Guardianship Accounting and Annual Report Workbook

Guardianship accounting is the report a court-appointed guardian or conservator of the estate files, usually yearly, showing what the ward owned at the start, every dollar received, every dollar spent, any gains or losses on assets, and what is on hand at the end, backed by bank statements and receipts.

The structure is nearly the same in every state, even though the forms differ. California's mandatory Summary of Account (GC-400(SUM)) adds the property on hand at the start, receipts, gains on sales and other property received, and balances them against disbursements, losses, distributions and the property on hand at the end. Texas says the annual account must let the court see the true condition of the estate by adding receipts to the balances carried forward and subtracting disbursements (Estates Code 1163.002). Conservatorship accounting works the same way; only the title changes from state to state (guardian of the estate, guardian of the property, conservator).

Most courts also want proof. Florida requires a copy of the year-end statement for each of the ward's cash accounts and requires the guardian to keep a receipt, canceled check or other proof of payment for every expenditure (Fla. Stat. 744.3678). Texas asks for a voucher for each payment and an official statement from each bank covering the last day of the period (Estates Code 1163.003).

Last reviewed: 25 October 2026. State rules below were checked against official statutes and court pages; your court order and local rules come first.

Many guardians are asked for two different documents, and mixing them up is a common reason a filing is returned. The annual accounting is about money. The guardian annual report (sometimes called a personal status report, guardianship plan or report on the ward) is about the person: where they live, their health and their care.

If you are guardian of both the person and the estate, you usually file both. In New York, an Article 81 guardian's single annual report includes the account information when the guardian manages property (Mental Hygiene Law 81.31). Florida's annual plan for an adult ward includes a report from a physician or qualifying nurse practitioner who examined the ward within 90 days before the reporting period. This workbook covers the accounting; use your court's form for the personal report.

1. Find your form and period. Read your order of appointment and get your court's guardian accounting form. The period usually starts the day after the last approved accounting ended, or on your appointment date for the first one.
2. Write down the starting figures. Use your inventory or the ending figures from the last accounting the court approved. They must match exactly.
3. Log money in and money out. Go through every statement for every account. Record each deposit as a receipt and each payment as a disbursement, with a receipt behind it. Transfers between the ward's own accounts are neither.
4. Record asset changes separately. When something is sold, it leaves the asset list at its carried value, cash goes up by the sale price, and the difference is a gain or loss. Property received, such as an inheritance, is added at its value.
5. Reconcile each account. Your ending balance for each account, after allowing for uncleared checks and deposits, should equal the bank statement.
6. Balance and copy to the form. Start plus receipts minus disbursements plus gains minus losses plus property received should equal what is on hand at the end. Then copy the totals onto your court's form, sign it as required and attach what the court asks for.

Some courts want these attached; others want them kept and available on request. Florida says the receipts need not be filed but must be kept and produced if the court asks.

Most family guardians are not accountants, and the hard part is rarely the court form. It is a year of statements, receipts and one-off events (a car sold, a transfer from savings, a fee the court approved) that have to add up at the end. This workbook keeps each kind of entry in its own place so nothing is counted twice: a transfer between the ward's accounts is not income, and the price of an asset sold is not a receipt. It then reconciles each account to its statement and tells you in plain words what still needs attention, such as a payment with no receipt or a fee waiting for court approval.