Updated August 14, 2026. Quick answer: Kentucky’s petition filing fee could not be established from primary text, and there is no single accounting interval — split: guardian annual, conservator biennial. Everything on this page is quoted from Kentucky’s own statutory text where it exists, and where Kentucky 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 Kentucky fixes by statute
| Item | What the text says | Where it says it |
|---|---|---|
| Petition filing fee | Not published here. Petition filing fee is not stated on this page because no primary source returned the text; it could not be verified against statutory text; no value was established. This page will not print an estimate in its place. The route tried was https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/. | — |
| Bond | Discretionary and by cross-reference. KRS 387.720, in full: ‘The court MAY require a limited conservator or conservator to provide surety on his bond consistent with the provisions of KRS 395.130.’ | KRS 387.720 |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | Counsel is mandatory and hourly-capped. ‘Unless an appearance has been entered on behalf of the respondent, the court SHALL appoint counsel for the respondent WITHIN ONE (1) WEEK of the filing of a petition for determination of disability.’ Appointed counsel is entitled to compensation; for a poor person as defined in KRS 453.190 the county pays reasonable compensation set by the court on complexity/time, ‘except that appointed counsel SHALL NOT BE COMPENSATED AT A RATE HIGHER THAN SIXTY DOLLARS ($60) AN HOUR FOR TIME SPENT IN COURT AND NO HIGHER THAN FORTY DOLLARS ($40) AN HOUR FOR TIME SPENT OUT OF COURT.’ | KRS 387.560(1)-(2) |
| Periodic accounting or report | Split: guardian annual, conservator biennial. A guardian files a verified report with the court at least annually covering the ward’s mental/physical/social condition, every residence and length of stay, services received, the guardian’s visits and activities, and a recommendation on continued need (KRS 387.670(1)). A limited conservator or conservator files a verified report and financial account biennially within 120 days after the anniversary of appointment, plus an inventory within 60 days of appointment (KRS 387.710(1)-(2)). Where the ward has no real property and $2,500 or less in personal property, s.387.710(2)(c) provides a reduced route. | KRS 387.670(1); KRS 387.710(1), (2)(a)-(c) |
What the proceeding is called here. Guardian, limited guardian, conservator and limited conservator for disabled persons under KRS 387.500-387.770; District Courts have jurisdiction (KRS 387.520).
The filing fee
Not published here. The petition filing fee is not stated on this page because no primary source returned the text; it could not be verified against statutory text; no value was established. This page will not print an estimate in its place. The route tried was https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/.
The bond
Discretionary and by cross-reference. KRS 387.720, in full: ‘The court MAY require a limited conservator or conservator to provide surety on his bond consistent with the provisions of KRS 395.130.’
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: KRS 387.720.
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. Kentucky 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 mandatory and hourly-capped. ‘Unless an appearance has been entered on behalf of the respondent, the court SHALL appoint counsel for the respondent WITHIN ONE (1) WEEK of the filing of a petition for determination of disability.’ Appointed counsel is entitled to compensation; for a poor person as defined in KRS 453.190 the county pays reasonable compensation set by the court on complexity/time, ‘except that appointed counsel SHALL NOT BE COMPENSATED AT A RATE HIGHER THAN SIXTY DOLLARS ($60) AN HOUR FOR TIME SPENT IN COURT AND NO HIGHER THAN FORTY DOLLARS ($40) AN HOUR FOR TIME SPENT OUT OF COURT.’
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: KRS 387.560(1)-(2).
How often you have to account
There is no single interval here. Kentucky runs two tracks at different cadences — Split: guardian annual, conservator biennial — so which one binds you depends on what you were appointed to be. A table with one interval per state cannot represent this, and most published ones try. Your appointing court can order more often than the statutory minimum; the document that governs you is your order.
Split: guardian annual, conservator biennial. A guardian files a verified report with the court at least annually covering the ward’s mental/physical/social condition, every residence and length of stay, services received, the guardian’s visits and activities, and a recommendation on continued need (KRS 387.670(1)). A limited conservator or conservator files a verified report and financial account biennially within 120 days after the anniversary of appointment, plus an inventory within 60 days of appointment (KRS 387.710(1)-(2)). Where the ward has no real property and $2,500 or less in personal property, s.387.710(2)(c) provides a reduced route.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: KRS 387.670(1); KRS 387.710(1), (2)(a)-(c).
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
Of the four things this page set out to establish from primary text, 1 could not be: petition filing fee. Each is marked above with the route that was tried. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bond | KRS 387.720 | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | KRS 387.560(1)-(2) | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Periodic accounting or report | KRS 387.670(1); KRS 387.710(1), (2)(a)-(c) | 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.