Updated October 4, 2026. Quick answer: The Michigan guardianship bond is discretionary in general but mandatory for a conservator once cash and readily convertible property in the estate exceeds the small-estate limit of MCL 700.3982, unless an exception such as financial hardship applies (MCL 700.5410(1)). Michigan fixes the petition filing fee at $150 by statute, and the periodic accounting is not less than annually, unless the court directs otherwise. Everything on this page is quoted from the jurisdiction’s own statute or an official court schedule, and where Michigan 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.
Jump to: the document that avoids this proceeding entirely
The rule in the source’s own words. Michigan Compiled Laws, MCL 700.5305(3): “If the individual alleged to be incapacitated is indigent, this state shall bear the expense of legal counsel.” (source, read October 7, 2026). This page’s governing citation: MCL 600.880(1) for the filing fee and MCL 700.5305 for appointed counsel.
A worked example. For a petition about an individual who is indigent, the two court-side costs these sections fix come to $150 in all: the $150 filing fee under MCL 600.880(1), plus $0 for the individual’s appointed counsel, which the state bears. Neither section fixes what a guardian ad litem or the petitioner’s own lawyer will charge.
What Michigan fixes by statute
| Item | What the text says | Where it says it |
|---|---|---|
| Petition filing fee | $150.00 filing fee payable to the probate court register at the time of commencing a proceeding in probate court. | MCL 600.880(1) |
| Bond | Conservator bond is discretionary in general but becomes mandatory above a threshold: the court shall require a bond if the value of cash and readily-convertible property in the estate and in the conservator’s control exceeds the small-estate limit of MCL 700.3982, inflation-adjusted under MCL 700.1210 for the year of appointment. | MCL 700.5410(1) |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | A guardian ad litem is appointed for an individual alleged to be incapacitated and carries enumerated statutory duties — personally visiting the individual, explaining the nature, purpose and legal effect of a guardian’s appointment, and explaining the hearing procedure and the individual’s rights in it. | MCL 700.5305(1)(a)-(c) |
| Periodic accounting or report | A conservator shall account to the court not less than annually unless the court directs otherwise, and also on resignation or removal, at other times as the court directs, and on termination of the protected individual’s minority or disability. | MCL 700.5418(1) |
What the proceeding is called here. Guardianship of a legally incapacitated individual and/or conservatorship of a protected individual (epic, MCL 700.5301 et seq.), probate court.
The filing fee
$150.00 filing fee payable to the probate court register at the time of commencing a proceeding in probate court.
600.880 Filing fees for civil action to probate register; exceptions; disposition.
Except as otherwise provided in this section and section 880a, at the time of commencing a civil action or proceeding in the probate court, the party commencing the civil action or proceeding shall pay a $150.00 filing fee to the probate court register.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-11: MCL 600.880(1).
The bond
Conservator bond is discretionary in general but becomes mandatory above a threshold: the court shall require a bond if the value of cash and readily-convertible property in the estate and in the conservator’s control exceeds the small-estate limit of MCL 700.3982, inflation-adjusted under MCL 700.1210 for the year of appointment.
(1) The court may require a conservator to furnish a bond. If the court determines that the value of cash and property that is readily convertible into cash in the estate and in the conservator’s control exceeds the limit for administering a decedent’s estate under section 3982, adjusted in the manner provided under section 1210 for the year in which the conservator is appointed, the court shall require the conservator to furnish a bond, unless 1 or more of the following apply: (a) The estate contains no property readily convertible to cash and the cash is in a restricted account with a financial institution. (b) The conservator has been granted trust powers under section 4401 of the banking code of 1999, 1999 PA 276, MCL 487.14401. (c) The court determines that requiring a bond would impose a financial hardship on the estate. (d) The court states on the record the reasons why a bond is not necessary.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-11: MCL 700.5410(1).
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. Michigan 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
A guardian ad litem is appointed for an individual alleged to be incapacitated and carries enumerated statutory duties — personally visiting the individual, explaining the nature, purpose and legal effect of a guardian’s appointment, and explaining the hearing procedure and the individual’s rights in it.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-11: MCL 700.5305(1)(a)-(c).
How often you have to account
Not less than annually, unless the court directs otherwise. 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.
A conservator shall account to the court not less than annually unless the court directs otherwise, and also on resignation or removal, at other times as the court directs, and on termination of the protected individual’s minority or disability.
A conservator shall account to the court for administration of the trust NOT LESS THAN ANNUALLY UNLESS THE COURT DIRECTS OTHERWISE, upon resignation or removal, and at other times as the court directs.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-11: MCL 700.5418(1).
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 | MCL 600.880(1) | statute | 2026-08-11 |
| Bond | MCL 700.5410(1) | statute | 2026-08-11 |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | MCL 700.5305(1)(a)-(c) | statute | 2026-08-11 |
| Periodic accounting or report | MCL 700.5418(1) | statute | 2026-08-11 |
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.
The same court-cost breakdown in other states: Hawaii, Illinois and Tennessee.
Want a single number instead of a state-by-state table? The Guardianship Cost Estimator tool estimates your own state’s total.