Alaska Court System Self-Help

You must file a plan and reports at specific times:

Within 30 days from the date the court distributes the Guardianship Order, the guardian must file:

• Guardianship Plan, PG-401

The Guardianship Plan must:

• describe the guardian’s plans for caring for the ward
• be designed to encourage the ward to participate in all decisions affecting the ward to the maximum extent possible,
• not restrict the ward’s freedom to make decisions more than is reasonably necessary to protect the ward and to provide for the ward’s needs.

Within 90 days from the date the court distributes the Guardianship Order, the guardian must file:

• Guardianship Implementation Report and Inventory, PG-205

This report should give the court as complete a picture as possible of the ward’s current situation and what the guardian is going to do to implement the guardianship plan.

Every year the guardian must file an Annual Report until the guardianship is terminated. There are different annual report forms for an adult or a minor guardianship:

• Guardianship Annual Report, PG-210 (use for an adult)
• Annual Report on Guardianship of a Minor PG-640 (use for a child)

This report describes what has happened to the ward and the ward’s income and assets in the past 12 months. The report must cover the 12-month period beginning the 1st of the month in which the appointment order is signed and ending 12 months later, unless the appointment order sets different dates. This 12-month period is called “the reporting period.” The report is due 30 days after the end of the reporting period. For example, if the order is signed anytime in January, the reporting period will be January 1 to December 31; and a report will be due each January 31.

When the guardianship ends, the guardian must file:

• Final Guardianship Report, PG-215

The purpose of this report is to tell the court why your service as guardian is ending along with what has happened to the ward since your last annual report. Also, if you are a full guardian with conservatorship powers, you discuss the ward’s assets since you filed your last annual report.

Every 3 years after the court appoints a guardian, the court appoints a “visitor” to file a report about the guardianship. The state pays the visitor to prepare a report after interviewing the ward, the guardian and others. The visitor will provide the ward with:

• Notice of Respondent's Rights Before Visitor's Interview, PG-290

When the ward dies, the guardian must notify the ward’s family members and the court that appointed the guardian.

If the guardian has the ward’s will (or knows its location), he or she must deliver it to the court for safekeeping, and inform the personal representative or a beneficiary named in the will that the will had been delivered. There is no charge for depositing the will with the court after the ward dies.

Within 90 days after the ward dies, the guardian must file:

• Final Guardianship Report, PG-215
• Copy of the death certificate

Once the guardian knows that the ward has died, the guardian has no further authority over the ward’s affairs and estate except to:

• preserve, account, and transfer control of assets to a personal representative or special administrator appointed by the court or to a temporary property custodian appointed by the court or authorized to take custody of personal property by affidavit; and
• if the ward does not have a family member available, arrange for the ward’s body to be transported to a funeral home and make funeral and burial arrangements for the ward. The guardian may also apply for assistance with burial expenses from the state or a municipality if the ward’s estate cannot afford to pay for burial; and
• pay reasonable burial expenses from the estate.