Guardian Reporting Requirements in Montana

The court appointed you as guardian for your parent. The hearing is over, the letters of guardianship are signed, and you finally have the legal authority to make decisions about your parent's care. Now comes the part nobody warned you about: the paperwork does not stop.

Montana District Courts maintain ongoing supervision of every guardianship and conservatorship. That supervision takes the form of mandatory reports, inventories, and financial accountings filed on strict deadlines. Miss one, and the court can summon you for a compliance hearing — or worse, remove you as guardian entirely.

What Guardians Must File

Guardian Annual Report. Every year, you must file a report with the District Court detailing your parent's current condition. The report covers:

• Where your parent is living and whether the placement remains appropriate
• Your parent's physical and mental health status
• Medical treatments received during the reporting period
• Social activities and quality of life observations
• Any significant changes in condition or care needs
• Whether the guardianship should continue, be modified, or be terminated

The annual report must be signed under penalty of perjury. The court uses it to verify that you are acting in your parent's best interests and that the guardianship remains necessary.

Guardian Care Plan. At the beginning of the guardianship, you must file a care plan outlining how you intend to meet your parent's personal, medical, and social needs. The court reviews this plan alongside the annual report to measure whether you are following through on your stated intentions.

What Conservators Must File

If you were appointed as conservator — or as both guardian and conservator — you have additional financial reporting obligations:

90-Day Inventory. Within 90 days of your appointment, you must file a complete inventory of your parent's estate with the court. This includes every asset: bank accounts, investment accounts, real property, vehicles, personal property of value, insurance policies, and any debts owed to or by the estate.

Annual Financial Accounting. Each year, you must file a detailed accounting of every dollar that came into and went out of your parent's estate during the reporting period. This includes:

• All income received (Social Security, pensions, investment returns, rental income)
• All expenses paid (care facility fees, medical costs, insurance premiums, taxes, utilities)
• Any changes in asset values (property sales, investment gains or losses)
• Current account balances

The accounting must reconcile — the beginning balance plus income minus expenses must equal the ending balance. Discrepancies trigger court scrutiny.

Surety Bond. Unless the court specifically waives this requirement, conservators must post a surety bond to protect the estate from mismanagement or fraud. The bond amount is typically set based on the value of the estate's liquid assets. You will pay an annual premium to a bonding company, and that premium is an allowable estate expense.

Filing Deadlines and Where to File

Reports are filed with the Clerk of the District Court in the county that issued the guardianship or conservatorship order. The exact anniversary date depends on when the court signed the original order — your annual reports are due on or near that date each year.

Montana District Courts in larger counties (Yellowstone, Missoula, Gallatin, Flathead, Lewis and Clark) often send reminder notices. Smaller rural courts may not. Track your own deadlines.

Forms are available from the Montana Supreme Court Commission on Self-Represented Litigants at courts.mt.gov. The standardized forms include the Guardian Annual Report, Guardian Care Plan, Conservator Inventory, and Conservator Annual Accounting.

What Happens If You Miss a Filing

The court takes missed filings seriously:

• Compliance hearing. A judge can order you to appear and explain why the report was not filed. You may be required to bring all financial records for immediate review.
• Court-appointed auditor. If the court suspects financial mismanagement, it can appoint an independent auditor to review the estate's finances at the estate's expense.
• Removal. Persistent failure to file reports is grounds for removing you as guardian or conservator and appointing a replacement — potentially a professional fiduciary who charges hourly fees against your parent's estate.

Practical Tips for Staying Compliant

Set calendar reminders 60 days before your filing deadline. This gives you time to gather records, prepare the report, and get it filed without rushing.

Keep a running log throughout the year. Tracking medical appointments, care changes, and expenses as they happen is far easier than reconstructing 12 months of activity from memory.

Separate accounts. If you are conservator, maintain a dedicated bank account for your parent's finances. Commingling funds with your own makes the annual accounting nearly impossible to reconcile cleanly.

Keep copies of everything you file. The court's filing system is not your backup. Maintain your own complete file with copies of every report, inventory, and accounting submitted.

The Montana Power of Attorney & Guardianship Kit includes guardian reporting templates and a filing timeline checklist — so you know exactly what to file, when to file it, and how to document your parent's care for the court.

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