California Guardianship Forms: Petition, Service, and Filing

To open a guardianship of a minor in California, you file a Petition for Appointment of Guardian of Minor (GC-210) with the Superior Court’s Probate Division, along with a required set of California guardianship forms: a child information attachment, a UCCJEA declaration, a confidential screening form for the proposed guardian, a notice of hearing, and pre-filled proposed orders. The filing fee is $225 for guardianship of the person, or $435 if you also seek guardianship of the child’s estate. Every form is a Judicial Council form; you cannot substitute your own documents.

The Core Forms You File

The petition itself is GC-210, Petition for Appointment of Guardian of Minor. It formally asks the court to appoint you as guardian of the child, the child’s estate, or both.¹ GC-210 does not stand alone. You file it together with the following:

GC-210(CA), Guardianship Petition—Child Information Attachment, covering the child’s living situation, the parents’ contact information and position on the guardianship, prior court case history, and whether the child may be a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe.²
GC-212, Confidential Guardian Screening Form, with the proposed guardian’s personal identifiers and any criminal history, used by the court to run background checks.³
FL-105/GC-120, Declaration Under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), listing the child’s addresses over the last five years and any other custody proceedings.⁴
GC-020, Notice of Hearing—Guardianship or Conservatorship, which you will serve on the required parties after the clerk sets a hearing date.⁵
GC-240, Order Appointing Guardian, a proposed order for the judge to sign at the hearing.⁶
GC-250, Letters of Guardianship, the certified document the clerk issues after appointment as your official proof of authority.⁷

Fill in the case information on GC-240 and GC-250 but leave the signature and certification lines blank. The judge signs GC-240 at the hearing, and the clerk certifies GC-250 afterward. Bring the pre-filled forms with you when you file so the court has them ready.

What Each Form Asks For

Petition (GC-210)

GC-210 identifies you, the child, and the proposed guardian (if that is someone other than you). You must state that the appointment is “necessary or convenient” for the child, the standard set by Probate Code Section 1510.⁸ In practice, that means explaining why the parents are unable or unwilling to care for the child. Describe the circumstances factually rather than characterizing the parents in general terms.

The petition also requires you to list the child’s parents, anyone with legal custody, relatives within the second degree (grandparents, siblings, and half-siblings), and any person nominated as guardian in a parent’s will or other written nomination.⁹ If you are also seeking guardianship of the estate, add the child’s spouse if married, and any Indian custodian and tribe if the child is or may be an Indian child.

Child Information Attachment (GC-210(CA))

Most of the detail lives here. GC-210(CA) asks for the child’s current address, who the child lives with and for how long, whether either parent agrees to the guardianship, and whether the child has been involved in any adoption, juvenile court, divorce, or other custody proceeding.² One section asks you to describe the specific facts and circumstances that make the guardianship necessary.

Page 5 of this form is where the Indian child inquiry happens in a probate guardianship, rather than on the separate ICWA-010(A) form used in other case types.¹⁰ If you know or have reason to believe the child is an Indian child, notice must also go to the tribe on Form ICWA-030.

UCCJEA Declaration (FL-105/GC-120)

This declaration asks where the child has lived for the past five years and names every person the child lived with during that period.⁴ It also asks whether any other custody or visitation case involving the child exists anywhere, whether any domestic violence protective orders are in effect, and whether anyone not named in the case claims custody or visitation rights. You have a continuing duty to update the court if you later learn of another custody proceeding.

Confidential Screening Form (GC-212)

GC-212 goes to the court investigator, not to the other parties. The proposed guardian discloses date of birth, Social Security number, driver’s license number, and whether they have ever been charged with, arrested for, or convicted of a felony or misdemeanor.³ Anything answered “yes” needs an explanation attached. The court uses the information to run criminal background checks and check the Child Abuse Central Index for all adults in the proposed guardian’s home. Some counties also require Live Scan fingerprinting; ask your local clerk.

Emergency Situations: The Temporary Guardianship Form

If the child needs immediate protection and cannot wait for the regular hearing, add the Petition for Appointment of Temporary Guardian (GC-110) to your filing.¹¹ GC-110 cannot be filed on its own. It has to accompany the full guardianship petition or be filed in an existing guardianship case.

Temporary requests are heard on an expedited basis, sometimes within days. The judge will want evidence of a genuine emergency: a parent’s sudden hospitalization or incarceration, abandonment, or an unsafe living situation. If granted, the temporary order lasts only until the court holds the full hearing on the permanent petition.

Extra Forms if You’re Also Guardian of the Estate

A guardianship of the estate is used when a child owns significant money or property or receives income such as an inheritance.¹² It is not needed simply because the child receives Social Security benefits or CalWORKs. If you are asking for authority over the estate, the court takes additional steps to protect the assets. The guardian of the estate is generally required to post a bond proportional to the value of the estate. You can reduce the required bond by depositing estate assets into a blocked account at a financial institution, which the court must authorize before any withdrawals.¹³

Filing With the Court

File the completed forms with the Superior Court clerk in the county where the child lives. Bring the originals and at least two copies of everything. The clerk stamps each set “Filed,” assigns a case number, and schedules a hearing date. That date goes on the GC-020 Notice of Hearing, and the stamped copies come back to you to serve on the required parties.¹⁴

The filing fee is $225 for guardianship of the person.¹⁴ If you are also seeking guardianship of the estate, the fee is $435.¹⁵ If the child cannot afford the fee, file a Request to Waive Court Fees (FW-001-GC) at the same time you file the petition.¹⁶ The fee waiver is based on the child’s financial situation (or the parents’ income), not the petitioner’s finances.

Serving the Notice and Proving It

Once the hearing date is set, you have to notify every required party and give them a copy of the filed petition. Probate Code Section 1511 sets out who must receive notice and how. Notice must reach all parties at least 15 days before the hearing, and the court cannot shorten that timeline.¹⁷

Personal Service

Some people have to be personally served, meaning someone other than you physically hands them the documents. Under Probate Code 1511(b), personal service is required for:

Both of the child’s parents
Anyone who currently has legal custody of the child
The child, if age 12 or older
Any person nominated as guardian in a parent’s will or written nomination

Personal service means delivering the papers directly to the person, as described in Code of Civil Procedure Section 415.10.¹⁸ The statute also allows service by mail with a return acknowledgment under CCP 415.30, or in any other manner the court authorizes. If you cannot locate a parent despite reasonable efforts, you can ask the court for permission to serve by publication or another alternative method.

Service by Mail

Relatives named in the petition — grandparents, siblings, and half-siblings — must receive notice by mail at the addresses listed.¹⁷ If the child has a spouse, that person must also be notified by mail. The person caring for the child day to day, if different from the person with legal custody, gets mailed notice as well.

Proof of Service

After every required party has been served, the person who did the serving completes a Proof of Personal Service of Notice of Hearing (GC-020(P)), which is attached to Form GC-020 and filed with the court before the hearing.¹⁹ The petitioner cannot perform service. A professional process server typically charges around $45 to $75 per person served.

What the Forms Lead To

After you file, the court orders an investigation. A court investigator reviews your GC-212, runs criminal background checks, and checks the Child Abuse Central Index for adults in the proposed guardian’s home.³ The investigator may visit the home, interview the child, and speak with the parents, then submit a report to the judge.

At the hearing, the judge reviews the petition, the investigator’s report, and any objections. If everything is in order and no one objects, the hearing is often brief. The judge signs GC-240, and the clerk issues the certified GC-250 Letters of Guardianship, which is the document you use to enroll the child in school, consent to medical treatment, and handle other daily matters. Without the Letters, the appointment is not effective.⁶ If the paperwork is incomplete or proof of service is missing, the hearing is postponed. Repeated postponements can lead the court to dismiss the case, forcing you to refile. Check with the court’s probate examiner before the hearing to catch any deficiencies early.

Forms and Filings After Appointment

The court gives you Form GC-248, Duties of Guardian, which sets out what the appointment obligates you to do.²⁰ As guardian of the person, you must notify the court in writing of any change in the child’s address or your own, and moving the child out of California requires court permission first.

Guardianship of the estate carries more form obligations. Within 90 days of your appointment, you must file an inventory and appraisal of all the child’s property. You then petition the court to review and approve a formal accounting one year after appointment and at least every two years afterward.²⁰ The accountings must follow the format set out in the Probate Code, and the court may ask you to justify expenditures and produce receipts. Failing to file an accounting when due can get you removed as guardian.

One boundary worth noting: being appointed legal guardian does not automatically make you the Social Security representative payee for a child who receives Social Security or SSI. That is a separate application to the Social Security Administration, not a court form.²¹

1
Judicial Council of California. Judicial Council of California Form GC-210 – Petition for Appointment of Guardian of Minor
2
Judicial Council of California. GC-210(CA) Child Information Attachment to Probate Guardianship Petition
3
Judicial Council of California. Confidential Guardian Screening Form – Probate Guardianships and Conservatorships
4
Judicial Council of California. California Judicial Council Form FL-105/GC-120 – Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act
5
California Courts. Notice of Hearing – Guardianship or Conservatorship
6
Judicial Council of California. Judicial Council of California Form GC-240 – Order Appointing Guardian or Extending Guardianship of the Person
7
Judicial Council of California. Letters of Guardianship
8
California Legislative Information. California Code PROB 1510 – Appointment of Guardian Generally
9
Justia Law. California Probate Code 1510-1517
10
Judicial Council of California. ICWA-005-INFO
11
California Courts. Petition for Appointment of Temporary Guardian (GC-110)
12
California Courts. Guardianships in California
13
California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 2328
14
California Courts. File Guardianship Papers
15
Superior Court of California. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule
16
California Courts. Fee Waivers in Guardianships and Conservatorships
17
California Legislative Information. California Code PROB 1511 – Appointment of Guardian Generally
18
California Legislative Information. Code of Civil Procedure – Article 3
19
California Courts. Proof of Personal Service of Notice of Hearing – Guardianship or Conservatorship (GC-020(P))
20
Judicial Council of California. GC-248 Duties of Guardian
21
Social Security Administration. Representative Payee Program