,000 or less, no fee; over $1,000 to $10,000, $75 (total capped at $170 regardless of period); $10,000-$100,000, $100/yr; $100,000-$500,000, $150/yr; $500,000-$1M, $200/yr; $1M-$2M, $400/yr; $2M-$5M, $750/yr; $5M-$7.5M, $1,500/yr; $7.5M-$10M, $2,500/yr; over $10M, $3,500/yr. A petition for allowance of an account, or an amended/substituted account, is $75.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: Mass. G.L. c.190B, s.5-418(a); c.262, s.40.
What an accounting has to contain, and the duties that come with it, are on the guardian accounting duties page.
What this page does not tell you
All four items this page set out to establish were read at primary and are stated above with their cites. What is missing everywhere, in every state, is a price: what an attorney charges to bring an uncontested petition, what a court-ordered capacity evaluation or investigation costs, and what a surety charges for the bond. None of it is published by any authority, and this page does not estimate it.
Where this fits
The filing fee is the smallest part of what a guardianship costs, and the national page sets out the costs that are larger and are not published anywhere. If nobody has been appointed yet, the comparison that actually matters is against the document that avoids this proceeding entirely — guardianship against a power of attorney.
Sources
| Item | Citation | Tier | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petition filing fee | Mass. G.L. c.262, s.40 | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Bond | Mass. G.L. c.190B, ss.5-307(a)-(b), 5-410(a)-(b) | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | Mass. G.L. c.190B, ss.5-106(a), 5-413 | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Periodic accounting or report | Mass. G.L. c.190B, s.5-418(a); c.262, s.40 | statute | 2026-08-12 |
General consumer information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Guardianship and conservatorship are governed by STATE law and differ materially between states; every figure here is quoted from the cited source as read on the date shown and changes without notice. Read as of August 14, 2026.