Updated August 14, 2026. Quick answer: Nebraska fixes the petition filing fee at $22 by statute, and the periodic accounting is annual (both tracks). Everything on this page is quoted from the jurisdiction’s own statute or an official court schedule, and where Nebraska 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 Nebraska fixes by statute
| Item | What the text says | Where it says it |
|---|---|---|
| Petition filing fee | Adult guardianship/conservatorship petitions are filed in Nebraska county court (the caption of the controlling fee statute is ‘County court; guardianships; conservatorships; fees’). Neb. Rev. Stat. §33-126.02 sets a flat $22 fee for filing a petition for appointment of a guardian, a separate $22 for a petition for appointment of a conservator, and $22 for a single consolidated petition appointing both. The same $22 also applies to appointment of a successor guardian/conservator, a temporary guardian/temporary-or-special conservator, and a protective order sought without an underlying guardianship/conservatorship. If a single petition lists more than one ward, only one $22 fee is charged. | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 33-126.02 |
| Bond | A conservator of a protected person’s estate with a net value over $10,000 must post a bond equal to the aggregate capital value of the estate’s personal property plus one year’s estimated income from all sources, minus the value of assets deposited under a removal-restriction arrangement (§30-2640). Sureties or court-accepted collateral (a securities pledge or land mortgage) may satisfy the bond. The court may eliminate, decrease, or increase the bond ‘for good cause shown,’ and must not require a bond if the protected person’s own valid, written power of attorney specifically nominates the guardian/conservator and specifically waives bond. Financial institutions (and their officers/directors/employees/agents) acting as conservator, trust companies serving as conservator, and the Public Guardian are all statutorily exempt from bonding. The guardian-of-the-person sections (§§30-2617–30-2629) contain no bond requirement — bonding attaches only to the conservator of the estate. No rule allocating who pays the bond premium/cost was found anywhere searched. | Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 30-2640, 30-2641 |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | For a guardianship-of-the-person proceeding, the reasonable fees/costs of the court-appointed attorney, guardian ad litem, physician, and visitor are ‘allowed, disallowed, or adjusted by the court’ and paid from the ward’s estate if the ward has one; if the ward has no estate, the fees are instead paid by the county in which the proceedings are brought, or by the petitioner, as costs of the action (§30-2620.01). An essentially identical rule governs conservatorship-of-the-estate proceedings, additionally naming the conservator’s and special conservator’s own compensation (§30-2643). Neither statute sets a dollar or hourly-rate cap — ‘reasonable’ is for the court to determine. Both sections permit in forma pauperis filing/defense and let the court assess attorney’s fees and costs against a petitioner if the action was frivolous. | Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 30-2620.01 (guardianship), 30-2643 (conservatorship) |
| Periodic accounting or report | Guardian of an incapacitated adult must ‘report the condition of his or her ward and of the estate which has been subject to the guardian’s possession or control, at least every year and as required by the court or court rule’ (§30-2628(a)(6)) — annual at minimum. This subsection was amended by 2026 Neb. Laws LB985 §4, effective July 18, 2026, and is the current operative text as of the 2026-08-12 retrieval date. Separately, a guardian who holds the ward’s estate (no conservator appointed) must also file an updated inventory every year (§30-2628(a)(4)) — a distinct annual filing from the ‘report’ in (a)(6). Conservator of the estate must account to the court annually, upon resignation/removal, and at any other time the court directs (§30-2648). While a guardianship or conservatorship is pending, the county court charges $5.00 ‘for filing and recording each report’ (§33-126.02) — this is a genuine per-report filing fee, distinct from the $22 initial-petition fee. | Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 30-2628(a)(6) (guardian report), 30-2648 (conservator account), 33-126.02 (report filing fee) |
What the proceeding is called here. Nebraska’s Probate Code (Neb. Rev. Stat. Ch. 30, Art. 26, “Protection of Persons Under Disability and Their Property”) separates guardianship of the person of an incapacitated individual (“ward”) (§§30-2617 to -2629) from conservatorship/’protective proceedings’ over the estate of a “protected person” (§§30-2630 to -2661), but explicitly allows and prices a single consolidated filing: Neb. Rev. Stat. §33-126.02 charges one $22 fee for ‘the filing of one petition for a consolidated appointment of both a guardian and conservator,’ so the two roles are commonly sought together in county court.
The filing fee
Adult guardianship/conservatorship petitions are filed in Nebraska county court (the caption of the controlling fee statute is ‘County court; guardianships; conservatorships; fees’). Neb. Rev. Stat. §33-126.02 sets a flat $22 fee for filing a petition for appointment of a guardian, a separate $22 for a petition for appointment of a conservator, and $22 for a single consolidated petition appointing both. The same $22 also applies to appointment of a successor guardian/conservator, a temporary guardian/temporary-or-special conservator, and a protective order sought without an underlying guardianship/conservatorship. If a single petition lists more than one ward, only one $22 fee is charged.
In matters of guardianship and conservatorship, the county court shall be entitled to receive the following fees: Upon the filing of a petition for the appointment of a guardian, twenty-two dollars; upon the filing of a petition for the appointment of a conservator, twenty-two dollars; upon the filing of one petition for a consolidated appointment of both a guardian and conservator, twenty-two dollars; for the appointment of a successor guardian or conservator, twenty-two dollars; for the appointment of a temporary guardian or temporary or special conservator, twenty-two dollars; and for proceedings for a protective order in the absence of a guardianship or conservatorship, twenty-two dollars. If there is more than one ward listed in a petition for appointment of a guardian or conservator or both, only one filing fee shall be assessed. … While such guardianship or conservatorship is pending, the court shall receive five dollars for filing and recording each report.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 33-126.02.
The bond
A conservator of a protected person’s estate with a net value over $10,000 must post a bond equal to the aggregate capital value of the estate’s personal property plus one year’s estimated income from all sources, minus the value of assets deposited under a removal-restriction arrangement (§30-2640). Sureties or court-accepted collateral (a securities pledge or land mortgage) may satisfy the bond. The court may eliminate, decrease, or increase the bond ‘for good cause shown,’ and must not require a bond if the protected person’s own valid, written power of attorney specifically nominates the guardian/conservator and specifically waives bond. Financial institutions (and their officers/directors/employees/agents) acting as conservator, trust companies serving as conservator, and the Public Guardian are all statutorily exempt from bonding. The guardian-of-the-person sections (§§30-2617–30-2629) contain no bond requirement — bonding attaches only to the conservator of the estate. No rule allocating who pays the bond premium/cost was found anywhere searched.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 30-2640, 30-2641.
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. Nebraska 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
For a guardianship-of-the-person proceeding, the reasonable fees/costs of the court-appointed attorney, guardian ad litem, physician, and visitor are ‘allowed, disallowed, or adjusted by the court’ and paid from the ward’s estate if the ward has one; if the ward has no estate, the fees are instead paid by the county in which the proceedings are brought, or by the petitioner, as costs of the action (§30-2620.01). An essentially identical rule governs conservatorship-of-the-estate proceedings, additionally naming the conservator’s and special conservator’s own compensation (§30-2643). Neither statute sets a dollar or hourly-rate cap — ‘reasonable’ is for the court to determine. Both sections permit in forma pauperis filing/defense and let the court assess attorney’s fees and costs against a petitioner if the action was frivolous.
The reasonable fees and costs of an attorney, a guardian ad litem, a physician, and a visitor appointed by the court for the person alleged to be incapacitated shall be allowed, disallowed, or adjusted by the court and may be paid from the estate of the ward if the ward possesses an estate or, if not, shall be paid by the county in which the proceedings are brought or by the petitioner as costs of the action.
The reasonable fees and costs of an attorney, a guardian ad litem, a physician, a conservator, a special conservator, and a visitor appointed by the court for the person to be protected shall be allowed, disallowed, or adjusted by the court and may be paid from the estate of the protected person if the protected person possesses an estate or, if not, shall be paid by the county in which the proceedings are brought or by the petitioner as costs of the action.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 30-2620.01 (guardianship), 30-2643 (conservatorship).
How often you have to account
Annual (both tracks). 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.
Guardian of an incapacitated adult must ‘report the condition of his or her ward and of the estate which has been subject to the guardian’s possession or control, at least every year and as required by the court or court rule’ (§30-2628(a)(6)) — annual at minimum. This subsection was amended by 2026 Neb. Laws LB985 §4, effective July 18, 2026, and is the current operative text as of the 2026-08-12 retrieval date. Separately, a guardian who holds the ward’s estate (no conservator appointed) must also file an updated inventory every year (§30-2628(a)(4)) — a distinct annual filing from the ‘report’ in (a)(6). Conservator of the estate must account to the court annually, upon resignation/removal, and at any other time the court directs (§30-2648). While a guardianship or conservatorship is pending, the county court charges $5.00 ‘for filing and recording each report’ (§33-126.02) — this is a genuine per-report filing fee, distinct from the $22 initial-petition fee.
A guardian is required to report the condition of his or her ward and of the estate which has been subject to the guardian’s possession or control, at least every year and as required by the court or court rule.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 30-2628(a)(6) (guardian report), 30-2648 (conservator account), 33-126.02 (report filing fee).
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 | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 33-126.02 | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Bond | Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 30-2640, 30-2641 | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 30-2620.01 (guardianship), 30-2643 (conservatorship) | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Periodic accounting or report | Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 30-2628(a)(6) (guardian report), 30-2648 (conservator account), 33-126.02 (report filing fee) | 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.