Updated August 14, 2026. Quick answer: Oregon fixes the petition filing fee at $124 by statute, and the periodic accounting is annual, and the accounting itself is priced. Everything on this page is quoted from the jurisdiction’s own statute or an official court schedule, and where Oregon 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 Oregon fixes by statute
| Item | What the text says | Where it says it |
|---|---|---|
| Petition filing fee | Different for the two fiduciaries. Guardianship: the circuit court collects the ORS 21.145 ‘simple proceeding filing fee’ of $124 for the initial documents and for filing an appearance (ORS 21.175(1); ORS 21.145(3)). conservatorship: graduated on the estate – under $50,000, $278; $50,000 to under $1 million, $591; $1 million to under $10 million, $882; $10 million or more, $1,176 (ORS 21.180(1)). Both apply to county courts exercising probate jurisdiction. | ORS 21.145(3), 21.175(1), 21.180(1) |
| Bond | ‘Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the court SHALL require a conservator to furnish a bond conditioned upon faithful discharge of all duties.’ Default amount = aggregate capital value of estate property in the conservator’s control, plus one year’s estimated income, minus restricted deposits and real property the conservator cannot sell without authorization. The court may waive a bond for good cause shown. Trust companies (ORS 709.240), county public guardians/conservators (ORS 125.715), the Oregon Public Guardian and Conservator (ORS 125.687) and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (ORS 406.050(10)) are unaffected. Letters may not issue until the bond is approved, and the bond continues until the sureties are released by court order. | ORS 125.410(1)-(6) |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | ‘Funds of a person subject to a protective proceeding MAY BE USED to pay reasonable fees, costs and disbursements to any visitor, attorney, physician, fiduciary or temporary fiduciary for services related to the protective proceeding’ – including services provided on behalf of a fiduciary, respondent, petitioner, cross-petitioner, objector or protected person. Prior court approval is required before paying from those funds a physician (for objection-related services), an appointed fiduciary (except a compliant trust company or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs), or any attorney who provided protective-proceeding services, including services in preparation or anticipation of filing the petition. | ORS 125.095(1)-(3) |
| Periodic accounting or report | Annual, and the accounting itself is priced. Unless the court orders otherwise a conservator accounts to the court within 60 days after each anniversary of appointment (ORS 125.475(1)); a guardian for an adult files a written report not later than 30 days following each anniversary (ORS 125.325(1)). The court collects a fee for each annual or final accounting in a conservatorship, graduated on the estate: under $50,000, $35; $50,000 to under $1 million, $298; $1 million to under $10 million, $591; $10 million or more, $1,176 (ORS 21.180(2)). | ORS 125.475(1), 125.325(1); ORS 21.180(2) |
What the proceeding is called here. Guardian and conservator are separate protective proceedings under ORS ch. 125, with separate fee statutes.
The filing fee
Different for the two fiduciaries. Guardianship: the circuit court collects the ORS 21.145 ‘simple proceeding filing fee’ of $124 for the initial documents and for filing an appearance (ORS 21.175(1); ORS 21.145(3)). conservatorship: graduated on the estate – under $50,000, $278; $50,000 to under $1 million, $591; $1 million to under $10 million, $882; $10 million or more, $1,176 (ORS 21.180(1)). Both apply to county courts exercising probate jurisdiction.
It is not one number. The statute states it as: Guardianship $124 flat; conservatorship $278/$591/$882/$1,176 by estate value
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: ORS 21.145(3), 21.175(1), 21.180(1).
The bond
‘Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the court SHALL require a conservator to furnish a bond conditioned upon faithful discharge of all duties.’ Default amount = aggregate capital value of estate property in the conservator’s control, plus one year’s estimated income, minus restricted deposits and real property the conservator cannot sell without authorization. The court may waive a bond for good cause shown. Trust companies (ORS 709.240), county public guardians/conservators (ORS 125.715), the Oregon Public Guardian and Conservator (ORS 125.687) and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (ORS 406.050(10)) are unaffected. Letters may not issue until the bond is approved, and the bond continues until the sureties are released by court order.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: ORS 125.410(1)-(6).
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. Oregon 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
‘Funds of a person subject to a protective proceeding MAY BE USED to pay reasonable fees, costs and disbursements to any visitor, attorney, physician, fiduciary or temporary fiduciary for services related to the protective proceeding’ – including services provided on behalf of a fiduciary, respondent, petitioner, cross-petitioner, objector or protected person. Prior court approval is required before paying from those funds a physician (for objection-related services), an appointed fiduciary (except a compliant trust company or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs), or any attorney who provided protective-proceeding services, including services in preparation or anticipation of filing the petition.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: ORS 125.095(1)-(3).
How often you have to account
Annual, and the accounting itself is priced. 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.
Annual, and the accounting itself is priced. Unless the court orders otherwise a conservator accounts to the court within 60 days after each anniversary of appointment (ORS 125.475(1)); a guardian for an adult files a written report not later than 30 days following each anniversary (ORS 125.325(1)). The court collects a fee for each annual or final accounting in a conservatorship, graduated on the estate: under $50,000, $35; $50,000 to under $1 million, $298; $1 million to under $10 million, $591; $10 million or more, $1,176 (ORS 21.180(2)).
(1) Unless the court by order provides otherwise, a conservator shall account to the court for the administration of the protected estate within 60 days after each anniversary of appointment. In addition, a conservator shall account to the court for the administration of the protected estate: (a) Within 60 days after the death of the protected person, a minor protected person attains majority or an adult protected person becomes able to manage the protected person’s financial resources; and (b) Within 30 days after the removal of the conservator, the resignation of the conservator or the termination of the conservator’s authority under ORS 125.410 (7).
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: ORS 125.475(1), 125.325(1); ORS 21.180(2).
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 | ORS 21.145(3), 21.175(1), 21.180(1) | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Bond | ORS 125.410(1)-(6) | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | ORS 125.095(1)-(3) | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Periodic accounting or report | ORS 125.475(1), 125.325(1); ORS 21.180(2) | 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.