Guardianship of a minor gives an adult the legal authority to care for a child when the child’s parents cannot or will not. This page covers who can ask for it, when a court grants it, the forms it takes, and what the role involves once you have it.
Who Can File for Guardianship?
A minor, or anyone interested in the minor’s welfare, can petition for a guardian to be appointed. That is often a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or close family friend, but it does not have to be a relative. The petitioner can propose themselves or someone else, and the court decides whether that person is suitable.
When Does the Court Grant Guardianship?
The court will grant guardianship if one of the following factors is met:1
- The parents consent to the guardianship.
- All parental rights have been terminated by a court.
- The parents are unwilling or unable to exercise their parental rights, for example because of incapacity, incarceration, or abandonment.
- A guardian previously appointed for the child has died or become incapacitated without naming a successor.
Where a parent objects, the person asking for guardianship has to prove the parent is unwilling or unable by clear and convincing evidence. And where a court has already placed the child with someone other than a parent, it does not presume the child belongs back with a parent.
A parent can also name a guardian in a will or other signed document, and that person gets priority. A minor aged twelve or older has a say in that appointment.
Types of Guardianship in Colorado
There are three forms, each built for a different situation.
Emergency guardianship lasts no more than 60 days.2 It is for situations where a child is likely to suffer substantial harm to their health or safety and no one else appears to have authority to act. A court can appoint an emergency guardian without notice to the parents, but notice must then go out within 48 hours and a hearing must follow within five days.
Temporary guardianship lasts no more than six months. It is available where there is an immediate need and the appointment is in the child’s best interest, even before the conditions for a full guardianship have been established.
A standard guardianship continues until the child turns eighteen, marries, is adopted, or is emancipated, or until the court ends it. A guardianship that includes special immigrant juvenile findings can run to twenty-one.
It is not permanent in the way the word suggests, and a parent who later becomes able to care for the child can ask the court to end it.
The Guardianship Process
Once you know which form fits, you file a petition with the court in the county where the child lives. The petition is a Colorado Judicial Branch form, and the packet includes separate forms for parental consent, the minor’s consent, and emergency or temporary requests.
The Colorado Judicial Branch instructions for these filings are JDF 823, Instructions for Appointment of Guardian for a Minor, and the petition itself is JDF 824.3 Along with the petition, the filing includes:
- A name-based criminal history record check for the proposed guardian from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation
- A current credit report for the proposed guardian, with Social Security numbers redacted
- The proposed guardian’s signed Acceptance of Office
The proposed guardian pays for the background check and the credit report.4
You then give notice of the hearing to everyone entitled to it, including the parents, anyone currently caring for the child, and the child if twelve or older. At the hearing, the court looks at the evidence for the appointment and whether it serves the child’s best interest. If it grants the petition, it issues an order and letters of guardianship setting out what the guardian can do.
After You Are Appointed
A guardian takes on broadly the authority a parent would have over the child’s care, within whatever limits the order sets. One limit applies by default: the guardian cannot move the child’s home outside Colorado without a court order.
Courts commonly require the guardian to report on the child’s condition. The court keeps the power to change or end the guardianship, so following the order closely matters.
Guardianship is distinct from child custody in Colorado, which allocates parenting time and decision-making between a child’s parents. If your situation involves the parents themselves rather than a third party, that is the framework to start with.
Guardianship Is Not Conservatorship
A guardian has authority over the child’s care and daily life: where the child lives, schooling, and medical decisions. A conservator manages the child’s money and property, such as an inheritance or a settlement. They are separate appointments, and a child with significant assets may need both, so it helps to understand guardianship and conservatorship in Colorado before filing.
Where an Attorney Helps
An attorney can help you work out which form of guardianship fits, prepare and file the petition, handle notice, and present the case at the hearing. That matters most where a parent objects, where the family situation is complicated, or where the child’s safety cannot wait for the standard timeline.
Talk It Through
Guardianship asks a lot of the person stepping in, and the right form depends on what the child needs and how quickly. Bring your questions to a confidential consultation with the attorneys at Johnson Law Group.
Johnson Law Group works with families across the state through our Colorado offices. Schedule a consultation to talk through your situation.
Sources
[2] Colorado Judicial Branch – JDF 824, Petition for Appointment of Guardian for Minor (temporary guardian up to six months; emergency guardian up to 60 days) | https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/media/8710
[3] Colorado Judicial Branch – JDF 823, Instructions for Appointment of Guardian for a Minor (rev. January 1, 2025) | https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/media/8709
[4] Colorado Judicial Branch – JDF 805, Acceptance of Office (citing C.R.S. § 15-14-110 on background checks and costs) | https://coloradojudicial.gov/media/8702