How to Properly Terminate a Guardianship

Everything you need to know to properly terminate your guardianship of an adult or child. First and foremost, guardianship may not be needed for a variety of reasons. But, today, we are not just going to sit down and talk about terminating a guardianship in the general sense. We are going to sit down and discuss how you can terminate a guardianship of a child and terminate a guardianship of an adult as well.

Reasons Why You Would be Terminating a Guardianship in Nevada

Here are some of the more common reasons why someone would terminate a guardianship in Nevada, whether it is a guardianship of a child or an adult.

Death

When the person who needs a guardian dies or also known as the protected person, the guardian is going to be required to notify the court, which in result will close the guardianship case.

There will be a final accounting and a hearing which will be required before the guardianship case is formally closed.

Age of Majority

If the protected person is a minor, once they turn 18 the guardianship will terminate.

Parents Will Care for Child

Another great reason for terminating a guardianship case is when the biological parents can care for the protected person.

However, the biological parents will need to prove to the court that they have fixed the issues, which led to someone else having guardianship of the child. The biological parents will be required to prove to the court that they will be able to properly provide shelter, food, clothing, and care for the protected person.

If you agree that the biological parents can take proper care of the protected person, you can sign papers, which will give the parents back their guardian rights.

If you do not feel as if the biological parents can take proper care of the protected person, the parents will be obligated to put in a formal petition into the Nevada court and the judge will have to decide who will get guardianship.

Moved Out of Nevada

If you have prior court approval and you and the protected person moves out of the state, the guardianship case will be closed out in the state of Nevada and started in what state you decide to reside in.

However, you will need to start a guardianship case in the state in which you are moving to and you will need to provide Nevada with proof of your new guardianship case.

Competency

This will typically apply to guardianship cases for adults. If the protected person or in this case the adult is competent and capable of managing their own life, the guardianship can be terminated.

However, for this guardianship to be terminated, two physicians will be required to see the protected person and state that they are competent to handle their own affairs.

How to Terminate a Child Guardianship

In the case of a child guardianship, there are a few different ways that this type of guardianship can be terminated.

You should know that the options you have on the table to terminate the guardianship will typically depend on how old the protected person is and whether you and the biological parents both agree or disagree when it comes to the guardianship case.

Petition to Terminate Guardianship Form for Child

If you, the guardian does not agree to end the guardianship and give the rights back to the biological parents, you will be required to undergo a hearing in the Nevada courts.

The biological parents will be required to fill out the petition to terminate guardianship forms and file them. Then the biological parents will be required to set a hearing, which will in result serve the current guardians and any other respective relatives.

This is so the judge will have the opportunity to see everyone in person. Ultimately the judge will be the one who will decide who will get guardianship of the child.

However, during this hearing, the biological parents will have to prove to the judge that they can provide proper care for the protected person such as having shelter, food, and clothing for the protected person.

Terminating Once the Protected Person Turns 18

Terminating a guardianship once the protected person turns 18 will solely depend on whether your guardianship was over the protected person’s estate or just their person.

Over the Person

When the protected person turns 18, guardianship will automatically end. Even though, you will not be required to do anything legally to end this guardianship, but you should certainly notify the Nevada court that the protected person has turned 18, just so the court can formally close the case.

Over the Estate

Now, if your guardianship case also involved the protected person’s estate, then there are more than likely assets that the protected person is entitled to at disclosed financial institution. Once the protected person has turned 18, you will still need a court order for the protected person to retrieve their assets.

By getting a court order, you will need to have protected person fill out the following form, which will request the court to release the assets to them. The judge will then need to sign off on this order and the assets will be given to the protected person.

Terminating Guardianship with Biological Parents

If everyone involved meaning the guardians and both of the biological parents are in agreement of terminating the guardianship of the protected person, then they can fill out the stipulation form, which states that everyone involved is in agreement to terminate the guardianship.

If the protected person is over the age of 14, they also must agree and sign the stipulation form as well.

However, if only one of the biological parents agrees to terminate the guardianship, then that parent’s disagreement will be required to be explained.

Both parties, the biological parents and guardians will need to explain why they are going to terminate the guardianship. They will need to provide concrete information on who will have guardian over the protected person from this day forward. Then the judge will need to sign the stipulation form as well. If the judge does not agree with the termination, then the guardianship will stay as it currently is.

How to Terminate an Adult Guardianship

In many of the cases of terminating an adult guardianship, a court hearing will be required to formally close this type of guardianship case.

Just about anyone, including a relative, guardian, or the protected person are permitted to file papers asking the judge to terminate the guardianship case.

In this section, we are going to talk about why you may want to terminate the guardianship case and what forms you will need to complete the process.

File the Correct Papers

In order to terminate an adult guardianship, you will need to fill out the Petition to Terminate Guardianship along with the Citation or a Notice of Hearing. Keep in mind depending on your case, you may be required to provide a few other documents as well.

First and foremost, you will want to print out and follow the instructions on the forms to ensure you are filling out the forms properly.

If the protected person has died, you will need to fill out the notice of hearing instead of filling out the citation, which is included in the forms linked above.

Serve the Proper Papers

Once you have filled out the proper forms, you will then need to serve the papers to all required parties.

You should know that this step of the process is very vital. If you fail to do this step correctly, the judge can terminate your hearing.

In order to properly serve papers, you will need to send off the citation and the petition to terminate guardianship to the guardians, the protected person, their relatives, and his or her attorney.  This is so everyone in the parties will know about the hearing and they will all have their own chance to respond to this request.

This is how you will properly serve the above papers:

  • If the protected person is still alive, you will need to mail out the petition along with the citation to all people by certified mail.
  • If the protected person is dead, you will need to mail out the petition along with the notice of hearing to all required people by regular mail.

Day of Hearing

When it is your hearing day, you will want to ensure you arrive at the courthouse early. You will want to have enough time to park, get through the security checks, and find the correct courtroom. Finally, you will need to check in with the courtroom marshal as well.

When the hearing finally starts, the judge will ask questions to you and the rest of the parties who is sitting in the courtroom. However, once the judge listens to everyone who wants to come forward, he or she will decide.

If the judge agrees to terminate the guardianship, the judge will then ultimately sign the Order Terminating Guardianship. You will need to bring this form to the court, you can find the form in the packet above. Once, the judge signs the form, you will then need to file it at your local clerk’s office. You will then need to send a copy of the form to all required people along with filing the Notice of Entry of Order with the court as well.