Updated August 14, 2026. Quick answer: Colorado fixes the petition filing fee at $199 by statute, and the periodic accounting is annually. Everything on this page is quoted from the jurisdiction’s own statute or an official court schedule, and where Colorado 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 Colorado fixes by statute
| Item | What the text says | Where it says it |
|---|---|---|
| Petition filing fee | $199.00 docket fee at the time of filing first papers in any estate under C.R.S. articles 10 to 17 of title 15 (which include the art. 14 guardianship/conservatorship proceedings), reduced to $83.00 for a small estate of a person under disability qualifying under s.15-14-118 which involves no real property. | C.R.S. s.13-32-102(1)(a)-(b) |
| Bond | ‘Unless the court makes specific findings as to the reasons a bond is not required in the present case, the court SHALL require a conservator to furnish a bond’ – or, in the alternative, may impose restrictions on the conservator’s access to or transfer of estate assets. And: ‘Unless otherwise directed by the court, the cost of the bond shall be charged to the protected person’s estate.’ Default amount = aggregate capital value of estate property in the conservator’s control, plus one year’s estimated income, minus restricted deposits and unsaleable real property. | C.R.S. s.15-14-415 |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | On the filing of a conservatorship or other protective-order petition for a non-minor respondent, the court shall appoint a visitor unless the petition does not request a conservator and the respondent is represented by a lawyer; the visitor’s duties are limited to the relief requested. The court shall appoint a lawyer for the respondent if requested by the respondent, recommended by the visitor, or if the court determines the respondent needs representation. | C.R.S. s.15-14-406(1)-(2) |
| Periodic accounting or report | ‘A conservator shall report to the court about the administration of the estate ANNUALLY unless the court otherwise directs.’ On petition and notice the conservator is entitled to a hearing to settle all matters in an intermediate or final report; an allowed intermediate report adjudicates the liabilities of the conservator, their counsel and their agents as to all matters adequately disclosed. Unless the court orders otherwise a report must list assets and all receipts, disbursements and distributions for the period and reflect the services provided. | C.R.S. s.15-14-420(1)-(2) |
What the proceeding is called here. Guardian (person) and conservator (estate) under C.R.S. Title 15, art. 14 (Colorado ugppa).
The filing fee
$199.00 docket fee at the time of filing first papers in any estate under C.R.S. articles 10 to 17 of title 15 (which include the art. 14 guardianship/conservatorship proceedings), reduced to $83.00 for a small estate of a person under disability qualifying under s.15-14-118 which involves no real property.
It is not one number. The statute states it as: $199 general; $83 for a s.15-14-118 small estate with no real property
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: C.R.S. s.13-32-102(1)(a)-(b).
The bond
‘Unless the court makes specific findings as to the reasons a bond is not required in the present case, the court SHALL require a conservator to furnish a bond’ – or, in the alternative, may impose restrictions on the conservator’s access to or transfer of estate assets. And: ‘Unless otherwise directed by the court, the cost of the bond shall be charged to the protected person’s estate.’ Default amount = aggregate capital value of estate property in the conservator’s control, plus one year’s estimated income, minus restricted deposits and unsaleable real property.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: C.R.S. s.15-14-415.
Who pays the premium. A surety bond carries a recurring premium, and it is usually the largest ongoing cost of a guardianship of the estate. Colorado is one of the few jurisdictions whose own text answers who bears it.
Unless otherwise directed by the court, THE COST OF THE BOND SHALL BE CHARGED TO THE PROTECTED PERSON
That is a rule about who pays, not a published price. No authority publishes what a bond actually costs, because a surety prices it against the estate.
Guardian ad litem and attorney fees
On the filing of a conservatorship or other protective-order petition for a non-minor respondent, the court shall appoint a visitor unless the petition does not request a conservator and the respondent is represented by a lawyer; the visitor’s duties are limited to the relief requested. The court shall appoint a lawyer for the respondent if requested by the respondent, recommended by the visitor, or if the court determines the respondent needs representation.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: C.R.S. s.15-14-406(1)-(2).
How often you have to account
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.
‘A conservator shall report to the court about the administration of the estate ANNUALLY unless the court otherwise directs.’ On petition and notice the conservator is entitled to a hearing to settle all matters in an intermediate or final report; an allowed intermediate report adjudicates the liabilities of the conservator, their counsel and their agents as to all matters adequately disclosed. Unless the court orders otherwise a report must list assets and all receipts, disbursements and distributions for the period and reflect the services provided.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: C.R.S. s.15-14-420(1)-(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. Currency note: petition filing fee, bond, guardian ad litem and attorney fees, periodic accounting or report came from a source whose publisher does not certify it as the current official text. The text was read and quoted as found; check it against the current official edition before relying on 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 | C.R.S. s.13-32-102(1)(a)-(b) | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Bond | C.R.S. s.15-14-415 | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | C.R.S. s.15-14-406(1)-(2) | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Periodic accounting or report | C.R.S. s.15-14-420(1)-(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.
Also on Colorado: Colorado Small Estate Affidavit.