Updated August 14, 2026. Quick answer: Maine’s petition filing fee is a formula rather than a flat number, 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 Maine 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 Maine fixes by statute
| Item | What the text says | Where it says it |
|---|---|---|
| Petition filing fee | Set by statute (not court rule), flat amount, split by proceeding type: guardian-only petition $90; conservator-only petition $90; a single joined petition for guardian and conservator is $115 (not simply the sum). A certificate of appointment costs an additional $10 ($20 double). | 18-C M.R.S. §1-602(5), (7), (8) |
| Bond | Bond applies only to the conservator of the estate (18-C Part 4); there is no bond requirement in the Guardianship of Adult part (Part 3, person-only guardianship) because a person-only guardian does not control property. For a conservator, the court must require a bond (or an alternative asset-protection arrangement) when the estate is $50,000 or more; the court may waive it only on a finding it is ‘not necessary to protect the interests of the individual,’ and may not waive it for a paid professional conservator (with a narrow subsection-3 exception for regulated financial institutions doing trust business, which need not post bond at all). For estates under $50,000, bond is discretionary. Amount = aggregate capital value of the estate plus one year’s estimated income (ad valorem, not a flat figure), unless the court directs otherwise; collateral may substitute for a surety. No statute allocating the bond premium/cost to the estate, the ward, or any party was found. | 18-C M.R.S. §5-416, §5-417 (conservator bond); no bond section exists in Part 3, Guardianship of Adult |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | Maine appoints an attorney for the respondent (not called a ‘guardian ad litem’; Maine’s Part 3/4 use ‘attorney for a respondent’ and ‘visitor’) in adult guardianship/conservatorship/protective-arrangement proceedings. Unless the court finds the respondent indigent, that attorney is entitled to reasonable compensation and reimbursement of expenses from the property of the respondent (i.e., paid by the proposed ward’s own estate, not the state or the petitioner by default). The same estate-pays rule applies to any other attorney/accountant/agent whose work benefited the person under guardianship/conservatorship. There is no fixed statutory rate; reasonableness is reviewed by the court on petition, using factors under §3-721. Exception: if the court finds the petition was filed in bad faith and dismisses it, the court may assess the respondent’s attorney’s fees, visitor costs, and evaluation costs against the petitioner instead. | 18-C M.R.S. §5-119(1)-(4) |
| Periodic accounting or report | Two separate, both explicitly annual (not biennial/triennial): (1) A guardian for an adult (Part 3) must submit a report to the court at least annually covering the ward’s condition and accounting for money/property in the guardian’s possession; the court reviews filed reports at least annually. (2) A conservator (Part 4) must file a report/accounting with the court annually unless the court directs otherwise, plus on resignation, removal, or termination. No separate statutory filing fee for the periodic report itself was found in the fee schedule (18-C §1-602) — that section lists only petition/certificate/copy fees, with no line item for an annual report or accounting filing. | 18-C M.R.S. §5-317 (guardian for adult); §5-423 (conservator) |
What the proceeding is called here. Maine enacted the Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship and Other Protective Proceedings Act as 18-C M.R.S. Article 5 (“MAINE UNIFORM GUARDIANSHIP, CONSERVATORSHIP AND PROTECTIVE PROCEEDINGS”), which replaced the older 18-A Article 5. Most secondary sources still cite 18-A; verified current text is at 18-C. Guardianship of the person and conservatorship of the estate are treated as separate proceedings with separate parts: Part 3 (18-C §§5-301 to 5-319, Guardianship of Adult) governs the guardian of the person; Part 4 (18-C §§5-401 to 5-431, Conservatorship) governs the conservator of the estate; a single joined petition for both is expressly priced in the fee schedule. Probate is administered by county Probate Courts with an elected Register of Probate (18-C Part 5, §§1-501 et seq.), not a unified state trial court.
The filing fee
Set by statute (not court rule), flat amount, split by proceeding type: guardian-only petition $90; conservator-only petition $90; a single joined petition for guardian and conservator is $115 (not simply the sum). A certificate of appointment costs an additional $10 ($20 double).
It is not one number. The statute states it as: Guardian only = $90; Conservator only = $90; Joined guardian+conservator petition = $115 (18-C §1-602(5),(7),(8))
5. Petition for appointment as guardian. For filing a petition for appointment as guardian, the fee is $90.
7. Petition for guardian and conservator. For filing a joined petition for guardian and conservator, the fee is $115.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: 18-C M.R.S. §1-602(5), (7), (8).
The bond
Bond applies only to the conservator of the estate (18-C Part 4); there is no bond requirement in the Guardianship of Adult part (Part 3, person-only guardianship) because a person-only guardian does not control property. For a conservator, the court must require a bond (or an alternative asset-protection arrangement) when the estate is $50,000 or more; the court may waive it only on a finding it is ‘not necessary to protect the interests of the individual,’ and may not waive it for a paid professional conservator (with a narrow subsection-3 exception for regulated financial institutions doing trust business, which need not post bond at all). For estates under $50,000, bond is discretionary. Amount = aggregate capital value of the estate plus one year’s estimated income (ad valorem, not a flat figure), unless the court directs otherwise; collateral may substitute for a surety. No statute allocating the bond premium/cost to the estate, the ward, or any party was found.
The court shall require a conservator of an estate of $50,000 or more to furnish a bond with a surety the court specifies, or require an alternative asset-protection arrangement, conditioned on faithful discharge of all duties of the conservator. The court may waive the requirement only if the court finds that a bond or other asset-protection arrangement is not necessary to protect the interests of the individual subject to conservatorship. The court may not waive the requirement if the conservator is in the business of serving as a conservator and is being paid for the conservator’s service except as provided by subsection 3 .
Unless the court directs otherwise, the bond required under this section must be in the amount of the aggregate capital value of the conservatorship estate, plus one year’s estimated income, less the value of property deposited under arrangement requiring a court order for its removal and real property the conservator lacks power to sell or convey without specific court authorization.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: 18-C M.R.S. §5-416, §5-417 (conservator bond); no bond section exists in Part 3, Guardianship of Adult.
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. Maine 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
Maine appoints an attorney for the respondent (not called a ‘guardian ad litem’; Maine’s Part 3/4 use ‘attorney for a respondent’ and ‘visitor’) in adult guardianship/conservatorship/protective-arrangement proceedings. Unless the court finds the respondent indigent, that attorney is entitled to reasonable compensation and reimbursement of expenses from the property of the respondent (i.e., paid by the proposed ward’s own estate, not the state or the petitioner by default). The same estate-pays rule applies to any other attorney/accountant/agent whose work benefited the person under guardianship/conservatorship. There is no fixed statutory rate; reasonableness is reviewed by the court on petition, using factors under §3-721. Exception: if the court finds the petition was filed in bad faith and dismisses it, the court may assess the respondent’s attorney’s fees, visitor costs, and evaluation costs against the petitioner instead.
Unless the court has made a finding that the respondent is indigent and has appointed an attorney for the respondent on that basis, an attorney for a respondent in a proceeding under this Act is entitled to reasonable compensation and reimbursement of reasonable expenses from the property of the respondent.
If the court dismisses a petition under this Act and determines the petition was filed in bad faith, the court may assess the cost of any court-ordered professional evaluation or visitor, and any attorney’s fees or other costs incurred by the respondent, against the petitioner.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: 18-C M.R.S. §5-119(1)-(4).
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.
Two separate, both explicitly annual (not biennial/triennial): (1) A guardian for an adult (Part 3) must submit a report to the court at least annually covering the ward’s condition and accounting for money/property in the guardian’s possession; the court reviews filed reports at least annually. (2) A conservator (Part 4) must file a report/accounting with the court annually unless the court directs otherwise, plus on resignation, removal, or termination. No separate statutory filing fee for the periodic report itself was found in the fee schedule (18-C §1-602) — that section lists only petition/certificate/copy fees, with no line item for an annual report or accounting filing.
A guardian for an adult at least annually shall submit to the court a report in a record regarding the condition of the adult and accounting for money and other property in the guardian’s possession or subject to the guardian’s control.
A conservator shall file a report in a record with the court regarding the administration of the conservatorship estate annually unless the court otherwise directs, on resignation or removal, on termination of the conservatorship and at any other time as the court directs.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: 18-C M.R.S. §5-317 (guardian for adult); §5-423 (conservator).
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 | 18-C M.R.S. §1-602(5), (7), (8) | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Bond | 18-C M.R.S. §5-416, §5-417 (conservator bond); no bond section exists in Part 3, Guardianship of Adult | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | 18-C M.R.S. §5-119(1)-(4) | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Periodic accounting or report | 18-C M.R.S. §5-317 (guardian for adult); §5-423 (conservator) | 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.