Updated August 14, 2026. Quick answer: Texas fixes the petition filing fee at $223 by statute, and the periodic accounting is annual. Everything on this page is quoted from the jurisdiction’s own statute or an official court schedule, and where Texas 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 Texas fixes by statute
| Item | What the text says | Where it says it |
|---|---|---|
| Petition filing fee | $223 statutory local consolidated filing fee on filing any guardianship case, plus separately-scheduled county clerk service fees. This is not the whole cost of filing — it is the one statewide statutory component. | Tex. Loc. Gov’t Code §135.102(a)(1) |
| Bond | Bond required of a guardian of the estate; may not be waived for a guardian of the estate even by a parent’s will. Amount set by the judge ‘sufficient to protect the guardianship and the guardianship’s creditors’, after an evidentiary hearing on cash on hand, cash needed for administration, and revenue anticipated in the next 12 months. Exceptions: no bond if the guardian is a corporate fiduciary or a county-operated guardianship program. | Tex. Est. Code §1105.101(a), (b), (d); §1105.152(a); §1105.153 |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | Appointment of an attorney ad litem for the proposed ward is mandatory in every guardianship application. A guardian ad litem, when appointed, is entitled to reasonable compensation set by the court and taxed as costs. Guardian-of-the-estate compensation is capped by a statutory percentage: 5% of the ward’s gross income + 5% of all money paid out. Guardian of the person alone: not more than the greater of $3,000/year or 5% of the ward’s gross income. | Tex. Est. Code §1054.001; §1054.055(a); §1155.003(b); §1155.002(a) |
| Periodic accounting or report | Annual account of the estate due within 60 days after the first anniversary of qualification and annually thereafter. County clerk fees: $25.00 to file an annual or final account of the estate; $10.00 to file an annual or final report of a guardian of the person; $5.00 to approve and record a bond. | Tex. Est. Code §1163.001(a); Tex. Loc. Gov’t Code §118.052(2)(A)(iv), (vi), (ii) |
What the proceeding is called here. Guardianship of the person and/or of the estate (Estates Code Title 3), filed in a statutory probate court, statutory county court, or county court.
The filing fee
$223 statutory local consolidated filing fee on filing any guardianship case, plus separately-scheduled county clerk service fees. This is not the whole cost of filing — it is the one statewide statutory component.
A person shall pay in a statutory county court, statutory probate court, or county court in addition to all other fees and court costs a fee of: (1) $223 on filing any probate, guardianship, or mental health case
(a) A person shall pay in a district court, statutory county court, or county court in addition to all other fees and court costs a local consolidated filing fee of: (1) $213 on filing any civil case except a probate, guardianship, or mental health case
Read at statute source on 2026-08-11: Tex. Loc. Gov’t Code §135.102(a)(1); §135.101(a)(1).
The bond
Bond required of a guardian of the estate; may not be waived for a guardian of the estate even by a parent’s will. Amount set by the judge ‘sufficient to protect the guardianship and the guardianship’s creditors’, after an evidentiary hearing on cash on hand, cash needed for administration, and revenue anticipated in the next 12 months. Exceptions: no bond if the guardian is a corporate fiduciary or a county-operated guardianship program.
(d) The court may not waive the requirement of bond for the guardian of the estate of a ward, regardless of whether a surviving parent’s will or written declaration directs the court to waive the bond.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-11: Tex. Est. Code §1105.101(a), (b), (d); §1105.152(a); §1105.153.
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. Texas 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
Appointment of an attorney ad litem for the proposed ward is mandatory in every guardianship application. A guardian ad litem, when appointed, is entitled to reasonable compensation set by the court and taxed as costs. Guardian-of-the-estate compensation is capped by a statutory percentage: 5% of the ward’s gross income + 5% of all money paid out. Guardian of the person alone: not more than the greater of $3,000/year or 5% of the ward’s gross income.
In a proceeding under this title for the appointment of a guardian, the court shall appoint an attorney ad litem to represent the proposed ward’s interests.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-11: Tex. Est. Code §1054.001; §1054.055(a); §1155.003(b); §1155.002(a).
How often you have to account
Annual. 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 account of the estate due within 60 days after the first anniversary of qualification and annually thereafter. County clerk fees: $25.00 to file an annual or final account of the estate; $10.00 to file an annual or final report of a guardian of the person; $5.00 to approve and record a bond.
Filing annual or final report of guardian of a person . . . $10.00
Read at statute source on 2026-08-11: Tex. Est. Code §1163.001(a); Tex. Loc. Gov’t Code §118.052(2)(A)(iv), (vi), (ii).
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 | Tex. Loc. Gov’t Code §135.102(a)(1) | statute | 2026-08-11 |
| Bond | Tex. Est. Code §1105.101(a), (b), (d); §1105.152(a); §1105.153 | statute | 2026-08-11 |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | Tex. Est. Code §1054.001; §1054.055(a); §1155.003(b); §1155.002(a) | statute | 2026-08-11 |
| Periodic accounting or report | Tex. Est. Code §1163.001(a); Tex. Loc. Gov’t Code §118.052(2)(A)(iv), (vi), (ii) | statute | 2026-08-11 |
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.