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Probate · Adult guardianship
When someone in your family can no longer decide.
A guardianship is how a Nevada court gives one person the authority to care for another adult. It is a serious step, and sometimes it is the only one available.
The short answer
An adult guardianship is a court order that gives a guardian legal authority over another adult’s care, their money, or both, because that person can no longer make or communicate those decisions safely. Nevada treats it as a last resort, and the court has to be satisfied that nothing less restrictive will do. If a power of attorney or a trust is already in place, a guardianship may not be needed at all.
When families reach this point
It tends to build slowly and then become urgent. It might be a parent with dementia who has stopped paying the bills, or a spouse after a stroke. It might be an adult child with a disability who has just turned eighteen, which ended a parent’s legal authority overnight, or a relative being steered by someone who should not be near their checkbook. In each case a decision has to be made, and the person who would ordinarily make it cannot.
What to try first
Nevada law asks the court to consider whether something less restrictive would work, and so should the family. If the person signed a financial power of attorney and an advance directive while they were able, the people they named may already have all the authority that is needed. A funded living trust lets a successor trustee manage what the trust holds. Nevada also recognizes supported decision-making agreements, under which an adult who needs help keeps the decision and chooses who helps them make it. A guardianship is for when none of those exist, or when they are not enough.
What a Nevada guardianship is
Of the person, of the estate, or both
A guardian of the person makes decisions about care, medical treatment, and where someone lives. A guardian of the estate manages money and property. One guardian can hold both roles, or the court can divide them.
As narrow as the need
For a person with limited capacity, the court can appoint a guardian with authority over only the matters they cannot manage, and leave the rest with them. Where there is immediate risk, a temporary guardianship can be put in place while the full petition is heard.
The protected person’s rights
Nevada calls the person at the center of a guardianship the protected person. The court appoints an attorney for them, they are entitled to be at the hearing, and Nevada’s statutes set out a bill of rights that stays with them throughout: to be treated with dignity, to take part in decisions as far as they are able, to see family and friends, and to ask the court to change or end the guardianship.
What the court needs to see
A petition explaining why a guardianship is necessary and why this guardian is suitable, a medical professional’s assessment of the person’s capacity, and notice to the close family, who may support the petition, propose someone else, or object.
What it asks of a guardian
A great deal. A guardian of the estate files an inventory of what the person owns, keeps their money separate from everyone else’s, and accounts to the court for every dollar, year after year. A guardian of the person reports to the court on how the person is living and being cared for. Major steps, such as selling the person’s home or moving them to another state, need the court’s approval first. The guardianship lasts until the person recovers capacity or dies, or the court ends it.
When a guardianship is needed, these duties are worth taking on. They’re also why the law prefers the documents that make one unnecessary.
We guide family members through the petition and the hearing.
How we charge
Agreed before work begins
Nothing starts until you know how the work is priced and how payment works.
Before you call
Do we need a guardianship if Mom already signed a power of attorney?
Maybe not. If she signed it while she was able, the person she named may already have the authority you need.
What is the difference between a guardian of the person and a guardian of the estate?
One decides about care and where the person lives; the other manages money and property. The same person can hold both.
Does my relative get a say?
Yes. The court appoints them their own attorney, and they keep rights of their own for as long as the guardianship lasts.
My child with a disability is turning eighteen. What happens to my authority?
It ends on their birthday, because the law then treats them as an adult. Depending on what they can decide for themselves, the answer may be a supported decision-making agreement, powers of attorney they sign themselves, or a guardianship limited to what they need.